A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges the DEC improperly approved an...

A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges the DEC improperly approved an air permit for the Caithness Long Island Energy Plant in Yaphank.  Credit: Newsday/James Carbone

Three environmental organizations have filed a state lawsuit alleging the state Department of Environmental Conservation illegally exempted the owners of a Yaphank power plant from a recent state climate law that seeks to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

The DEC "abdicated its responsibilities" last year when it approved an air permit for the gas-fired Caithness Long Island Energy Plant without weighing the impact of emissions on local residents, according to the lawsuit.

The suit was filed Wednesday in Nassau County State Supreme Court by the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, known as BLARG, the Sierra Club and the Long Island Progressive Coalition.

The lawsuit asks the court to rescind the air permit and compensate the plaintiffs for costs incurred by the suit.

The DEC did not comment.

In an emailed statement, Don Miller, spokesman for Caithness Long Island, said, "We have not reviewed the claims in the lawsuit and have no comment at this time."

Residents of nearby communities such as North Bellport say the Caithness plant is one of several industrial facilities in the area that contribute to high rates of respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. North Bellport is about two miles from the Caithness plant.

The lawsuit states that DEC officials ignored a 2019 state law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which they say requires state agencies to consider the impact of emissions on North Bellport and other "vulnerable" communities.

“We’re talking about decades of pollution that these communities have had to endure,” said Gilbert Zelaya, an attorney for Earthjustice, which filed the suit on behalf of the Sierra Club. “Right now they’re doing nothing. … To us, that means the DEC is sending the message that they don’t care about the health and well-being of these communities.”

Emissions at issue

The 350-megawatt Caithness plant opened in August 2009, the first major power plant built on Long Island in 30 years.

Caithness Energy said at the time the plant would use 34% less fuel than older fossil fuel plants and save Long Island ratepayers $40 million annually.

The lawsuit states the 2019 law requires power plants to cut emissions by 30% over five years. 

The five-year permit granted by the DEC last September, however, includes no provisions for cutting emissions, the lawsuit states.

The DEC's decision to grant the air license "effectively guarantees the agency’s failure to meet the mandate that the Legislature imposed" in the 2019 climate law, the lawsuit says.

Monique Fitzgerald, 46, a North Bellport resident and climate justice organizer for the Long Island Progressive Coalition, said Caithness and other industrial locations cause "poor air quality" in the area.

"We just can’t have these polluting facilities not adhering" to the 2019 law, she said. “We are overburdened. We have the Brookhaven Town landfilll, we have Caithness, we have an asphalt facility in our community. We have warehouses that are constantly proposed for our community. … We need the DEC to be better regulators. They need to be the ones to enforce the law.”

Brookhaven officials have said they plan to close the landfill when it runs out of capacity in 2028. The landfill stopped accepting construction and demolition waste on Jan. 1 but still takes ash from Long Island trash incinerators.

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