Christie's Diesel Generator Endangering the Health of Red Hook Families

This photo of local Red Hook residents in front of Christie's constantly-running diesel generator was taken on Sunday afternoon.

The generator, which is only permitted to be used as an emergency backup, instead is being used to provide cheap power to Christie's Red Hook, Brooklyn warehouse and has been running continuously for the last year. (According to its recently posted permit, this generator uses 39.3 gallons of diesel fuel an hour.)

There's no debate that long-term exposure to diesel exhaust fumes is detrimental to health, especially the health of children. A study from the NRDC and the Clean Air Coalition found that:

The harmful health effects of diesel exhaust have been studied and well documented for decades. In recent years, an increasing number of health authorities have recognized the cancer-causing effects of diesel exhaust, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of California. Aside from its cancer-causing properties, diesel exhaust is also known to be a major source of fine particles, which can lodge deep in the lungs and exacerbate asthma, a condition most prevalent among children. In addition, smog-forming oxides of nitrogen, or “NOx,” which are also emitted from diesel engines in mass quantities, have recently been linked to decreased lung function growth in children. Indeed, children are generally more susceptible than adults to the negative health effects of air pollution. Among other reasons, a child’s organs are still developing and are far less capable of defending the body from airborne toxics and pollutants.

Sign our online petition and let Christie's know that it's unacceptable to endanger the health of Red Hook families by powering their storage facility with a diesel generator.

You can also tweet about @ChristiesInc irresponsible generator or email Christie's PR department. Stay tuned, if Christie's doesn't get the message, we may need to deliver our message at one of their upcoming events.