This video is the last 30 minutes (unedited) of a controversial public meeting held on Thursday, March 13 from 6p-9:30p at the Coeymans Town Hall.

Two local women react during Q&A 

At the Coeymans Town Hall meeting on Thursday, March 13, 2025 people heard about a proposal to build a high-voltage 50-100MW (megawatt) electric substation at the Port of Coeymans to support more manufacturing.

Representatives from the FAST NY Shovel-Ready program, part of NYS Empire State Development (ESD), brought a slide presentation showing how similar projects had benefited local communities and helped meet Governor Hochul’s commitment to generate good and economic growth. FAST NY had agreed in 2023 to award $17 million towards the cost of building the substation, a small fraction of the total cost: $80-100 million. To get the money, the Town needs to accept the grant by the FAST deadline in November 2025.

Town Board members, as well as CAC members and area residents, had a number of questions: who might be the “end-users” of this electricity, how much would it cost the Town, and where would any manufacturing be located?

Unfortunately, the meeting’s ‘fact-finding’ objective unravelled during the last 30 minutes. Town Councilman, Stephen J. Schmitt, presented a resolution for an immediate vote. The resolution turned over all negotiations on the grant to the Advance Albany County Alliance. Local residents will not be able to debate the long term consequences of the proposal. Nor will the Town be involved in defining the terms of the grant, although the Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor will sign any agreements negotiated by the Albany Alliance.

CAC members were taken aback. Why is this power needed, especially as wind power is not currently viable economically or politically? Would future manufacturing sites invade residential areas along the Hudson? Will residents see even more industrial truck traffic through the town? What will happen to our house values, health, or local environment?

Town Supervisor, Stephen Donnelly, and Deputy Supervisor, Michael Stott, urged the Town Board to exercise caution, care, and prudence by not voting immediately. They were backed by the Town’s Attorney, Rich Reilly, who was seeing the resolution for the first time. He warned it was unwise to pass a resolution before seeing the underlying agreements. It was like signing a contract before it was even written.

Unhappily, the other board members were not convinced. They voted 3-2 to pass the resolution.

What will this mean for Coeymans? Will local people benefit or only local businesses?

Come to the next Town Board meeting at 6pm on March 27th to voice your opinion.

Revised Grading Plan to allow for more manufacturing at the Port of Coeymans with the building of a new 50-100MW electric substation.

Do you want a major electricity substation in Coeymans?

The next Coeymans Town Board meeting on March 13th at 6pm will hear about a proposed 50-100MW electricity substation to support more manufacturing in our area.  The substation will need new transmission lines, new rights of way, and new land purchases.

The Town Board is inviting local residents and neighbors to hear about this proposal and ask as many questions as needed.

The Clean Air Coalition would like to know:  

1. Where will this substation be built?
2. Whose property will be affected by the transmission lines?
3. Where will the electricity come from?
4. What manufacturing needs so much power?
5. How might this project benefit – or harm – residents and voters in Coeymans and the surrounding area?
6. Will it bring more industrial traffic to our local streets and roads?

BRING YOUR EARS – BRING YOUR QUESTIONS!

“A Talk for All: Thursday, Feb 20, 2025

Is the little historic Town of Coeymans and Village of Ravena really destined for even more polluting industry? CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen and CAC member, Diana Abadie, sure hope not but this slide presentation portends otherwise. Please join the CAC and help our efforts to maintain what’s left of our Hudson River shoreline and residentially-zoned woodlands.

“What are the Facts?”

“The first fact is we are a very small town. We have just under 7,000 people with town assets of $ 1.9 million. Holcim Worldwide (cement plant) revenue was $29.3 billion in 2023. Helderberg Materials (that bought Carver’s sand and gravel business) revenue was $21 billion last year. And, Carver Company’s revenue was $ 138 million dollars (information from data found on their website). With that kind of pressure coming down on the Town, how are average citizens expected to cope or get our needs met?”

CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen, delivered an emphatic powerpoint discussion tonight to a small subset of concerned neighbors at the Ravena Library. Her presentation delved into the pressures the Town faces with expanding industrial development along the Hudson River. With help by CAC member, Diana Abadie, the two advocates provided graphs and charts showing the respiratory impacts (asthma, COPD and cancer) affecting a large swath of our area, if not caused by, exacerbated by industrial pollution. Data presented by Abadie was able to conclude that higher incidents of hospitalizations in our area was due, in part, to higher particulates of airborne Class 1 carcinogens in the RCS area, particulates from industry.”

A “Barbet’s Duet” site on the Hannacroix Creek and Hudson River bordering Ravena and New Baltimore. It’s a place where CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen, and her motivated team of volunteers work tirelessly to return a once-polluted eye soar to its natural habitat. The benefits of their remediation provide cleaner air, cleaner water, and cleaner soil for, not just flora and fauna but the local environment too. Barbara hopes that, someday, acts of beautification, like hers, will be rewarded and incentivized by the State of New York.

In February, a beaver lodge was abandoned but, by April, a new dam of mud and small twigs was assembled. Barbara even witnessed a small beaver grazing on the berm before crossing into the flooded pond. By October, more mud and larger sticks had formed and by December a tall ash tree was felled for further “beaver house” appeal.

In the Spring, Barbara saw snapping turtles mating in the shallow creeks where trout lilly and bloodroot blossom. The common turtle, Chelydra serpentina, can live up to 100 years weighing in at over 22 pounds. 

In July, a big thunderstorm with high winds uprooted trees and damaged roofs.  Roads were blocked, and power was lost. The sounds of chainsaws and heavy machinery permeated the air. Footpaths were cleared with help from Eric Remillard, Earl Thomasson & Barbara.

July was exceptionally wet and the fungi loved it but the weather was abnormally dry between August and November. Barbara was relieved that she was able to capture photos of these spores and ‘shrooms, some edible, most poisonous, when she did.

From April through August, after two or three years of low numbers, there was a resurgence of bugs and butterflies back to the site.

Wild plants of late summer included cardinal flowers, sneezeweed, broadleaf cattail, aster, goldenrod, duck potato, and American burnweed.

In May, Jason Redfield cleared a large area of multiflora rose & dug holes for 25 swamp roses,  Rosa palustris, most of which survived summer.

In Aug, Earl Thomasson helped to weed the berm and reduce invasive oriental bittersweet & mugwort elsewhere.  From August through Sept, Barbara spent several weeks pulling up Japanese stilt grass before it seeded on the berm. With luck, goldenrod, asters & snake root will self-seed as replacements in 2025. 

In Nov, Pam Skripal & a colleague collected native plant seeds for propagation for the Home Earth Alliance.

Tracy Frisch, founder of CANN, receives award

Tracy Frisch was selected to receive the Peter Henner Award during the NYCLU Capital Region Awards Ceremony on November 14, 2024.  Tracy has worked tirelessly – mainly for free – to stop damaging projects in the Upper Hudson while supporting many community members from across the state.  

Some of her efforts went into opposing the development of a biochar incineration project in Moreau intent to burn sewage sludge and use the residue as fertilizer.  In a 9-page decision, the DEC soundly rejected that proposal, as reported in the Albany Times Union on November 13, 2024.  

All who value clean air can only applaud this decision and everything that Tracy Frisch has done to protect the health of the rest of us.  Thank you, Tracy!