Nighttime CPV testing. Officials say despite the plant burning fuel
oil, the emissions are steam (photo: Jesse Gocke)
WAWAYANDA – The twin stacks at the CPV electric generating plant
spewed vapor Friday night and again Tuesday night and into Wednesday leaving
area residents fuming.
The startup has been using fuel oil leaving “a more visible plume,”
said CPV spokesman Tom Rumsey. He said Wednesday that the facility is
being “tuned to safely operate at optimal efficiency and reliability.”
The process should last “over the next couple of weeks” and
he said “any visual impacts or odor associated with startup is temporary.”
Jesse Gocke, who lives in nearby Goshen, is complaining about a sore throat
and is going to the doctor to have it checked out. She drove over to the
plant on Wednesday evening and said it smelled from diesel fuel.
“I have a farm. I have a tractor. I know what diesel smells like,
which doesn’t really make any sense to me. If it really is steam,
I don’t know if that makes it better or worse,” she said.
Angela Cardner of Westtown is concerned about the potential for her property
value to decrease as a result of the plant’s operation. But, more
importantly, she is concerned for her son’s health. He attends Minisink
High School just down the road on Route 6.
“I am horrified and I am telling my son to hurry up and get out
of that school,” she said.
Long-time Goshen resident Jared Quattrini said it is “very evident
that this is going to be a 40-year pollutant of Orange County.”
Rumsey said when natural gas is available, “we will switch to our
primary fuel, greatly reducing emissions and improving facility efficiency.”
He said the emissions and impacts associated with the startup and testing
“are part of the permitting process, and as always we will continue
to adhere to those standards.”
A natural gas connection will be months away as preliminary construction
work on the lateral for the Millennium pipeline is in the early stages.
Rumsey also said the visible plume coming from the stacks is steam, not
emissions from combustion. “We want to assure residents that all
of the current activity is being conducted in a safe manner and in accordance
with the approved state permitting process.”
