Cricket Valley Energy
1000-megawatt power plant along the Swamp River in Dover, proposed by Advanced Power
Cricket Valley Energy Final Scoping Document, July 16, 2010
July 16, 2010
- Read Cricket Valley Energy Final Scoping Document
Cricket Valley Energy Scoping Comments
June 18, 2010
The NYS DEC ran Public Comment Sessions on the Draft Scoping Document on Saturday, June 5 and Wednesday, June 9th. In addition, Written Scoping Comments were accepted through June 18, 2010.
On the plus side of the ledger are job creation, a net positive contribution to the Dover and Dutchess County tax base; a brownfield clean-up and wetlands restoration. On the negative side the the public spoke primarily to the environmental impacts: smokestack emissions contributing to already poor air quality in a valley and close to a school; potential drawdown or contamination of our groundwater even though the Applicant proposes to drill below the Aquifer; noise (a “light rain,”
as the Applicant suggests, or the drone of constant traffic as suggested in the Scoping Comments?)
The environmental impacts that affect our residents and neighbors were raised during the Scoping Sessions. Many of the environmental impacts to the Great Swamp itself are addressed in the Scoping Comments from Friends of the Great Swamp. The Scoping Comments submitted by Robert Herzog, former Director of New York City’s Energy Office and Wingdale resident, argue persuasively for the No Action Alternative.
– Cricket Valley Energy Scoping Comments from Coalition for the Responsible Growth of Dover
– Cricket Valley Energy Scoping Comments from Robert Herzog
*Note: printed post date is for chronological clarity. Actual post date is August 13, 2010.
Dover Planning Board Meeting June 7, 2010
June 7, 2010
- Read Dover Planning Board Meeting Minutes, June 7, 2010
Cricket Valley Energy Public Scoping Notice
May 5, 2010
– Cricket Valley Energy Scoping Notice, May 5, 2010
*Note: printed post date is for chronological clarity. Actual post date is August 13, 2010.
Cricket Valley Energy Draft Scoping Document
May 3, 2010
– Cricket Valley Energy Scoping Document, May 3, 2010
*Note: printed post date is for chronological clarity. Actual post date is August 13, 2010.
Marcellus Natural Gas In New York
August 18, 2009
Peter Rostenberg has recently written an article about the impacts of drilling for gas in Marcellus Shale on the economy, the people and the lands, particularly in light of the recent proposal to site a 1000 megawatt power plant in Dover, NY, on the Swamp River.
– See article in Beacon Sloop Club Broadside
Dover considers 1000 Megawatt Power Plant
May 17, 2009
Many town and county residents, and neighbors from CT, attended the Advanced Power (AP) presentation at the Dover High School Wednesday night, May 20th during a special meeting convened for that purpose by the Dover Town Board. The company proposes to construct and operate a 1000 megawatt power plant, Cricket Valley Energy (CVE,) in Dover, NY, west of Rt 22 and along the Great Swamp River.
We have only recently learned of the proposal but the application process is proceeding quickly; AP has an option on the property and intends to file its application and begin the scoping process in June. The benefits to the town and region are economic. The company estimates 500 local construction jobs and, once complete, revenues of $4mm a year, to be split with the County. The drawbacks thus far appear to be environmental, with negative impacts potentially reaching far and wide.
While most of the cooling of the plant would rely on air condensers, the company estimates that between 250-275,000 gallons of water could be used daily. Whether drawn from the Aquifer or from the bedrock below as AP proposes, this level of water consumption poses a great concern to residents who rely on the area’s water resources.
The chemical composition and direction of emissions from the three, 250-290 foot stacks will be of concern not only to residents of the Harlem Valley, but to those who live in the paths of the carrying winds. Comparing the resultant air pollution of the proposed natural gas power plant favorably to that of a coal-fired electric power plant as AP did during the meeting seems to us to set up the wrong argument; the better comparison would be to our air quality as it is now. A coal-fired plant would never have been proposed in the first place.
The 25-30 permanent jobs are estimated to last for about 30-40 years, as the estimated useful life of the plant is about 60 years. “It will be either re-used or torn down,” one of the members of the CVE team responded to a resident’s question.
“Any major project creates both economic benefits and environmental impacts,” Town Supervisor Ryan Courtien said during the meeting, as quoted in the Poughkeepsie Journal. ”The benefits include construction and post-construction jobs, increased tax revenues for the town, county and schools and increased local spending. The impacts include pollution, noise, change in landscape, traffic and more impervious surfaces.”
This impacts of this project should be considered in conjunction with the impacts of Dover Knolls and within the contexts of our Master Plan and the constraints of our water supply. One PoJo blogger suggested constructing windmills on our farmland: A low-impact power generation alternative that preserves open space and agriculture, our Greenway and wildlife corridor, without water or air pollution.
The links are down to the Poughkeepsie Journal articles apprearing on May 1 & 11, 2009, but you can search www.poughkeepsiejournal.com
