NEXT MEETING: Mon, June 9, 7:30 pm @ Village Hall
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We need you! The Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC) relies on volunteers to keep things moving. We're a fun and engaging group of like-minded folks working to make Tarrytown's air, land, and water healthier and cleaner. Participating is EASY: just come to a meeting or email Tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.
Monthly meetings. Our meetings are open to the public. Join us on the second Monday of the month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:30 pm at Village Hall, 1 Depot Plaza, Tarrytown. Or join via Zoom.
- Monday, July 14
- Monday, August 11
- Monday, September 8
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A Transformation in Neperan Park
by Lia Carrari, TEAC Volunteer
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A once unwelcoming 654–square foot patch of invasive plants at Neperan Park has undergone a remarkable transformation—it's now a thriving pollinator resort! Thanks to a fantastic partnership with the Tarrytown Parks Department, whose staff prepared the site, and the incredible generosity of James Fitzgerald and Oak Kim, a team of dedicated TEAC volunteers came together to plant a vibrant new native garden. This beautiful addition expands upon the existing native garden spaces within the park.
 Before (left) and after (right) photos above tell the story: from a messy, uninviting patch choked with invasive plants (porcelainberry, creeping thistle, English ivy, garlic mustard, and others), we moved to a scene of enthusiastic volunteers installing more than 200 perennials and shrubs, culminating in the joy of the first flowers blooming in this revitalized space. This new native garden isn't just pretty; it's a vital new habitat! It will benefit bees, butterflies, and a host of other local wildlife, while simultaneously offering a beautiful, serene space for everyone visiting the park. Designed by talented TEAC members Kerstin Erdbrink and Mai Mai Margulies, the garden features an inviting path so visitors can truly appreciate the flowers, along with a charming birdbath.
Keep the Momentum Going: Join Us!
Want to help maintain this blossoming oasis? We continue to work in the garden at Neperan Park every second Saturday of the month, from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM, and the next one is June 14th. We're always eager to welcome new volunteers! You'll be joining a wonderful group of environmentally-minded individuals who are actively building community and transforming public spaces. Simply show up on a maintenance day or reach out to us at tarrytownpollinators@gmail.com to get involved.
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What Is BESS, Anyway, and Why Should We Care?
by Dean Gallea, TEAC Energy and Sustainability Chair
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No, we’re not talking about a character in an old Broadway show. BESS stands for Battery Energy-Storage Systems, and they’re a crucial step in our global progress towards a renewable, non-carbon-fueled energy-based economy.
Imagine a community powered by “green” electricity, generated by huge arrays or solar panels and rows of wind turbines, happily running on a sunny breezy day. Now, imagine the sun setting and the wind falling to calm. For the community to keep its lights, WiFi, and A/C on, the energy has to come from somewhere else. In our electric distribution system, there had better be a power source—somewhere—feeding energy into the “grid,” supplementing those renewable sources that produce energy only when the sun is shining, wind blowing, or river flowing. We can’t control these natural processes, so we rely on carbon-fueled power plants, which still provide the vast majority of our utility-delivered electricity.
Big power plants can’t be quickly throttled up and down as the sun and wind wax and wane, and as our communities' energy usage peaks in the evening hours, so energy suppliers rely on “peaker” plants to ride the waves of demand. These relatively small power sources are fueled by diesel oil or natural gas, are costly to run (per unit of energy) and have much higher emissions than large plants. This is where BESS can come to the rescue to lower our greenhouse-gas emissions. A BESS has hundreds of battery banks, each one much like the battery in an electric car, that charge up when power is plentiful (and greener and cheaper), and later feed that energy into the grid when demand rises, avoiding running so many dirty, expensive peakers.
A BESS is a business as well as a service. The business model relies on the fact that electricity is bought and sold in an open market, with the price rising and falling minute-by-minute. A BESS operator buys and stores electricity when it's cheap and plentiful, and sells it back at a profit when alternatives become more expensive.
What does all this have to do with Tarrytown? For one, a BESS is a very special type of business that carries both benefits—to the electricity rate-payer and to the environment—and risks. The primary risk comes from the fact that the dense battery banks of lithium-based cells hold a huge amount of energy—the equivalent of what hundreds of homes use every day. It’s well and good as long as that energy is released slowly to feed the power grid, as it’s designed to do. But it’s theoretically possible for something to go wrong: a catastrophic failure that releases all the stored energy in a short time, causing an internal fire of the type that you’ve all seen in the “exploding lithium battery” news reports. So, it’s incumbent on any community that may host a BESS to have in place laws covering zoning and building rules, as well as training for first-responders, addressing the specific needs and potential hazards of BESS, and creating a “permitted use.”
In 2019, NYSERDA (New York State’s Energy Research and Development Agency) released a guidebook for municipalities to prepare for BESS build-out, including a model law that covers all the known needs and safety issues surrounding this new technology. The proposed Tarrytown regulation is based on an recent update of this model.
Tarrytown has a BESS applicant, so the village needs to act. The first public hearing to consider a resolution for a local law covering BESS was last Monday, June 2nd. The applicant wants to build their BESS in a section of a parking lot behind some businesses at 120 White Plains Rd, and in proximity to the NY Thruway. They presented some details about their project, and responded to a litany of questions from the mayor and trustees, who were learning about this technology and concerned about the risks and benefits to the village. Several local Tarrytown Fire Department staff also expressed concerns, especially since lithium-battery fires cannot be extinguished in the usual way by flooding with water (lithium reacts explosively when water is applied), so must be managed and allowed to burn out within their enclosures.
With these concerns, the public hearing was continued to the next public trustees meeting, at 7pm on June 16th. If you want to read the proposed BESS Zoning regulation, CLICK HERE. We encourage concerned residents to attend the meeting (or join via Zoom), to comment or ask questions, and let your voice be heard. Thanks in advance for your engagement!
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Tarrytown Lakes Stewardship
by David Gutschmit TEAC Member
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TEAC members took to their kayaks on May 25 to clean up discarded fishing debris and other trash along the shoreline of Tarrytown's lower lake. The lakes are a wonderful aesthetic and recreational village resource. As Summer begins, please remember that discarded fishing line and gear pose a threat to birds, turtles, other wildlife, and even people. Garbage along the lakeside is just unsightly. All of us who enjoy the lakes as fishermen, walkers or bikers should contribute to keeping them attractive and safe.
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Are you a Sustainable Eater?
By Rachel Tieger, TEAC Co-Chair
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“You are what you eat”…?! Although I never fully comprehended that expression, it always gave me pause. To my huge relief, it seems to have fallen out of our everyday vernacular, so less “pause" is necessary. But the fact is that every choice we make - even personal ones, like what we eat - affects ourselves, others and our environment.
There are many approaches to sustainable eating, including: choosing organically grown/produced foods, eating locally sourced foods, shopping at farmers markets and adopting a plant based diet. Some people may try to check multiple of the above boxes, but all are important and valiant environmental efforts. Luckily for us, we have one of the best markets in New York State with The TaSH Farmers Market. Not only will shoppers find organic and local agricultural products (by definition), but there is a huge selection of delicious vegetarian and vegan and baked goods and ready-made offerings as well.
With all of this in mind, I would like to share a plant-based recipe using organic, local produce from the farmers market and my favorite grain, farro. Purple Cauliflower, Kale, Farro and Basil with an Herb Vinaigrette.
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Project Mover is On The Move!
By Dean Gallea, TEAC Co-Chair
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You have probably noticed the new bicycle racks around the village, with hoop-shaped parking slots and nice white e-bikes. That's Tarrytown's extension of Project Mover, the e-bike rental program that began in Ossining. The ribbon-cutting has taken place and the system is now open to the public.
TEAC hopes that the availability of e-bikes will lead to fewer car trips within and between our Rivertowns.
Click on any of the images below to learn more on the Village web page. There is also a free biking skills class tomorrow, Saturday June 7th, in Ossining.
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