Power Generator Plan Fuels Brentwood Fury

By ROBERT GEARTY Daily News Staff Writer

he construction stakes are already in the ground to build a small power generator on the Pilgrim State Hospital grounds in Brentwood, but that hasn't silenced community criticism of the project.

An informational meeting Tuesday at Suffolk Community College's Brentwood campus turned raucous, according to participants, with frequent shouted interruptions and threats of lawsuits.

"The plan was never to take it to the community; their plan was to take or leave it," said Frank Signor of the Brentwood Civic Association.

Said Elsa Ford, a breast cancer advocate and chairwoman of the Brentwood Parents, Teachers and Students Association's environmental committee said: "The overall feeling is that this project is unacceptable."

The New York Power Authority and the Long Island Power Authority have proposed building a 44-megawatt gas turbine generator at Pilgrim State by June 1.

The project got the final go-ahead Jan. 12, when the state Environmental Conservation Department granted it an air pollution control permit.

The authority's plan to install 10 similar-sized power generators in New York City has drawn as much opposition, if not more, as the Pilgrim State facility.

Nine of those plants got construction approval Jan. 12. They are being built in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. A tenth, slated for Staten Island, is still awaiting approval.

LIPA Chairman Richard Kessel said the new Long Island power generator is needed as a stopgap measure to meet the growing demand for electricity. He said he wished he could build another.

"If we don't have enough power, we could be in for another California," he said, alluding to the electricity shortage plaguing the nation's biggest state.

Ford was one of those critical about the way the project was presented to the community Nov. 22. It was the day before Thanksgiving. Three weeks later, there was a public hearing in Brentwood, but few attended.

More showed up Tuesday.

One of them was Ford, who said she produced a 1996 architectural report saying the site where the power generator is to be built is a sewage treatment bed unsuitable for development.

She said the new plant also poses a health risk to the surrounding area, which has a high incidence of asthma.

"The problem we see is that NYPA fast-tracked this project over state and local environmental laws that protect our health by saying they're needed," she said.

Laura Mansi went to the meeting as president of the Dix Hills-based Four Towns Civic Association.

She said it was her feeling the generator should have undergone a more thorough environmental review.

"It should have had an impact statement," she said.

She said alternatives to building a new generator, like conservation, should have been considered.

Gordian Raacke, a LIPA watchdog, agreed.

"Why do we need to burn fossil fuel and pollute the air, if we have much cleaner alternatives," he said.

Kessel said he empathized with the community and that LIPA was working to allay concerns. He said he believed the generator, which will use high-tech emission controls and is the first of its kind on Long Island, wouldn't pose any environmental or health risks.

He underscored the need for the new plant.

"If we can't build power plants on Long Island, then the lights are going to go out," he said. "It's that simple."

http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-01-21/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-96630.asp

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 21, 2001