The Staff at the Collaborative Center for Justice have recently written to Governor Lamont, as well as Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials, regarding the proposed new fracked-gas power plant in Killingly, CT. We invite you to continue to raise your voices with us, and many other advocates, in opposition to this fossil fuel project.
Governor Ned Lamont
State Capitol
210 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
Stephen Edwards
Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
79 Elm Street
Hartford, CT 06106
April 28, 2020
Dear Governor Lamont and Mr. Edwards,
We are writing to you from the Collaborative Center for Justice, a faith-based advocacy organization sponsored by six communities of Women Religious across Connecticut. We are writing to you once again to express our opposition to the proposed fracked-gas power plant in Killingly, and to urge you to stop this project from moving forward.
At this time, we specifically urge you to deny the permit for NTE to be able to discharge waste into the waters of Connecticut. We are appalled at the decision by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to tentatively approve this permit for NTE. It is undemocratic to make a decision that will impact this community for years to come without providing them a real opportunity to contribute to the process. We respectfully request a public hearing on this permit request, at a time when meaningful public participation would be safe.
As people of faith, we take seriously our call to care for the earth and its inhabitants. If NTE is allowed to discharge waste water into the waters of Connecticut, there will be risks to the quality of the water. The wastewater treatment costs will fall to local residents, who then will not only bear the burden of environmental degradation and pollution, but also direct financial burdens.
Additionally, the proposed power plant would pose a great risk to air quality in the area. We are particularly concerned about the potential negative health impacts that a new gas-fracked power plant would have on low-income residents in the Killingly area. Further, as data has recently shown, people who live in areas with poor air quality are at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 than people who reside in areas with better air quality.1 Constructing, or issuing permits for construction of a new fracked-gas power plant during the COVID-19 public health crisis is irresponsible, short-sighted, and dangerous.
As your Administration plans for economic recovery for the state, we urge you to rebuild in ways that will allow us to achieve our statewide climate mandates. Economic recovery efforts should include initiatives that will increase our ability and capacity for widescale use of renewable energy technologies, so that we can quickly transition away from fossil fuels. During this public health crisis, we urge you not to lose sight of the climate crisis we are also facing together. A new fracked-gas power plant would exacerbate and accelerate that crisis.
We appreciate your leadership during this unprecedented time. We ask you to also show courageous leadership in the climate crisis, by using your authority to stop this unneeded dirty energy project.
Respectfully,
Dwayne David Paul – Director
Rachel Lea Scott, MSW – Associate Director
1 Friedman, Lisa. “New Research Links Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates.” New York Times. Accessed at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/climate/air-pollution-coronavirus-covid.html
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Katie Dykes
Commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
79 Elm Street
Hartford, CT 06106
May 5, 2020
Dear Commissioner Dykes,
We are writing to you from the Collaborative Center for Justice, a faith-based advocacy organization sponsored by six communities of Women Religious across Connecticut. We are writing to you once again to express our opposition to the proposed fracked-gas power plant in Killingly, and to urge you to stop this project from moving forward.
At this time, we are writing to specifically urge you to deny the permit for NTE to be able to discharge waste into the waters of Connecticut. We are surprised and disappointed by your recent decision to tentatively approve this permit for NTE, especially given your previous comments about natural gas not being a bridge fuel but a fossil fuel. However, it is not too late to do the right thing for our planet and the people of Connecticut. We urge you to immediately reconsider your tentative decision and move to deny the permit.
As people of faith, we take seriously our call to care for the earth and its inhabitants. If NTE is allowed to discharge waste water into the waters of Connecticut, there will be risks to the quality of the water. The wastewater treatment costs will fall to local residents, who then will not only bear the burden of environmental degradation and pollution, but also direct financial burdens.
Additionally, the proposed power plant would pose a great risk to air quality in the area. We are particularly concerned about the potential negative health impacts that a new gas-fracked power plant would have on low-income residents in the Killingly area. Further, as data has recently shown, people who live in areas with poor air quality are at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 than people who reside in areas with better air quality.1 Constructing, or issuing permits related to the construction of a new fracked-gas power plant during the COVID-19 public health crisis is irresponsible, short-sighted, and dangerous.
During this public health crisis, we urge you not to lose sight of the climate crisis we are also facing together. A new fracked-gas power plant would exacerbate and accelerate that crisis. We know that you are concerned about climate change, and you have expressed your commitment to mitigation and adaptation strategies. We call on you to act on those spoken commitments to protect the environment and the health of the people of Connecticut.
We appreciate the actions you have taken to protect the environment in Connecticut thus far. We respectfully ask you to use your authority as the Commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to stop this unneeded dirty energy project.
Respectfully,
Dwayne David Paul – Director
Rachel Lea Scott, MSW – Associate Director
1 Friedman, Lisa. “New Research Links Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates.” New York Times. Accessed at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/climate/air-pollution-coronavirus-covid.html
