Cricket Valley Energy begs a deeper CT dive

“Think globally, act locally.”

Part 2 of 3

In the last installment of this series, I examined the backstory of the Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVEC), as well as the expectations for Litchfield County from the impacts related to the construction of this gas-fired energy plant under construction in Dover, N.Y., on the Wingdale/Litchfield County line. Litchfield County is being asked to fall on its well-honed green sword for the theoretical common good of cleaner air from Iowa to Vermont. But proximity is everything when it comes to pollution, as are local microclimates. Amazingly, no one has looked at impacts here — yet.

   There are clear environmental and economic benefits for Dover regarding old brown fields remediation and jobs creation but that town’s good fortune — if an industrial behemoth like CVEC can be called that — likely comes at the expense of Litchfield County’s air, water and soil. Effects could reach well beyond the Northwest Corner into the Berkshires and beyond. Several Hudson Valley towns as far west as Poughkeepsie are unhappy with this already-approved project that plans to go online in 2020. And Connecticut’s prime protector of the environment, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) was, at best, I believe, asleep at the switch. 

Into the Weeds: All factual information below is from CVEC’s Draft and Final Impact Statements found at: 

https://townofdoverny.us/CricketValleyEnergyDEIS0511.cfm)

CVEC is an uber natural gas plant at 1110 megawatt (MW). Most in the US are 500 MW and under. (The world’s five largest are in Japan and Russia between 3000 -5000+ MW.) The nearest 500 MW gas plant in Connecticut is in Oxford. The Connecticut Siting Council recently turned down another 500MW gas plant in Killingly because the energy “was not needed.” 

CVEC’s primary builders are from Japan, owners of the Fukushima nuclear power plants, along with a consortium of other international/U.S. investors. According to a recent VOX investigative piece (David Roberts, 7/13/18), natural gas plants — frequently lauded as the  bridge from dirtier coal and oil to clean renewables like wind and solar — are increasingly becoming stranded assets for investors expecting taxpayer bailouts. Battery and fuel cell storage capacity for intermittent wind and solar are now so advanced and widespread that it makes industrial-scale renewables not only competitive but in some cases cheaper than fossil fuels, including natural gas.  

CVEC is a high-efficiency combined-cycle natural gas-burning power plant, using pollution control combustion turbines that release about 40 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal. But that doesn’t mean gas is clean by any stretch. While CVEC by law will follow the Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER) and Best Available Control Technology (BACT), C02 isn’t the only bad boy. It will also put out in tons per year (tpy): carbon monoxide (CO —569.9 tpy); nitrogen oxides (NOx — 279.4 tpy); particulate matter (PM2.5 — 191.9 tpy); volatile organic compounds (VOCs — 118.1 typ); sulphur dioxide (SO2 -- 46.9 tpy); sulphuric acid (H2SO4 — 19.7 tpy); carbon dioxide (CO2 — 3,597,765 typ). 

That last is not a typo. That’s over 3 million tons per year of CO2 directly headed for Litchfield County — an extreme degree of exposure not now here. And total green house gas (GHG) allowances are at 3,630,484 tpy. Then there is also particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM 10) and a host of heavy metals capable of contaminating water and soil, accumulating into the foreseeable future. VOC and NOx are considered precursors to ozone, which is good in the atmosphere but bad at ground level. Cool valleys are where it likes to form.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has two tiers for National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS): the primary tier protects human health and sensitive populations; the secondary protects animals, crops, vegetation and buildings. There are no NAAQS regulations for VOC’s beyond offset purchases and the Trump Administration’s EPA has greatly reduced air quality standards for VOC and NOx. Standards for methane are on the chopping block.

CVEC’s project base area is 436 feet above mean sea level (msl). There are three smoke stacks at 282.5 feet each. That puts the top of the smokestacks at 718.5 feet above msl. The top of Schaghticoke Mountain in Kent is 1325 feet above msl. The Taconic Mountains ridgeline runs within 2-3 miles (4 km) adjacent to CVEC.  CVEC’s Final Environmental Impact Statement states that the worst pollution will be at higher elevations. Projecting out, that includes most of Sherman, Kent, Warren and parts of New Milford, Cornwall and Washington. 

CVEC claims to be “carefully designed” for minimum impacts but it is still a giant trouncing a dandelion. They claim that effects to dispersed wildlife during construction will be temporary and that species will repopulate in undeveloped areas. And Metro North runs right through the site. How secure can CVEC ever really be?

In 1999, Connecticut turned down an almost identical 500 MW gas plant in the Gaylordsville area of New Milford by Sempra Energy, another large international consortium doing local business as New Milford Energy LLC (NME). Contained in that extensive application/ruling (CTSC Docket No. 163) is an excellent local review model. CVEC would never be approved if it hopped over the Sherman/New Milford/Kent ridgeline based on very specific topographical and environmental realities here, such as the steep outlines of the Housatonic River valley where ozone in particular will form. The Sempra/NME site was also proposed on an old industrial site, tying into the Iroquois pipeline and exact same electrical grid. But the Siting Council noted: “…we question NME’s decision to locate the proposed facility in a topographically complex area subject to downwash that would produce locally high concentrations of pollutants. These downwash conditions, caused by complex terrain, have become an object of public focus and an important element of the Council’s deliberations.”

Part 3 next time.

B. Blake Levitt is a former New York Times contributor, author and communications director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology. Go online to the Town of Dover, N.Y., website, and look for the Cricket Valley Energy DEI, www.townofdoverny.us/CricketValleyEnergyDEIS0511.cfm.