I am Edna Sussman, the executive Director of Federated Conservationists of Westchester County. FCWC is a 36 year old not-for-profit coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to the protection of this region's natural and historic resources and the education of the public about environmental issues. Among many other activities, Federated Conservationists has been instrumental in the protection and expansion of parkland and nature preserves in Westchester, the creation of a biodiversity program in the county, and the education of the public through its newspaper Westchester Environment and educational programming.

FCWC is very concerned about the proposed siting of the Millenium Pipeline. Westchester County is a suburb of New York City and is accordingly an area that is quite highly developed and relatively densely populated. There has been a continuous reduction in our open space in this county and development has continued to reduce natural settings. Between 1988 and 1996 the amount of undeveloped land in Westchester decreased by 24%. Thus preserved land that we do have, like Teatown, must be particularly treasured and safeguarded.

We have written a letter to FERC expressing our concerns about the routing of the Millenium Pipeline. We have also devoted most of the last issue of our newspaper to energy issues so that people can be educated about what is going on in New York with respect to energy. I have distributed copies of the newspaper for all of you.

You have heard and will hear from others today about how the siting of energy infrastructure in our settled community is fraught with difficulties. We do not have lots of wide open, uninhabited and unused spaces in Westchester where a pipeline could more readily be constructed. You have heard from the neighboring towns. Articles in our newspaper, which I urge you to read, spell out some of the concerns expressed by Teatown about the damage to the reservation wetlands, habitat and lake; by Mount Vernon about its streets being ripped up in the most densely populated area in Westchester County and about the safety risks associated with a pipeline in such a populated area. Another article by Rockland County residents expresses their concern about air pollution and the potential for polluting their drinking water aquifer if proposed new power plants are built just north of us in Rockland County. In short, construction of additional energy infrastructure has a severe environmental cost.

We hear the words "regional planning" bandied about all the time and we hear about how there is a need for more regional planning. This is situation in which careful review of a few basic questions from a regional perspective is mandated. What we need here is the equivalent of an energy master plan for the region.

First: we need to determine whether there is really need for more energy production or whether there is just a need for more energy to prevent price gouging during peak demand periods which could be avoided by regulation. If there is a need for more energy, we need to determine just how much more is needed. As an environmental organization, we urge that that determination include conservation measures, load management and the development of clean renewable energy. Currently the application process for power plants does not include a needs criteria: thus we could end up with a lot more energy capacity than is required and consequently end up with a disruption of neighborhoods and natural environments that is totally unnecessary and unjustifiable.

Second, after we have figured out whether and how much more traditional energy production is needed, a determination must be made as to how many power plants we really need and how many pipelines we really need to supply those plants. In other words we need to know now whether the addition of one pipeline coupled with other existing supply will be enough for the next for the next 20 to 30 years or whether this Millennium Pipeline is just the first one and another one or two or three or more pipelines are just around the corner. Let's find out now what the total energy picture is so that rational planning can be put in place.

Third, once we have determined how much more energy is really needed and where it is needed, there should be a reviewing body that looks at the entire region and makes a decision from a regional perspective to determine how many plants should be built, where they should be sited, and how fuel should be delivered to those plants, all with an eye towards minimizing harm to neighborhoods and the environment and maximizing economic efficiency.

Looking at it from a regional perspective, rather than simply responding to applications from individual private companies, each reviewed in isolation rather than in the context of their cumulative effect, is essential in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms resulting from energy related construction.