No action yet on lead agency declaration for power plan

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » The Town Board has delayed declaring itself lead agency for environmental reviews of a proposal to construct a 20-megawatt electric-generating plant along Frank Sottile Boulevard.

At a meeting Thursday, Ulster Supervisor James Quigley said he first wants to speak with officials of the state Department of Environmental Conservation even though a Dec. 18 deadline has passed for the state to request the lead role.

“Scenic Hudson dropped a letter on the Department of Environmental Conservation ... asking that [agency to] be lead agency,” he said. “So, we’ve been trying to contact the Department of Environmental Conservation to find out where they are,”

Minnesota-based Lincoln Park DG LLC has proposed using about 3 acres of a 122acre project site, which consists of three parcels owned by Kingston Landing LLC and extend from Miron Lane to state Route 32.

Developers say the project would be used for periods of peak electricity demand and when there are power outages in parts of the regional power grid. The proposal calls for installation of two 10-megawatt generators that would use a combination of lithium ion batteries and natural gas as energy sources.

A Dec. 15 letter from Scenic Hudson — co-sponsored by Catskill Mountainkeeper, Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipelines and Riverkeeper, among others — said that because the generator would only be used to put electricity into the grid during peak periods, the project would be harmful to the environment for minimal value.

“As a ‘peaker’ power plant using natural gas, it will have a direct impact upon the electricity reliability and generation makeup for the Hudson Valley region,” the letter states. “The emissions from the plant, which may only be used a handful of times a year, but could theoretically run 24/7, will not stop at the Ulster town border. The energy-storage component of the project has the potential for positive impacts, but again, they are regional in nature.”

The environmental organizations said they also would like to have state officials hold Lincoln Park accountable for claims about the project helping to enable new wind and solar energy generation.