The phrase “not in my back yard” usually refers to people who object to having social service centers placed in their neighborhood but do not mind having them in other locations.

In Rosebank, Staten Island, the complaint is literal for residents of Lynhurst Avenue. They are suing over an invasion into their yards by Keyspan, a utility that has been empowered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to do so under the authority of eminent domain.

If you own property in New York State and think it’s safe, be afraid, be very afraid, when you hear the word “environmental.” It is becoming clearer each day that your property rights rank low on the totem pole in this new green-world order.

The Staten Island borough president, James Molinaro, posed this question in a January 7 letter to the DEC: “When did the Department of Environmental Conservation obtain dictatorial powers over our personal property rights?”

Mr. Molinaro said he was appalled by the DEC letter sent to the eight Rosebank residents designating Keyspan and its consultant contractors as agents of the state. It said Keyspan would be granted access to the homeowners’ private property even without an access agreement with the homeowner. The DEC, citing an obscure state environmental conservation law, said it acted because Keyspan was unable to obtain such an agreement.

However, Mr. Molinaro said his staff had been attending meetings between the residents and Keyspan for the past three years. The eight families involved have stated that access would be permitted when their environmental and health concerns were satisfactorily answered, Mr. Molinaro said.

The DEC has described the area as an inactive hazardous-waste site, but rather than removing the toxic waste, Keyspan is capping the tanks. I rode by Lynhurst Avenue and viewed the huge cranes and trucks working after 6 p.m.

One resident, Elsa Sanchez, sent me pictures of her backyard showing the Keyspan workers near her above-ground pool. This is a yard that children play in, but parents do not know if the ground is toxic because Keyspan has not conducted any tests. One of the residents, Sharon Mulligan, interviewed by the Staten Island Advance, said, “They want access to our yards to clean up their property but they’re doing nothing to ours.”

There is no assurance that installing steel barriers to contain and cap the tanks will be effective, and residents contend that the work is contaminating the neighborhood and reducing property values. Keyspan representatives say the property will be restored to its original condition, but what does that mean? Can it restore the months of disruption to their private lives?

The country is swooning over the new religion of environmentalism, which is really all about changing the way we live. Vice President Gore was preaching to Congress about what we can do to lessen our carbon footprints so that we can save the planet. We, the people, need to use 25-watt bulbs and other energy-saving tactics while he jets around the country preaching to his new disciples. Meanwhile, Mr. Gore has received $570,000 in royalties from the owners of a zinc mine that once emitted thousands of pounds of toxic substances into nearby rivers. Mr. Gore is the man who wasn’t bright enough to realize it was wrong to conduct fundraising in a Buddhist temple, and now he is considered a “prophet” by Democrats in Congress.

Hollywood hypocrites like Barbra Streisand want us to line-dry our clothes and raise our thermostats while she keeps her mansion air-conditioned for her furs. Sting’s wife, eco-warrior Trudy Styler, took a gas-guzzling helicopter instead of a train. These people seem to go by the motto: “Do as I say, not as I do.”

In his letter, Mr. Molinaro asked, “Who is DEC working for? Certainly not for the residents of Lynhurst Avenue.”

Good question. The new breed of environmentalist is not concerned with human beings. Pay attention, New York, before the cranes and steam shovels are in your backyards.