Suffolk Closeup - The Call For Undergrounding Electric Lines Is Increasing

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Casey Stengel after becoming manager of the Mets famously declared: “Can’t anybody here play this game?” This was 1962 and the Mets’ were on their way to losing 120 games out of 162 that season.

Indeed, Jimmy Breslin wrote a book titled, “Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year.” In its introduction, Bill Veeck, the owner of several major league baseball teams, said the book would be “preserving for all time a remarkable tale of ineptitude, mediocrity, and abject failure.”

PSEG Long Island is being lambasted for its performance in the Tropical Storm Isaias saga of this month. Some 420,000 customers lost electric power. And it took two weeks for full restoration! 

Investigations are now underway including probes by the New York State attorney general, the Department of Public Service and the State Legislature. 

There is no question that the communications system of PSEG LI broke down. Many people couldn’t get through to the utility to find out what was happening. 

Still, for an electric utility to deal with the outages caused by a very severe storm hitting Long Island—that is a “game” no utility can “play” and win. 

Long Island is the most populous island in the United States. And it is heavily treed.

A large storm hitting Long Island with its near dependence on transmitting electricity through lines on poles will mean outages. A huge storm—and with climate change we need to expect more frequent and more very severe storms—means widescale outages.

The solution: underground electric lines.

I wrote a book back in 1985 when the Long Island Lighting Company was the utility here with on its cover a photo of a LILCO pole with the pole and its lines tilted at a 45-degree angle after Hurricane Gloria hit that year. (The book, Power Crazy, was about LILCO’s proposed Shoreham nuclear power plant and its scheme to build seven to 11 nuclear plants on Long Island.)

The book starts with Hurricane Gloria and a LILCO electric outage that caused 700,000 customers to lose electricity, most for more than a week. But service to 96 percent of telephone customers on Long Island was not interrupted, I noted on Page 1.

I quoted New York Telephone spokesperson Bruce W. Reisman telling me how the company “began placing cable underground wherever feasible in the early 1970s…Cost studies clearly indicated to us that it would simply be less costly for us over the long term to place much of our telephone cables underground. It is generally less expensive to maintain a telephone plant when it is underground. This is because underground facilities are less likely to be damaged by falling trees or branches, high winds, ice storms, etc…The majority of our telephone cables on Long Island (69 percent) is now underground. This appears to have benefitted us during Hurricane Gloria. Despite the hurricane, we were able to maintain telephone service for about 96 percent of our more than one million Long Island customers.”

LILCO was replaced by the Long Island Power Authority that initially had its electric service run by KeySpan which was taken over by National Grid—and then Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012. National Grid was blasted for the outages Sandy caused. Governor Andrew Cuomo arranged for National Grid to be replaced by PSEG.

In 2012, writing this column about the need for undergrounding, I quoted then Suffolk Legislator Jay Schneiderman (now Southampton Town supervisor) saying that on Long Island there should be “undergrounding piece-by-piece—especially in areas which, historically, overhead lines haven’t made it in storms.” 

Nationally, the call for undergrounding has increased. Last year, an article on T&D World, a website for utilities, was headlined: “It’s Time for Utilities to Reconsider Undergrounding Power Lines.” It stated that “climate change is unquestionably generating intense, costly storms…a hard fact that utilities must confront.” It said “most utilities opt not to bury power lines due to cost. But leaving so much of our power infrastructure exposed to environmental assault may not be worth the short-term cost savings.”

Undergrounding electric lines is more expensive than stringing lines on poles. But we must consider the huge costs of post-hurricane, post-storm electric restorations—happening over and over again. We must fully recognize, too, the terrible hardships these extended outages cause people. With lines underground the vital “game” of preserving electric service can be won. 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Suffolk Closeup - Freeze Shoreline Movement And You Lose The Beach

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

On Long Island, “incrementally we are walling off the coast with bulkheads and rock revetments,” says Kevin McAllister, founding president of the organization Defend H20. This “prevents nature from maintaining a coastline that can absorb storm energy and deal with storms.”

The violent visit here this month of Isaias, a demonstration of storms coming earlier and with more severity and frequency because of climate change heating waters on which they feed, makes understanding how best to approach the shoreline yet more important.  

Pioneering coastal geologist Orrin Pilkey and his associate Katherine Dixon write: “What has become apparent after a century of shoreline hardening” is that “hard stabilization structures” might “modestly” protect some buildings “but sooner or later” will destroy the beach on which they are placed. “The coastal scientist understands that a beach,” they say, must undergo “natural movements in response to a rising sea level and the forces of weather.” Try to freeze shoreline movement in seeking to protect structures on a beach—and you lose the beach.

I first started doing journalism on coastal issues in 1962 focusing on Robert Moses’s scheme to construct a four-lane highway the length of Fire Island to, he said, “anchor the beach.” His plan came in conjunction with the then U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Fire Island to Montauk Point project to build up to 50 fingers of rocks—“groins”—along the south shore and dump massive amounts of sand. Moses’ road was stopped by creation of the Fire Island National Seashore. 

Several years later came the Army Corps’ construction of groins (at up to $1 million in taxpayer dollars per groin) along the Westhampton oceanfront. It was a coastal version of “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.” The groins caught sand moving in the ocean’s east-to-west littoral drift but deprived the western portion of the barrier beach of that sand. The result: an ocean breakthrough, 190 houses destroyed or made uninhabitable and a $80 million (in taxpayer money) settlement. 

The disregard of coastal consequences has gone on and on. In 2015, $8.9 million in public money was spent to put 14,200 jumbo “geotextile” sandbags on the beach in Montauk to try to mainly protect 10 or so motels, and also condos and other oceanfront structures. All Suffolk County taxpayers are paying for the “maintenance”—at a cost $1 million a year in some years—of this 3,100-foot line of sandbags. They have been ravaged and uncovered by storms. And with the shore’s primary dune eliminated for the motels and other structures, the beach’s ability to withstand storms and rebuild itself through natural coastal processes does not exist.

Beyond Montauk, Suffolk County government is today pushing for what Mr. McAllister describes as “shoreline hardening”—bulkheading—at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead. The Nissequoque Village board has approved letting coastal homeowners build seawalls “that will impact the movement of sand to two public beaches,” he says. In Mastic Beach, the Army Corps first proposed a “road-dike” and has now dropped that for what Mr. McAllister calls the “donut plan”—having “ring walls” encircle 93 structures. 

There’s some good news. The Army Corps’ Fire Island to Montauk Point project has been “reformulated” over the decades and no longer is there a provision for groins. Indeed, the latest plan would remove some existing ones. 

And, there is a stipulation for “sand bypassing” at Fire Island, Moriches and Shinnecock Inlets. When I began writing about coastal issues, I learned that in California “sand bypass mechanisms” were placed in front of inlets allowing sand that otherwise would be sucked into them and deposited in bays, to keep flowing along coastlines adding to beaches. I crusaded for that here but the Army Corps wasn’t interested. It took nearly sixty years, but the Corps now supports it.   

Meanwhile, another federal government agency, the U.S. General Accountability Office, has just come out with a report concluding that “relocation due to climate change will be unavoidable in some coastal areas.” The report is titled: “Climate Change: A Climate Migration Pilot Program Could Enhance the Nation’s Resilience and Reduce Federal Fiscal Exposure.” It details the stories of four coastal areas “that have considered relocation: Newtok, Alaska; Santa Rosa, California; Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana; and Smith Island, Maryland.”

It says “many more communities will need to consider relocating in coming decades,” that “the preemptive movement of people and property away from areas experiencing severe impacts is one way to improve climate resilience.”

Let’s fight climate change—ending the burning of fossil fuel that is its main cause. And for Long Island’s most vulnerable, untenable areas, we must consider government-supported relocation.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Town Employees Continue The Herculean Task Of Isaias Clean-up

The Towphoto Smithtown Mattersn of Smithtown is busy compiling a detailed assessment of the destruction caused by the August 4th tropical storm Isaias.  

Damage includes upwards of 400 uprooted trees as well as beach and park damage.

The Salt Barn located at the highway department sustained structural damage and the roof was torn off the Parks Department Building in Kings Park. 

Minor damage has been reported at the Assessor and the Suffolk County Water Authority buildings. 

Parks Department working in the Morewood area of Smithtown photo courtesy of Ed SpinellaHighway Project Inspector Daniel G. Ryan and Steve Cameron assess damage on 6th Ave. in Kings Park. Photo Smithtown MattersCurrently highway crews are being assisted by teams from the Parks Department and private contractors. 

Crews are working from 5:30AM-8PM Monday through Friday, on Saturday from 6AM to 6PM and on Sunday from 8AM to 2 PM. Cleanup crews have been assigned to every hamlet.

photo courtesy of Ed SpinellaAccording to the Town’s update: Larger crews have been assigned to clear some of the hardest hit areas, including the hamlets of Commack and Kings Park, the Forestwood area, Brooksite Drive at 347 and northward, the Pines, Bow Drive below 347 & Townline Rd, and Browns Road. Trees and stumps marked for removal by the Urban forrester are mapped out digitally for a planned for excavation schedule.

Residents are reminded to separate leaf bags from brush. Highway crews are using heavy machinery and loaders to clear brush. This process is slowed greatly if crews have to manually remove leaf bags, which can also damage equipment.   

photo courtesy of Ed SpinellaWorkers have collected approximately 2400 tons of brush and debris at the Municipal Services Facility and there is at least 1,000 tons of debris at the Montclair Yard.

photo Smithtown MattersResidents should attempt to keep all brush clear from blocking any fire hydrants. Public Safety and Smithtown Fire Marshals have noted that residents still using generators should take a moment to confirm that the exhaust is facing outwards and at least 20’ away from a building. Dozens of individuals have been rushed to the hospital with CO poisoning. In addition, numerous homes have been damaged by fire caused by generators incorrectly positioned. 

Suffolk Closeup - Was Isaias A Sign Of Things To Come

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Suffolk County took quite a blow from Isaias last week. And if the track of the hurricane-turned-tropical-storm when it hit us was 50 miles farther east it would have been much worse here. 

With gusts reaching more than 70 miles per hour there was a significant and extended loss of electricity from trees having fallen on electric lines and a shutdown of the Long Island Rail Road from trees falling on tracks. Fortunately, it was a fast-moving thus relatively short-lived storm with punches of fierce wind rather than days of rain. 

The bad news: it was a sampling of what’s ahead. 

“Going forward, because of climate change it will not be unusual for the Northeast to experience hurricanes with great intensity and frequency,” says Kevin McAllister, founding president of the Sag Harbor-based organization Defend H20. 

Hurricanes and tropical storms feed on the warmth of water over which they travel, and climate change has been causing an ever-higher temperature in water bodies worldwide resulting in more extreme and more frequent hurricanes—and earlier ones.

Isaias was the ninth named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season and the earliest I-named storm on record. The season began on June 1 and runs to November 30. 

“What a fast start,” commented Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center, was saying on TV as Isaias was percolating. He predicted that because of “warm water” it would “continue to be” an “active” season. Late last week, the number of named storms and hurricanes the Climate Prediction Center of NOAA forecasts to hit the Eastern Seaboard including Long Island this year was increased to a total of 19 to 25, up from 13 to 19.

Meanwhile, on Long Island, says Mr. McAllister, an experienced and credentialed marine scientist, “incrementally we are walling off the coast with bulkheads and rock revetments”—not allowing nature to maintain a coastline that can deal with storms. “The natural system involves a dune which is a sand reservoir and shock absorber,” he explains. “It’s a beach-dune system.”

On Long Island, a good chunk of Montauk has become a poster child for dune destruction and the folly of then trying to deal with storms by artificial means.

The “primary dune” of a major section of the oceanfront of Montauk was eliminated decades ago for the construction of a string of mainly motels.

In recent years, a choice was made. It was either relocating mainly 10 or so motels and also condos and other structures, rebuilding the dune and allowing the “the natural coastal process”—the dynamic process that nature provides—to return. Or, and this is what happened in 2015, following the prescription of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: placing 14,200 jumbo “geotextile” sandbags, each 1.7 tons, in front of the buildings to try to protect them. The construction cost: $8.9 million.

Suffolk County government went along with this.

Indeed, a deal was cut in which you, dear reader, if you pay taxes in Suffolk County, are obligated to pay half the cost of “maintenance” of the sandbags, with the Town of East Hampton paying the other half. 

Legislator Al Krupski of Cutchogue was the sole county legislator to vote against this deal. The other 17 voted for it. He explained in a letter to his colleagues how he was “very familiar” with the “dynamics of the shoreline” having been for 20 years a member and for 14 years president of the Southold Board of Trustees, which oversees the shores and adjoining waters of Southold Town.

The cost of maintenance of the sandbags would reach $1 million a year, predicted Mr. Krupski, and he hit the cost figure of several recent years on the head.

The Town of East Hampton in a “hamlet study” subsequently recommended the relocation plan. But, since then, the town reversed itself—because of “pushback primarily from the business community in Montauk,” says Mr. McAllister. 

“It is very disappointing,” he says.

And in addition to Montauk, there are examples throughout Suffolk County of the mistake—still happening now—of “armoring” the shoreline. That next week. 

Also next week: details on an important report just released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office which says “millions of Americans live in coastal areas threatened by sea level rise, and in all but the very lowest sea level rise projections, the retreat of people and infrastructure due to climate change will become an unavoidable option in some areas along the U.S. coastline.” It says “Congress should consider establishing a pilot program…and provide assistance to communities that express interest in relocation as a resilience strategy.” 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Suffolk Closeup - The Future Of Energy On LI Is Green, Safe And Renewable

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“The Future of Energy on Long Island,” was the topic of a recent talk by Bob Catell, a Zoom presentation, part of the series of varied talks sponsored by Long Island Metro Business Association. (I spoke before LIMBA a while back on the deadly dangers of nuclear power.)

Mr. Catell is former chairman and CEO of Brooklyn Union Gas, what was the best utility in the New York Metropolitan Area. Its excellence was why when the Long Island Power Authority was created, it chose Brooklyn Union (which changed its name to KeySpan) to operate LIPA’s electrical system.

Mr. Catell is now chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at Stony Brook University and chairman, too, of the New York State Smart Grid Consortium. 

He “is a legend in the energy industry,” said one of the folks on the online Zoom event.

“We’re moving to renewables,” declared Mr. Catell. He noted how New York State is committed to generating 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2050. It’s the most ambitious green energy initiative of any state in the United States. Codified under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, it was passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo last year.

“It’s one of the strongest climate change laws in the world,” Ken Girardin of the Empire Center for Public Policy has said. “It’s a heavy lift, but not as difficult as coping with the effects of severe climate change if action is not taken.”

As to where all the green, renewable energy will be coming from, Mr. Catell said much will involve solar energy—and he detailed major solar projects underway in the state—and ambitious plans for wind energy, largely from off-shore wind turbines. The state plans to generate many thousands of megawatts from wind with turbines off Long Island and New York City. Solar and wind are a perfect combination, said Mr. Catell, because “wind blows strongest at night” when the sun doesn’t shine. And this mix, said Mr. Catell, would be complemented by “hydrogen produced from water.”

A dozen years ago I was out at the federal government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado where early work was being done on the production of hydrogen from water. I was at NREL on a shoot for my national TV program, Enviro Close-Up, and was amazed as senior scientist Dr. John Turner demonstrated the use of solar power to split the components of water—oxygen and hydrogen—with the hydrogen then becoming available as a carbon-free fuel. He flipped a switch and hydrogen was generated in a process called photoelectrolysis. “What we have here now is sunlight to hydrogen,” said Dr. Turner. “Hydrogen can be used in automobiles in fuel cells, to power our homes, to power our cars, to power our society…It’s the forever fuel,” He spoke of “the vision of a non-polluting energy society” with “an energy supply that is inexhaustible and non-polluting.”

And last month, while Mr. Catell was talking here about hydrogen, in Florida a $65 million plant to generate “green hydrogen” using solar was advancing, seen as opening in 2023.

On the New York State emphasis on offshore wind turbines, I asked Mr. Catell about the opposition by some commercial fishing interests and also some residents of Wainscott, where a cable from the proposed South Fork Wind Farm is supposed to land. “You need to engage these people and alleviate their concerns,” said Mr. Catell. Fishing interests “have a legitimate concern” about disturbances to “the sea bed” and “we have to be sensitive” to their worries and “move” proposed wind turbine sites and cable routes when necessary. Still, he pointed out, offshore wind generation has been successfully done in Europe on a wide scale “for many years.”

Mr. Catell also talked about the “move to electric vehicles” and it being “accomplished at a reasonable cost.” With start-up Tesla and its electric autos becoming this year the world’s most valuable carmaker, overtaking Toyota, the future for electric vehicles is bright.

Ernie Fazio, chairman of LIMBA and a co-author of the book Maglev America about the Maglev train—a train that moves with non-polluting magnetism—spoke at the event of it being “what we need for mass transportation” and ideal for Long Island. Mr. Catell was supportive.

Also, Mr. Catell discussed geothermal power, heat pumps, energy efficiency and gains in “battery storage.” He said the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center he chairs “is focusing on every aspect of the energy chain.”

Green, safe, renewable energy technologies can provide all the power we need—energy we can live with. A renewable energy windfall has arrived.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.