By Scott Brinton
Village officials made the pledge in a "letter of intent," which they signed in recent weeks, he said.
Fuschillo (R-Merrick), who brokered the deal last spring, appeared
hopeful during an interview last Friday that an electric provider would eventually be brought in and that the more than 30-year-old Plant No. 2 would be closed for good.
The senator said that, under terms of the agreement, the village would "relinquish" its Title V permit to run Plant No. 2.
Fuschillo also said Freeport is negotiating a contract to have two General Electric LM6000 turbines built at the Power Plant No. 2 site, adding that village officials "have made significant strides" in this effort.
Freeport and Merrick residents have decried Plant No. 2 for the last year, citing health and environmental concerns. In particular, they fear that the plant's exhaust causes cancer. The California Air Resources Board labels diesel exhaust as a known carcinogen. The federal Environmental Protection Agency says that it likely causes cancer.
The proposed LM6000s are clean-burning, gas-fired turbines that pose little or no threat to human health or the environment, according to Richard Kessel, chairman of the Long Island Power Authority, who also negotiated the possible deal. (For a detailed report on the LM6000, check out the Merrick Herald on the Web, Power Plant Archive, "Plant deal running out of gas?" July 26 edition.)
Freeport has already authorized Carman-Dunne P.C. of Lynbrook to spend up to $175,000 to develop plans and surveys for the new power plant.
subhead: Activists' concerns
To date, though, Freeport has not released the letter of intent, causing alarm among area activists who have fought Plant No. 2. They wonder what in the letter is preventing its disclosure.
LIPA co-signed the letter, in which it agreed to buy a certain
percentage of electricity generated by the new LM6000s. Terms of the "purchase-power" agreement are to remain confidential to protect LIPA's contracts with other electric providers, said Fuschillo. That is why, so far, the letter has not been made public.
Fuschillo, though, wants Kessel to white out parts of the letter that relate to the purchase-power agreement and release the document.
Joseph Kralovich, president of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, which has led the battle against Plant No. 2, is uneasy about the deal. He is unsure of its exact terms, as it has been negotiated privately. And he fears that residents will be hit with an unsatisfactory deal if and when one is finalized.
For example, he and other civic leaders want Plant No. 2's diesel ship engines dismantled or, in another way, rendered inoperable after the plant is shut down. He has suggested that cement be poured down its two smokestacks as an inexpensive alternative to taking the plant apart.
Only by destroying Plant No. 2 will residents be assured that it will never run again, said Kralovich.
The activist had heard from reliable sources, however, that as late as last Tuesday, Freeport officials would not agree to render the plant inoperable.
Kralovich thus is afraid that village officials want to keep Plant No. 2, while only agreeing in spirit not to run it. They, though, could always fire it up in the future if it remains in running condition.
In his research, Kralovich has found many cases in which power-company officials have said they would not run a plant, only to start it up down the line. He cited one case in Brooklyn in which holes were drilled into a plant's engines. The holes were later repaired and the plant restarted.
That is why the civic leader would like Plant No. 2's smokestacks filled with cement. Such a measure would be irreversible without millions of dollars in repairs.
Kralovich also worries about the possible use of fuel oil at any new power plant.
Stewart Lilker, a Freeport civic activist, obtained copies of the three bids that Freeport received when it issued a request for proposals for the new plant in the fall. The bid from Pennsylvania Power and Light seeks "to maximize" the use of fuel oil at the plant, according to Lilker and Kralovich.
Any use of oil at the new plant, outside of an emergency, would be
unacceptable, the two said.
Of the gas-fired LM6000s, Lilker said, "You could probably stick your head in them and breathe, they're so clean."
Burning fuel oil, however, produces particulate, more commonly known as soot, which carries potentially cancer-causing agents such as benzene through the air and into people's homes.
subhead: Permit hearings
Other local civic activists said they are worried because the state Department of Environmental Conservation appears to have stopped hearings over Plant No. 2's recently rewritten Title V permit. The new permit, issued over the summer, contains tough emissions standards, whereas the old permit contained none.
The new permit, however, isn't enforceable until hearings are complete.
Freeport has challenged the permit, calling it "inconsistent" with state regulations and public policy that calls for additional sources of electric generation.
The first legislative hearing, in which anyone could speak, was Oct. 22. An issues conference was to have taken place the next day to determine what evidence could be presented during an adjudicatory hearing over the permit. At the adjudicatory hearing, the two sides -- the DEC and Freeport -- would be allowed to call witnesses, similar to a trial.
The issues conference, however, was put off to November to give the DEC more time to modify the permit slightly at the request of residents. To date, that conference has not taken place, nor has one been scheduled. And the DEC still has not released changes to the permit.
Sen. Fuschillo said he planned to call the DEC this last Monday to see about getting the hearings moving again. "I'm eager to proceed," he said.
Bill Fonda, DEC spokesman, said the department is sorting through a large volume of public comment before moving ahead with hearings.
Area activists, however, fear that the DEC is waiting to see what happens with the Freeport-LIPA deal before proceeding with the hearings. Stacy McHale-Grossman, Old Lindenmere Civic Association vice president, said the potential deal "is sabotaging what the DEC is supposed to do."
The activists, though, believe that a main reason Freeport negotiated with LIPA was because village officials feared Plant No. 2 would be shut down by state order once the new permit took effect.
Dr. Brad Lindell of south Merrick, who as acted as publicity chairman for the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, said, "Our power is the DEC. That's going to force Freeport to do something."
The activists contend that the plant, with no pollution controls, simply cannot meet the new permit's tough standards for particulate, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. In the fall, Freeport spent almost $7,000 to conduct tests to measure emissions from Plant No. 2's smokestacks. The Old Lindenmere Civic Association has filed a Freedom of Information request with the village to obtain results of the tests, but to date the group has been denied access to the records.
Kralovich believes there is information in the documents that is "clearly indictable" of Plant No. 2, meaning it could not pass the new
emissions standards.
Of the fight against Plant No. 2, Cindy Crociata, a member of the Old Lindenmere association, said, "It's not over. People need to understand it's not over."
Freeport could not be reached to comment for this article.
