Power plant opposition letters irk supervisor
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Town Supervisor James Quigley is asking to officials in neighboring municipalities to have some respect for his town’s review process for a proposed 20-megawatt electric-generating plant.
Quigley said the town of Ulster has received letters about the issue form the environmental commissions of Saugerties and Rochester, which were sent without endorsements from the Town Board in either community.
“Both of them took it upon themselves to write a letter to the town [of Ulster] opposing the ... project,” he said.
“In both cases, I called the town supervisors ... and the bottom line was no, it was not an official position of either of the towns, and they ended up revoking both of the letters,” Quigley said. “In fact, I’m asking for a letter from the town boards disavowing the letters.”
Quigley said the letter from the town of Rochester Environmental Conservation Commission was sent a second time, with the sender’s name changed from the commission itself to “Town of Rochester citizens,” with the commission members’ names listed.
The Ulster power plant proposal calls for Lincoln Park DG LLC to use about 3 acres of a 122-acre site that consists of three parcels owned by Kingston Landing LLC, extending from Miron Lane to state Route 32.
Project sponsor Glide Path says the station would provide backup electricity in the event of power outages and be able to put electricity into the grid during periods of peak demand. The proposal calls for two 10-megawatt generators that would use a combination of lithium ion batteries and natural gas as energy sources.
Concerns cited in the town of Rochester letter included the impacts for gas emissions at the plant and possible dangers related to storage tanks on the site.
Quigley said he was not inclined to believe the statistics used in the Rochester letter could be accurately applied to the project’s environmental review process.
“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but they’re not entitled to their own facts,” he said.
The Saugerties letter asked for the environmental review period to be extended. The town’s commission did not directly state an opposition to the project but said its duties include monitoring threats to the community.
“It is important to thoroughly investigate and analyze the impact of both actual and potential emissions of all criteria pollutants and hazardous air pollutants on the quality of the air we breathe and their impact on our health,” the Saugerties letters stated. “Data collection, review and analysis of this matter and other environmental impacts of the project require a considerable amount of time.”