To the Editor:

If you recall, our priority as members of the Beacon Island Environmental Justice group, was getting Beacon Island formally listed as a legacy landfill for toxic coal ash with the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Beacon Island is an 82-acre property owned by the Port of Albany and located in the town of Bethlehem bordering the Normanskill Creek and the Hudson River. The island was created during the 1950s and ’60s when millions of tons of coal ash were dumped on and among three small islands in the Hudson.

On April 25, 2024, a new federal law was enacted listing Beacon Island as a Coal Combustion Residual Management Unit, requiring official investigation and cleanup. This formal listing recognizes Beacon Island as a severe environmental threat, due to the extreme likelihood of groundwater contamination by heavy metals, along with the release of radon gas and gamma radiation into the air we breathe.

According to the EPA, the danger zone now encompasses a 6-mile wide circle from Beacon Island, including parts of Albany, Delmar, Rensselaer, and Schodack. Welcome, neighbors to the environmental disaster we have been living through for the past three years.

Although the Port of Albany and the town of Bethlehem seem to be in a state of continual denial, the next step in the resolution process is the filing of an applicability report with the EPA, due Nov. 8, 2024, whereby the full extent of the disaster is officially reported to the federal government by the current owner of the coal ash site (the Port of Albany).

Identifying the composition of the contaminated soil, the extent (area and depth) of contamination, official testing and monitoring of the air and water quality, and the prescribed cleanup plan are all vital priorities following the filing of the applicability report.

It bears noting that the new federal regulations supersede any and all New York state laws and permits including state permits that allowed clear-cutting the forested area on Beacon island in 2022 and the subsequent construction paving the way for the multimillion dollar blast metallization factory complex on the island.

It is interesting that the Port of Albany (along with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the town of Bethlehem) felt that the best way to deal with the toxic coal ash was to sweep it under the rug, literally covering the island with thousands of tons of aggregate and topsoil that now has to be removed along with the contaminated soil.

Would you believe that the Port of Albany’s website still describes coal ash as “a non-hazardous material?” What wishful thinking!

One also has to ask why members of the town of Bethlehem’s various boards (town board, planning board, zoning board of appeals), knowing the extent of the environmental disaster that is Beacon Island, have remained silent, not acknowledging the worst environmental crisis Bethlehem has ever faced!

Where is their leadership, and their support for environmental justice? Is the comprehensive plan just words on paper with no real merit?

Is the town motto, “Industrial development first and foremost!” Industrial development at the expense of the health and well-being of thousands of families in the affected area is at best unwise and at worst immoral! Perhaps it wasn’t such a great idea to have a member of the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency also the chairperson of the Port of Albany.

It’s time for you to let our town boards and the Port of Albany know that you are tired of this “Green Charade” and ask them to start working on a plan to best protect you and your loved ones during the legal and monitored removal of millions of tons of toxic coal ash from Beacon Island. Be an advocate for those you love.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and the time to write letters to the Port of Albany and the town of Bethlehem boards.

Joanne Maier

Glenmont

Editor’s note: See related story: “Beacon Island ash landfill to come under new EPA regulations,” The Altamont Enterprise, June 3, 2024.