GOSHEN – Work is moving right along on the sprawling Competitive
Power Ventures (CPV) power plant on Route 6, in Wawayanda, but that isn’t
stopping opponents from trying new angles to stop or at least force a
new review of the permitting process.
Attorney Michael Sussman addressed a room full of CPV opponents in his
Goshen office Wednesday afternoon, telling them the next strategy is face-to-face
meetings with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
In order to point out what he terms a “fundamental incongruity”
in a state banning fracking, but allowing construction of a plan that
will largely be dependent on fracked gas.
“The people of the county cannot just be left in the dark when these
serious environmental issues are going on; health issues,” Sussman
said, quoting from a letter he sent to both the governor and attorney
general. “And that’s what we’re asking these two gentleman
for; meetings so we can outline our concerns and they can have an agenda
to investigate who best to ask to help us get to the bottom of these things.
And, hopefully, a coherent state policy. And obviously, we know this just
doesn’t affect our county.”
Sussman noted the recently formed “Tristates Unite for Safe Energy,”
a coalition that includes neighbors in Pike County, Pennsylvania and Sussex
County, New Jersey.
Sussman had particularly harsh criticism for the Wawayanda Planning Board,
which he accused of “subsidizing” the CPV project, after ignoring
public input.
“The town Planning Board scoffed at the public, and at a public
hearing held in early April 2015, shut down public discussion in a rude
manner, which is certainly captured on video, and then requested that
CPV’s own lawyers respond to the public comments made at the hearing
and in writing thereafter. CPV told the Planning Board that the citizen
comments were largely irrelevant and the planning board then approved
the amended site plan.”
Sussman argued that net result of this is that the “actual impact
of projects are not disclosed to the people.” He said CPV is not
an isolated instance of that happening.
