The-Leader_2004-02-19

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Freeport Electric back in court
" by Laura Schofer
Freeport Electric filed a petition in Supreme Court in Mineola on January 26 to vacate and annul the November 26 decision to shut down the diesel genera­tors at Power Plant^2 in Freeport on January 31. The decision was made by Erin M. Crotty, Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
In papers filed by Freeport's attorneys, Sive, Paget and Riesel, they claim that the "order should be Vacated because the DEC exceeded its authority by preventing the: village from selecting the means by which it could satisfy the federal emission.Jimits;the record lacks sub­stantial evidence to support the January 31 shutdown since the state-of-the-art facility that the village is build­ing to replace PP2 will not be operational by then and the emergency operation of the generators at PP2 would pose ijo threat to public health or the environment or vio­late any relevant air quality standards; and the commis­sioner arbitrarily and capriciously converted DEC's inaccurate projection for the building of the PP2 replace­ment facility (the LM6000) into an absolute deadline even though the record showed that numerous factors beyond the village's control had delayed the LM6000 construction schedule despite the village's best efforts," reads the filing.
But Ms. Crotty said in her decision that she had taken these considerations into account and believes that "in light of the inability of Power Plant [2] to comply with applicable emission standards and the environmental impacts associated with even its limited operation, an early shut down date is justified."
Ms. Crotty has required that Freeport Electric begin to dismantle the diesel generator within 60 days of the
shutdown date.
"What Freeport has done is file an Article 78 petition which would allow Freeport to sue a state agency," explained Lisa Garcia an attorney who represents the New York Public Interest Research Group.(NYPIRG).
NYPIRG, along with the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, are the other two parties involved in the suit. Both parties will be back in court on March 26 to argue in favor of the DEC's decision, pointing to the generators' inability to meet federal standards for both nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, a'precursor of smog and particulate matter.
"It's dirty and we will argue to uphold and support the DEC's decision," said Ms. Garcia.
Ms. Garcia explained that Erin Crotty's decision is at this point "iron clad. This plant had a very negative impact on the community. If Freeport wanted to start it up again, they'd have to go back to the Commissioner."
But after March 26 hearing things could change for Freeport Electric.
Joseph Kralovich of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association said that "Freeport's appeal is designed to try to avoid the shut down and dismantling of the old plant. The DEC needs to have a date specific, otherwise the argument to close the old plant would always be an open ended one."
Freeport Electric is also saying that the early shut­down of the diesel is causing significant financial reper­cussions to the electric company.
In January Freeport Electric asked the New York Public Service Commission to increase the electric department's annual revenues from electric service by $4.8 million. What that means for ratepayers is that they may received a rate increase of as much as 18.9 percent over the next three years.
"I can't understand this [action]," said Freeport resi­dent
Vincent Greco. "The state'has told them twice to shut it down. In light of recent tax increases why return to court? Do they really have a supportable argument at this point?"
Hubert Bianco, Superintendent of Freeport Electric told The Leader that "the village and electric department will not comment on this matter of pending litigation. I remain focused on the timely completion and commer­cial operation of the new LM6000 combustion turbine."
According to papers just filed in court, the LM6000 generator is scheduled to be fully operational by April 29,2004. '
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