CPV FACT SHEET

Click here for: CPV fact sheet-What you must know

CPV POWER PLANT FACT SHEET

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV)Is a Maryland based venture capital firm that has a history of securing permits and then flipping a majority share of the asset, usually to GE Capitol. At this time GE Capital and CPV are attempting to transfer ownership of this project to a division of Mitsubishi and a new foreign owned group called Global Infrastructure Partners.

They plan to build a 650MW power plantin the Town of Wawayanda on a 122 acre site, which will include: two 275ft smoke stacks, electrical interconnects, a near million gallon diesel tank, a 15,000 gallon ammonia tank, a GIS building, and a 7 mile lateral pipeline that will connect to the Millennium Pipeline in Minisink ‐‐ all highly volatile and toxic facilities prone to leaks and explosions. They have now started attempting to survey for the 7 mile lateral pipeline.

This would be built on protected farmland, through 60 acres of federally designatedwetlands and known endangered species habitat; would destroy a historic site and a native burial ground; would abut a public housing project; and would be close to residential communities and schools.

BACKGROUND:

  • ●  The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) allowed the Town of Wawayanda to assume lead agency for the review of this project, which has issued all approvals through a faulty SEQR process.
  • ●  The location was targeted in 2005. In 2006 they began the permitting process, in 2008 the first scoping meeting was held, in 2014 the last permit was issuedby the Public Service Commission (PSC). And in April, 2015 the Town of Wawayanda planning board issued approval for an amended site plan.
  • ●  TheyarenowtryingtosecurefinancingthroughalongtermPowerPurchaseAgreementwith NYS or Economic Development Funds but Governor Cuomo has not yet signed off on it and the constitutionality of PPAs are under litigation.
  • ●  CPV and their agents are among the largest donors to Cuomo and in NYS in general.
  • ●  Most of our local and state elected officials have supported this project.
  • ●  CPV asserts that this PLANT is needed to close Indian Point ‐‐ though NYS does not use most ofIndian Point’s power.
  • ●  CPV identifies the impact radius as 5 miles. Standard air modeling analysis says that it would beat least 30 miles for direct impacts,(likely double due to our topography) and hundreds of miles for indirect. Only residents living within 500 feet were directly notified;that was in 2013. It is important to note that they are purchasing air Emissions Reduction Credits from over 100 miles away in PA and Long Island.
  • ●  This is a greenfield site. Once it becomes a brownfield site it will justify further expansion.
  • ●  The Iroquois pipeline has already proposed connecting to it.
  • ●  The City of Middletown has signed a contract togive CPV at least 400,000 gallons per a dayof gray waterand then allow them to dump their wastewater back into the city’s Sewer Treatment Plant. The water would end up eventually in the Wallkill River. This does not stop them from drawing water from our aquifer, which is allowed in their permits. up to 365,000 gallons a day of pristine water.

● The Walkill River aquifer is a Sole Source Aquiferthat serves about 40,000 people in Orange County NY and northern NJ.

AIR EMISSIONS AND HEALTH IMPACTS:

  • ●  Theplantwillemit2.1milliontonsofCO2eperyear,whichisequivalentto210coaltrains,and is .037 % of the entire annual U.S. CO2e emissions.
  • ●  The plant will also emit 700 tons annually of VOCs, NOx, SOx, PM 10, PM 2.5, UFPM, andFormaldehyde. All are known carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors.
  • ●  PM 2.5 and UFPM are very dangerous because they enter deep in the lungs and penetrate theblood stream.
  • ●  Ozone has been known to decrease crop production by as much as 30%. The plant will likelyimpact the Black Dirt region, home to many of our onion farms, organic farms and vineyards.
  • ●  CPV failed to identify hotspots. Hotspots are locations where the emissions impact would bedouble because of topography and wind patterns.
  • ●  The soup‐bowl formation of our valley as well as temperature inversions will hold pollutants inthe area.
  • ●  This is not your grandfather’s gas.It is highly corrosive and radioactive. According tophysicist, Martin Resnikoff, Marcellus Shale gas is 70 times more radioactive than

    conventional gas.This plant will become a source of radioactivity.

  • ●  The Power plant will have 43 times the emissions of the Minisink Compressor station accordingto environmental scientist, Wilma Subra. Minisink has already reported an increase in health symptoms similar to symptoms reported in frack fields. Governor Cuomo banned fracking in NY citing health risks.
  • ●  CPV is connected to the Minisink Compressor Station, which was segmented in violation of federal and state environmental laws.SAFETY:
  • ●  This plant can easily become a terrorist target.
  • ●  The project will build a near million gallon back up diesel tank, with only a 10 percent buffer.Town of Goshen asserts this is not enough to prevent spills.
  • ●  Geologist Paul Rubin, of Hydroquest has identified a fault line going through the property.
  • ●  The project includes a 15,000‐gallon ammonia tank at 19% concentration. When ammonia at a20% concentration is stored, the Clean Air Act and federal regulations require that a

    catastrophic release model be developed. Inhalation of ammonia can be fatal.

  • ●  Millennium Pipeline will build and operate the 7mile lateral. They have a poor safety record.NiSource – the parent company of Millennium ‐‐ owns the pipeline that exploded in Sissonville WV. Minisink has already had several incident reports of leaks and odors at their compressor station. They are threatening landowners with eminent domain for this pipeline.

    WHAT YOU CAN DO
    DONATE TO OUR LEGAL FUND TO STOP THIS ANCHOR PROJECT

    PAYPAL AND MAILING INSTRUCTIONS ALONG WITH OTHER INFORMATION protectorangecounty.org

TO CONNECT TO OTHERS WORKING TO STOP THIS:
Write to wakeuporangecounty@gmail.com
POINTS OF INTEREST REGARDING CPV – FISCAL CONSIDERATIONS

CPV ‘s reps, lawyers and consultants have worked the system and obtained the necessary approvals and permits to construct the plant but financing remains uncertain and the project is not inevitable.

  • ●  To support CPV’s endeavors to secure investor financing, the OCIDA approved a Property Purchase/Lease /Buy Back agreement, mortgage and sales tax exemptions, a property tax abatement or PILOT, which shifts the tax burden and places financial risk on taxpayers.
  • ●  As reported in the TH‐Record, the NYISO realignment of electrical power “Capacity Zones” in the Hudson Valley to subsidize power plants, approved by FERC, has resulted in a 5% or 6% rate increase for residential ratepayers in Orange and 9 other upstate counties; business and industrial rates have gone up by 10% and could increase up to 25% but this change does not benefit the upstate counties.
  • ●  Point is taxpayers and ratepayers will subsidize CPV and other power plants (such as Danskammer and Cricket Valley).
  • ●  The Capacity Zone change occurred despite the fact that there are 4 proposals under review by the NYPSC to facilitate the transmission of less expensive Canadian Hydro and upstate NY Wind, Solar and natural gas energy to the downstate region.
  • ●  Most of the power plants in the Hudson Valley, including Indian Point’s nuclear plant, are operating well below capacity, at about 43%.
  • ●  There is no need for the electricity CPV will generate and that is a key reason why CPV needs a Power Purchase Agreement with NYPA.
  • ●  As Climate Change accelerates governments all over the world at every level will be forced to transition to Renewable Energy and the transition has already begun but time is running out.
  • ●  CPV negates the consideration of developing renewable energy technology, which is currently feasible, economically viable and, in the long run, much more cost effective providing high paying sustainable jobs in the process.WHAT YOU CAN DO
    DONATE TO OUR LEGAL FUND TO STOP THIS ANCHOR PROJECT PAYPAL AND MAILING INSTRUCTIONS ALONG WITH OTHER INFORMATION protectorangecounty.org

    TO CONNECT TO OTHERS WORKING TO STOP THIS: Write to wakeuporangecounty@gmail.com

 

This is what a CPV power plant really looks like. CPV Sentinel

 

YOU’VE HEARD THE PROPAGANDA –NOW GET THE FACTS

Safety:

Gas pipelines are inherently dangerous. Those carrying fracked-gas such as the Millennium pipeline are even more so. The gas is highly radioactive and toxic and there is very little regulatory oversight. The acknowledge these risks in their 10K statement: “NiSource’s gas distribution and gas transmission and storage activities involve a variety of inherent hazards and operating risks, such as leaks, accidents, including third party damages, and mechanical problems, which could cause substantial financial losses. In addition, these risks could result in serious injury to employees and non-employees, loss of human life, significant damage to property, environmental pollution and impairment of its operations, which in turn could lead to substantial losses to NiSource.” In accordance with customary industry practice, NiSource maintains insurance against some, but not all, of these risks and losses.”

Less Protection for Rural Areas. Pipeline width is determined by area class. For the most part, rural areas are designated as lower consequence areas and as such do not need as thick a pipe as areas that have lots of residents living nearby. An example of how rural areas are seen as “less worthy of protection” in our country

A recent Wall Street Journal review found that there were 1,400 pipeline spills and accidents in the U.S. 2010-2013. According to the Journal review, four in every five pipeline accidents are discovered by local residents, not the companies that own the pipelines

Columbia Gas, which manages the Millennium Pipeline has one of the worst safety records of all. in February 2015, one of their leaking 30-inch natural gas pipelines sparked an explosion in Knifley, Ky. The fire destroyed two houses, four cars, a carport and three other buildings. Two people were injured. A day after the fire, federal pipeline regulators ordered Columbia Gas Transmission Co. to shut down the line. Allowing it to stay in operation “would result in likely serious harm to life, property and the environment,” documents show.

In 2012, Millennium Pipeline was fined by federal regulators for failing to fix faulty welds in their fabrication yard. Instead of fixing them they buried them all along their pipeline and still don’t know where they area.

On December 11, 2012, a 20-inch high-pressure Columbia Gas natural gas pipeline running through Sissonville, West Virginia ruptured with so much force that a 20-foot-long segment of pipe was thrown more than 40 feet from where it had been buried. The released natural gas ignited and burned so hot that it charred 800 feet of roadway along nearby Interstate 77, destroyed three homes, and melted the siding on houses hundreds of feet from the rupture site.

These are just a few of the incidents involving Columbia Pipeline (who own and manage the Millennium). There are numerous pipeline safety violations by the company listed at this website http://gdacc.org/2013/07/31/millennium-pipeline-safety-record/. In the event of a pipeline rupture the Potential Impact Radius for a 16 inch pipe is anywhere from 900-1100 feet depending on the pressure of the gas. According to one analysis, this catastrophic evacuation zone would produce such intense heat the radiation emitted by a pipeline rupture/fire is so intense that the only practical strategy for a municipal fire department is to let the fire burn itself out. It is also unrealistic to expect persons within the impact radius of a pipeline rupture/fire to be rescued by fire department personnel who lack equipment for working in zones of high thermal radiation.

In fact, ever since fracking became widespread the number of gas explosions has increased dramatically. According to PHMSA’s website, there were 703 leaks and other accidents in 2014, up from 617 the year before. Of those, 309 were classified as “significant” incidents, meaning they involved a death, serious injury, significant damage, or a large liquids spill. That’s an increase from 296 significant incidents since 2013.

And who can forget the horrific pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA, in 2008 that killed eight people.

It has become so common that there was another pipeline explosion just yesterday (June 9 2015) in PA on a Williams Pipeline. Everyone living within 3 miles had to be evacuated. “It almost sounded like an airplane crash,” said Craig Seely of Unityville. “It just started roaring”.

Oil Tanks are also dangerous. In May of 2015 a 96,000 oil tank caught fire. The tank began leaking and the gas vapors ignited. DENHAM SPRINGS, LA (WAFB) -More than two dozen homes were evacuated for almost a full day after an oil tank exploded Thursday night and a second tank exploded early Friday morning in Livingston Parish. Because the winds were blowing the fumes toward vacant land, only about 30 homes in a one-mile radius of the explosion site were evacuated. CPV’s tank will be 10 times that amount at 965,000 gallons.

 And so are ammonia tanks, which can kill instantly. Go to www.protectorangecounty.org to see a video of a police office killed instantly when he goes near a leaking ammonia tank.

It would take 84 11,000 gallon tanker trucks to fill the oil tank which would only provide 3 days worth of power. This means that we could see 840 to 1680 tanker trucks in and out of the site within a year. Areas with heavy truck traffic have much greater incidents of traffic fatalities.

There is virtually no regulatory oversight. PHMSA has only a handful of inspectors for hundreds and thousands of miles of pipeline. “With the huge build-out of new pipelines, you’d like to think they’re putting a lot more people on the ground,” said Carl Weimer of Pipeline Safety Trust.

According to U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio “PHMSA is an incredibly opaque agency with a history of trusting the industry to self-regulate,” DeFazio wrote. “I am concerned about the agency’s ability to address significant safety issues in a timely manner.”

According to real estate attorney Elizabeth Radow, pipelines also decrease your property value. She says. Please note that gas pipelines are being found to reduce residential property value. Jury awards and private negotiation for property owners who hold-out are resulting in higher “condemnation” prices paid to contesting property owners to compensate for their loss of property value. Lenders and those watching the secondary mortgage market should be aware that borrowers who enter into easement agreements without getting lender consent (which is most likely what happens) and accept lowball (or no) compensation for the pipeline expansion next to their homes could be jeopardizing the value of the mortgaged collateral.” ENR

Pipelines also can make disturbing constant noises called low frequency hum. The power plant FEIS says maximum noise levels at the plant will be 85 decibels. The World Health Organization says that exposure to noise levels beyond 40 decibels is a risk to human health.

The Air Quality will dramatically deteriorate. To look at the emissions just from the Minisink Compressor station go to www.stopmcs.org to see what it is already spewing in our area. The power plant would release 43 times the emissions as the compressor station.

This pipeline is connected to the Minisink Compressor station, which is devastating the community of Minisink. Several families have already moved because of Millennium selling their homes substantially below market value. Other families have documented health impacts.

Many farmers in the black dirt region have complained to FERC that Millennium has ruined their farms.

The tax base for the CPV plant is a loss not a benefit to the public. CPV would pay a total of $46.3M over a period of 22 years. The following calculation is based on 2014 tax rates and uses an assessment of 72.488% (as most homes have) for their $900, 000,000 facility. It does not include compounded raises of approximately 2% per year, thus the actual amount would be much higher. The calculation shows that the true bill for a 22 year period should be an astounding $596,284,226 a far cry from the $46.3M negotiated. This rate is locked in so that any tax increases they don’t pay over a 22 year period will be paid by you.

The CPV Valley Project has just been sold to an international consortium of investors, Global Infrastructure Partners and Diamond Group, owned by Mitsubishi Corporation. So a major energy project in the U.S would be entirely foreign owned. Is that energy independence or energy dependence.

For more information www.ProtectOrangeCounty.org          email: wakeuporangecounty@gmail.com

 

 

 

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CPV and the Town Planning board have assured the public that the plumes will be barely visible and nothing but steam.  Well that is exactly what they told residents in response to public concerns over the smoke stack plumes in Athens, N.Y. for a similar project.  Take a look at what the plumes really look like.

Athensplumedetail

Athens, N.Y. CPV Managed Power plant in the Winter

This is what they said in Athens: (Though the plant was permitted in part on the flimsy promise that there would be no visible plumes—ostensibly satisfying the concerns of several intervenors—in practice tall, billowing plumes are often visible from numerous sites in Greene and Columbia County during colder months.   You can read more here.