Bridgeport Harbor Station and Responsible Retirement

Bridgeport Harbor Stationand Responsible Retirement

South End History• Little Liberia- a “free community

of color” established in 1820s.• South End’s Mary & Eliza Freeman

Houses built in 1848 are CT’s oldest remaining houses built by African Americans

• It was a prosperous, fishing-based community, with a seaside Alexander Duncan Hotel. When Eliza Freeman died, she was Bridgeport’s 2nd wealthiest resident, only after P.T. Barnum!

• Neighborhood was a stop on Underground Railroad

Bridgeport Harbor Station: An Environmental Injustice

• NAACP: It is one of country’s 10 most EJ-offending coal fired-power plants.

• 3-mile radius: 2/3 are people of color, average income is 56% of CT average.

• There are 6 schools within 1 mile of the power plant.

• It adds to already-severe pollution from nearby natural gas plant and trash incinerator.

Bridgeport and Fairfield CountyForbes Magazine ranked Bridgeport USA’s 4th dirtiest city in 2012.

Bridgeport had USA’s 15th highest asthma rate in 2012.

Bridgeport has half the per-capita income of the Fairfield County.

Bridgeport is 77.3% people of color.Fairfield County is 34% people of color.

Bridgeport residents’ rate of asthma hospitalization is 7 times higher than Westport residents’.

HEALTH EFFECTS OF BURNING COAL

• Union of Concerned Scientists lists these pollutants and impacts:

• Sulfur dioxide contributes to acidic particulates that contaminate lungs and bloodstream.

• Nitrogen oxides burn lung tissue, exacerbate asthma, make people more susceptible to chronic respiratory diseases.

• Particulate matter causes chronic bronchitis, aggravated asthma, premature death.

• Mercury causes brain damage and heart problems.

Economics of coal in Bridgeport

• UBS Securities LLC memorandum about PSEG: "We continue to believe its Bridgeport plant in particular is particularly vulnerable to retirement eventually.“

• CT Post: “Finch's problem is that in a few years, energy market conditions are likely to… [force] the plant's retirement”

Economics of Coal in Bridgeport

• 2008 Master Plan of Conservation and Development:

“Among all of Bridgeport’s neighborhoods, the South End shows the most promise for marked improvement… Developers have already begun to express interest in its waterfront sites for mixed-use, market rate development. Vacant industrial buildings are being rehabilitated for adaptive reuse.”

Healthy CT Alliance

• 350CT• Connecticut Fund for the Environment• Conservation Law Foundation• CT Coalition for Environmental Justice• The Sierra Club• Toxics Action Center

Campaign Goals

1. Retire the Bridgeport Harbor Station coal-fired power plant.

2. Redevelop the site in collaboration with the community.

3. Ensure a just transition for the unionized workforce.

Just Transition

Worker Protection Demands for Coal Retirement Campaigns• Here are key protections for workers and their communities that coal-retirement

campaigns can demand from coal power plant employers and public officials and agencies who negotiate with them:

• Negotiate a jobs agreement with unions representing affected workers.• Find jobs for affected workers who want them.• Ensure job retraining for those who need it to fill new jobs.• Provide decent pensions with healthcare for workers who are not provided other

jobs and who do not opt for retraining.• Create jobs restoring the site.• Reutilize facilities to replace losses in the tax base.• Fund job-creating community economic development.

EJ Endorsers of Our Campaign

MA Berkshire Environmental Action TeamMA Arise for Social Justice

MA Westfield Concerned CitizensMA SouthCoast Coalition for Clean Air

MA Salem Alliance For the EnvironmentMI Green Door Initiative of Detroit

NC Blue Ridge Environmental Defense LeagueNJ New Jersey Alliance for Environmental Justice

NJ Greater Newark ConservancyNY WE ACT For Environmental Justice

RI Ecology Action of Rhode IslandRI ProsperityForRI.com

TX West Dallas Coalition of Environmental JusticeTX Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services

TX Esperanza Peace and Justice CenterWV Coal River Mountain Watch

Indonesia JATAM - the Mining Advocacy Network

AZ Don't Waste ArizonaCA EcoEquityCA Communities for a Better EnvironmentCA Bayview Hunters Point Community AdvocatesCA Global Alliance for Incinerator AlternativesCA Environmental Justice Coalition for WaterCT N.Stamford Concerned Citizens for the EnvironmentCT New Haven Environmental Justice NetworkCT Connecticut Coalition for Environmental JusticeFL Citizens for Sanity.Com, Inc.GA Glynn Environmental CoalitionIL Friends of Bell Smith SpringsIL Little Village Environmental Justice OrganizationKS Local2Global Advocates for JusticeKY Kentucky Environmental Foundation

Ethiop’s 1854 letter to Frederick Douglass

• “The Croton—yes, the Croton has nicely laid the dust, and sent a refreshing softness through the green trees and air.—Trees and air surround every house here; every householder has been for the last half hour with hoes and pipe in hand sprinkling his front lawn and street-way, and the whole town is redolent with freshness. The emissions of aroma from the flowers beneath our windows, and the chirp of insects (whose faces are veiled in the shades of night) so low, so gentle, so natural, as it comes up trembling on the night air, lest it disturb the repose of nature, contrasts nicely with the effluvia and unnatural clutter of a business city.”