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Support PRRIA: Letter to Fahy and Hinchey

Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act
S.1464-a (Senator Harckham)/A.1749-a (Assemblymember Glick)

To Senators Stewart-Cousins, Patricia Fahy, and Michelle Hinchey:

I am writing on behalf of the Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena-Coeymans. Our community of supporters lives in New Baltimore, Coeymans, Ravena, and Bethlehem, among other places in the Hudson Valley. Since 2017, we have been working to limit toxic emissions from local industrial sites after the LaFarge Cement Plant (now Amrize) in Ravena proposed the burning of one-third of Connecticut’s municipal waste as fuel.

Our opposition was based in part on the fact that household rubbish includes considerable amounts of different plastic packaging that produces a variety of emissions that can be harmful to human health. That is why, as a Coalition, we strongly support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Plastic may be profitable for businesses, but these profits come at the expense of our health and that of our neighbors, including damage to the environment, locally and worldwide.

I’m sure you’re aware of research that proves how damaging plastic waste can be. The cost of reducing such waste is nothing compared to the cost of managing the consequences to our health and the health of our water, soil, and air.

Many thanks for supporting the passage of this very important bill.

Yours sincerely,
Barbara Heinzen
On behalf of the Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena-Coeymans

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People Over Plastics Summary & Photos

Rally For PRRIA on May 11, 2026

On Monday, May 11th, 2026, the Clean Air Coalition and members attended the Beyond Plastics “People over Plastics” Rally at the New York State West Capitol Park. It was an effort to appeal to NY State Legislators asking for their support for the Packing Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA).

The rally featured State Champions Assemblymember Deborah Glick and Senator Pete Harckham along with Chris Alexander of the NACCP and Yvonne Taylor of the Seneca Lake Guardian and Environmental Justice Advocates.

We called on Assembly Speaker@cheastie to bring the bill to a vote now! If you didn’t make it to the event, you can still help. Please tag him and call his office 518-455-3791 or 718-654-6539 to say #heastiepassprria and schedule the vote!

While the bill has been weakened in recent weeks, it still makes significant progress in reducing waste.  For more information see the Environmental Advocates of New York explanation of The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act.

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Noise, Fumes and Vibrations

It comes as no surprise anymore to Lynda Geraldsen when her security camera is triggered over 200x a day by heavy-duty diesel trucks zooming past her house on Fuller road. Her home is located just down the hill from the limestone quarry owned by Amrize, a spin-off of the Lafarge/Holcim cement company. The trucks are loaded down with recently-mined crushed stone (aggregate) used to help fuel kilns for cement manufacturing and in road/infrastructure construction.

The end result of all this truck traffic is far more than a “quality of life” issue. Lynda is now exposed to noise levels exceeding 80 decibels (equivalent to a blender), dusty clouds of toxic air emissions linked to major health challenges and vibrations that damage the road and the structural integrity of her home’s foundation.

It never used to be this way but in 2022, Lynda’s road became the only access route to the quarry when both Jarvis roads were cited as exceeding weight restrictions. Albany County Executive Dan P. McCoy’s office posted this press release on March 20, 2026, regarding a study to evaluate the situation.

Lynda reached out to the ABC-affiliate, WTEN-10, this week to share her fears and frustrations. She spoke with reporter Dan Passante. The CAC would like to thank brave voices like hers. To speak out against the pursuits of pocket-rich companies like Amrize is no easy task. We are well aware that staying true to what is right is never easy for the underdog. And, in a small town where intimidation and fear of job loss are common scare tactics to suppress discontent, the risks are real.

Thank you Lynda for your advocacy and activism! We all benefit from your courage.

This is a screenshot from the Channel 10 story. Lynda collects data on hundreds of diesel trucks that drive by her house, starting as early as 6:26a.
This is a screenshot from the Channel 10 story. This is an example of one of the many trucks that the security camera captures every few minutes.
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Show Me the Data!

Got Asthma? Got concerns about heavy truck traffic emissions? Curious about what the burning of limestone at the nearby cement plant is doing to the air? Sensitive to the return of wildfire smoke events from Canada? These are legitimate health concerns that can now be monitored by every person who owns a free PurpleAir monitor. It’s long past time we get serious about how to protect ourselves.

Join us for a virtual event on: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 at 6pm with the Air Justice Lab, NATURE Lab’s community air monitoring project, to learn more.

ATTEND THE ZOOM FORUM BY REGISTERING HERE.

PurpleAir monitors collect the critical data that helps people with respiratory issues stay alert to the air quality outside their home. It does not collect anything other than real-time, hyper-local, informative data to track harmful particulate matter.

There are no onboard video cameras, no audio devices, no recordings of any kind made by this little, unobtrusive device. It’s designed to monitor live pollution levels so people can make informed decisions about whether to stay indoors and/or avoid activities that trigger asthma or other breathing-related issues.

PurpleAir is especially useful in towns like ours with high amounts of heavy diesel truck traffic and industrial zones with known pollution sources. 

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Local TV network highlights Truck Traffic Crisis

The Clean Air Coalition has been sounding the alarm on the truck traffic crisis for years. Today, it came as a relief to see it finally addressed on a local TV station. We commend ABC News 10 and reporter Dan Passante for listening to community concerns that focus on the dangers and damages of increased truck traffic on Route 144. However, there’s much more to this story than what was reported.

Diesel truck exhaust is a major source of air pollution, releasing harmful pollutants like fine particulate matter (soot), nitrogen oxides, and toxic compounds like benzene. These emissions are linked to serious health issues like asthma, heart/lung disease, cancer, and premature death.

Screenshot from the news story – click photo to watch.

Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to these emissions. With over 200 heavy-duty diesel trucks running through the Village of Ravena/Town of Coeymans every day, hundreds of families and dozens of businesses are at risk of dirty, dusty and toxic emissions.

If you live near heavy truck traffic, you can help monitor your air by installing a small Purple Air Monitor. PurpleAir monitors are highly effective, reliable, and widely trusted low-cost sensors for measuring particulate matter. The CAC can help you install one for free. These truly are critical for monitoring our public health. They offer real-time, hyper-local data that captures air quality trends, such as wildfire smoke and truck traffic.