Freeport: Planned gas plant safe Diesel Power Plant No. 2 runs three hours, alarming Merrick residents
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In plain English, a negative declaration means Freeport has found that the proposed plant would be environmentally safe, allowing the village to move the project ahead without a full-fledged Environmental Impact Statement.
According to Freeport officials, the village can now finalize contracts, leases, bonds and permits for the roughly $45-million construction project, which is to start this year and wind down in 2003.
Hubert Bianco, Freeport Electric superintendent, said that, although the new plant would not be subject to an EIS, it still had to meet state environmental standards during the village's initial review of the project, which got under way in December 2001 and ran through June.
TRC Solutions of Lowell, Mass. prepared the environmental report about the proposed power plant, and ENSR International reviewed the findings.
Bianco said in a prepared statement: "Freeport Electric is pleased that the proposed generation project at Power Plant No. 2 was subjected to rigorous environmental scrutiny by two nationally-reputable organizations, and that our attention to project design and technology resulted in a finding of no significance to the environment."
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which is to review the proposed gas plant, could not be reached for comment.
Merrick civic activists, under the leadership of Old Lindenmere Civic Association President Joseph Kralovich, fought Power Plant No. 2 last year, arguing that the diesel exhaust it spewed into the environment likely caused the area's apparently high cancer rate. The California Air Resources Board has declared diesel exhaust as a known carcinogen, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency says it likely causes cancer.
The new plant, which environmentalists and power-industry officials say would be "clean-burning," is to run on two General Electric 44-megawatt gas turbines. (One megawatt provides enough electricity to light 1,000 homes.)
One turbine would belong to the Village of Freeport and the other to PPL Global, which is to build the new plant. The Long Island Power Authority would buy electricity from both turbines.
Freeport agreed in April to shut down Plant No. 2 permanently, once the new gas-fired plant is operational. The diesel plant would, however, be kept on line while the gas is designed and built, according to an agreement reached between Freeport, PPL Global and LIPA. During that time, Plant No. 2 is to run only during power emergencies.
The New York Independent Service Operator last Thursday declared a power emergency, and Freeport was ordered, via the Long Island Power Authority, to turn the diesel plant on.
A major transmission line that sends hydroelectric power from Canada into New York went down, and a Westchester transmission substation experienced a "voltage problem," resulting in the power emergency, Bianco said.
Plant No. 2 ran for three hours, from 3 p.m. to just after 6 p.m. on June 27, raising concern among several Old Lindenmere residents who said they expected the plant to remain closed throughout the summer.
Stacy Grossman, Old Lindenmere Civic Association vice president who was among those that led the charge against Plant No. 2, said, "A lot of people are upset because they're afraid they are going to call every day a state of emergency."
Bianco said the plant would not run unless New York State declares a power emergency. Last Thursday, said one Freeport official, was unusual, with two major transmission problems in one day.
Bianco, though, noted, "It is quite possible that Freeport will be directed to operate again due to technical difficulties, especially if compounded by a significant or prolonged heat wave."
Freeport officials also reiterated that Plant No. 2 would never operate once the gas plant is up and running.
According to Freeport officials, the village can now finalize contracts, leases, bonds and permits for the roughly $45-million construction project, which is to start this year and wind down in 2003.
Hubert Bianco, Freeport Electric superintendent, said that, although the new plant would not be subject to an EIS, it still had to meet state environmental standards during the village's initial review of the project, which got under way in December 2001 and ran through June.
TRC Solutions of Lowell, Mass. prepared the environmental report about the proposed power plant, and ENSR International reviewed the findings.
Bianco said in a prepared statement: "Freeport Electric is pleased that the proposed generation project at Power Plant No. 2 was subjected to rigorous environmental scrutiny by two nationally-reputable organizations, and that our attention to project design and technology resulted in a finding of no significance to the environment."
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which is to review the proposed gas plant, could not be reached for comment.
Merrick civic activists, under the leadership of Old Lindenmere Civic Association President Joseph Kralovich, fought Power Plant No. 2 last year, arguing that the diesel exhaust it spewed into the environment likely caused the area's apparently high cancer rate. The California Air Resources Board has declared diesel exhaust as a known carcinogen, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency says it likely causes cancer.
The new plant, which environmentalists and power-industry officials say would be "clean-burning," is to run on two General Electric 44-megawatt gas turbines. (One megawatt provides enough electricity to light 1,000 homes.)
One turbine would belong to the Village of Freeport and the other to PPL Global, which is to build the new plant. The Long Island Power Authority would buy electricity from both turbines.
Freeport agreed in April to shut down Plant No. 2 permanently, once the new gas-fired plant is operational. The diesel plant would, however, be kept on line while the gas is designed and built, according to an agreement reached between Freeport, PPL Global and LIPA. During that time, Plant No. 2 is to run only during power emergencies.
The New York Independent Service Operator last Thursday declared a power emergency, and Freeport was ordered, via the Long Island Power Authority, to turn the diesel plant on.
A major transmission line that sends hydroelectric power from Canada into New York went down, and a Westchester transmission substation experienced a "voltage problem," resulting in the power emergency, Bianco said.
Plant No. 2 ran for three hours, from 3 p.m. to just after 6 p.m. on June 27, raising concern among several Old Lindenmere residents who said they expected the plant to remain closed throughout the summer.
Stacy Grossman, Old Lindenmere Civic Association vice president who was among those that led the charge against Plant No. 2, said, "A lot of people are upset because they're afraid they are going to call every day a state of emergency."
Bianco said the plant would not run unless New York State declares a power emergency. Last Thursday, said one Freeport official, was unusual, with two major transmission problems in one day.
Bianco, though, noted, "It is quite possible that Freeport will be directed to operate again due to technical difficulties, especially if compounded by a significant or prolonged heat wave."
Freeport officials also reiterated that Plant No. 2 would never operate once the gas plant is up and running.
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