State's final answer DEC commish: Diesel power plant must go

      The plant, which Merrick-Bellmore and Freeport residents have protested for more than three years because they fear that its diesel exhaust causes cancer, was to close for good on Nov. 30, according to a DEC mandate. The state, however, is now giving Freeport Village two more months to decommission the antiquated, highly polluting plant. The new shutdown date is Jan. 31.
      The state detailed its reasoning Nov. 26 in a 12-page decision, signed by DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty.
      In February and again in May this year, Freeport officials called on the DEC to rescind the Nov. 30 shutdown deadline, saying they needed more time to build a new clean-burning, gas-fired power plant to replace Power Plant No. 2. As an alternative, they argued, the state should give the village a variance to run the diesel plant, despite its failure to meet state emissions requirements.
      If Plant No. 2 were to close, and there were no new plant to replace it, the village could be left vulnerable to blackouts and other power emergencies, said Hubert Bianco, superintendent of Freeport Electric, the village's municipal power company.
      In the DEC's decision, Crotty wrote last week that Freeport "has not claimed that it would be without power following the shutdown of Power Plant No. 2's diesel engines. It has, however, indicated that the power it purchases following shutdown would be at a higher cost until its new facility is operational."
      Closing the plant would force the village to import more electricity, either from the Long Island Power Authority or from the New York Power Authority upstate. Buying electricity from an outside source would inevitably cost the village more than producing it on its own.
      The higher cost to the village of buying power, the DEC ruled, wasn't a sufficient reason to keep Power Plant No. 2 open. The plant, the state said, fails to meet state emission requirements for nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, which are known to harm human health and the environment.
      Additionally, Crotty said, the DEC acted reasonably in setting a Nov. 30 deadline. The commissioner said the DEC first notified the village that Power Plant No. 2 wasn't meeting emissions requirements in the summer of 2001, giving the village adequate time to get a new power plant up and running to replace the old diesel plant. (Natural-gas power plants can be built in as little as six months, according to experts.)
      Crotty wrote, "By proposing a Nov. 30, 2003 shutdown date, the [DEC] afforded additional time to the village to address the construction of a new facility. This was a generous accommodation in light of the circumstances."
      Freeport officials say the village will appeal the DEC's ruling in the courts.
      During two DEC hearings last spring, village officials said construction of the new plant had taken much longer than they had anticipated. In particular, the village had trouble hiring a developer to build the new plant.
      Construction of the gas plant has been under way for several months, and its significantly larger smokestack now stands tall against the horizon.
      Last week, the village completed a three-month cleanup of a major PCB spill at the site of Power Plant No. 2 in south Freeport, where the $50 million-plus gas plant is being built across the Meadowbrook Parkway from Merrick.
      The village discovered the PCB contamination while taking soil borings around Power Plant No. 2 last summer. PCBs are commonly found at power plants, where, in the past, they were often used as an insulating material.
      Bianco said, "We are pleased that the [PCB] remediation project proceeded smoothly and expeditiously. It was paramount to the village and Freeport Electric to protect the safety and welfare of our community. All of our contractors, Blue Water Environmental and GFS, LLC, should be commended."
      According to the DEC, the gas plant won't be operational before next April.