Ravenswood red-tailed hawk rescued

From CBS New York:

A hawk was rescued, rehabbed and released in Queens Tuesday, after getting stuck inside the Ravenswood Generating Station.

The red-tailed hawk was found on Friday inside the power plant along the East River in Long Island City, Queens.

The hawk got stuck in a turbine exhaust room, CBS2 was told.

Rescue crews named the bird Rambo.

Big Allis a big polluter

From the Queens Tribune:

The Environment New York Research & Policy Center released a report last week indicating that the TC Ravenswood Power Plant in Long Island City is the State’s most significant carbon polluter.

According to the center, Ravenswood produces about 2.3 million metric tons in emissions, which is the equivalent of about 500,000 cars.

These statistics were collected from U.S. Dept. of Energy 2012 emissions data. Ravenswood generating station is a 2,480 megawatt with the capacity to service 21 percent of the City’s peak energy load.

Rose Marie Poveromo sits on the Community Board 1 environmental committee. In response to the ENYRPC report, she said, “I believe it.”

The plant, known colloquially as Big Allis, has sparked moderate concern from residents throughout the years regarding noise, water and air pollution.

“All [power plants] have to become clean and green,” Poveromo said. “We who live in the communities [are] suffering from air pollution and noise pollution.”

Dorothy Morehead, vice chair of the Newtown Creek Alliance and chair of the environmental committee for Community Board 2, which neighbors the plant, said “emissions from power plants has long been a concern.”

A TransCanada representative disputed the findings of the report.

“Their conclusion is based on estimated data, not actual data. Based on real data supplied to the regulator, our CO2 emitting rates at the Ravenswood Generating Station are significantly lower than what the report claims,” the spokesperson said.

2M gallons of East River water per day?

From New York Water Law:

The first noticed application for a water withdrawal permit under New York's new water withdrawal laws and regulations, the application of the Ravenswood Generating Station in Queens, does not establish a comforting precedent for the handling of such applications by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Notice of the Ravenswood application is given in the DEC's August 7, 2013, Environmental Notice Bulletin,

No hearings are scheduled on the application for a permit to withdraw approximately 1.5 billion gallons per day from the East River in New York City, and the DEC determined that the project is not subject to SEQRA because, according to the notice, "it is a Type II action." Comments are due on Aug 22, 2013. The entire comment period on this very first application by one of the state's largest water users is only two weeks long and is located in the middle of August, when summer vacations are often taken.

The categorization of the project as a Type II action is difficult to fathom because projects that "would use ground or surface water in excess of 2,000,000 gallons per day," are explicitly defined as Type I actions in Section 617.4(6)(ii) of the SEQRA regulations.

Although this is the first noticed application under the new water withdrawal regulations and as such can be expected to be the subject of considerable interest across the state, the filed application documents and DEC's draft permit are available for inspection only during normal business hours at the address of the DEC contact person in Albany. Members of the public who wish to comment on the application, but do not live in Albany, are likely to find that it takes most of the two week comment period just to obtain a copy of the application and draft permit.

Smokin' power plant

From NBC:

Firefighters are looking into what caused heavy black smoke to billow from a smokestack at a power plant near the East River in Queens Monday.

Firefighters were called to TransCanada's Ravenswood power plant at Vernon Boulevard and 37th Avenue in Long Island City about 4:30 p.m. Neighbors from both the west side of Queens and the east side of Manhattan reported seeing thick smoke coming from one of the four red and white smokestacks.

According to the energy company, a boiler combustion fan lost power, causing the inside of the smoke stack to overheat and produce black smoke.

Renderings of giant soccer stadium released

A couple of not-so-pleasant surprises from our friends over at Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park:

1. The Wilpons are likely building their own power plant as well as a sewage treatment plant as part of the Willets Point project.
2. The design for the secret MLS soccer stadium (that has no team) has been revealed, and it is quite gargantuan and ugly.

They want to build WHAT in Flushing Meadows?

Check this out from A Walk in the Park:

Queens Community Board 7's Parks Committee convened forty-eight hours after a lively full-board meeting where more than a dozen members of the public came out to testify in opposition to the USTA's controversial $ 500 million dollar plan to expand again into Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

The Parks Committee expected the Parks Department and the USTA to come back with concrete financial numbers to be spent on "park improvements," in exchange for being allowed to build on almost an acre of parkland.

That did not happen.

Instead, officials spent a good portion of the night avoiding questions and answering in half-truths.

Board members brought up a host of issues - the loss of parkland, destruction of trees, increased traffic and pollution, high prices of playing at the National Tennis Center, and the city's lack of commitment to take care of the park among others. Despite repeated requests from the board the USTA has still refused to put its expansion presentation on-line for all to see.

Parks and USTA officials said they have already lined up State Assembly Member Jeffrion L. Aubry and State Senator Jose Peralta to introduce the alienation bill, which does not require park replacement. They did not identify the City Council member who will sponsor a Home Rule message that is also required.

"And yes, the Parks Department really need to do a better job of paying attention to the largest green space in the largest borough instead of spending so much damn attention to Central Park and Prospect Park," said Parks Chair Kim Ohanian closing the meeting. "And we are sick and tired of getting short changed. You guys treat us like crap and we're tired of it. Ok?" she continued.

"You spend very little money on this park. You have neglected it, you have treated it like garbage and it's not right.

You don't spend enough money to take care of it. You don't have enough help, and don't spend enough money and you don't treat it right.

There's no reason why the Fountain of the Planets looks the way that it does. You've neglected it, you've neglected a lot of that park and shame on you."

"Please be prepared have answers to the questions that were presented to you tonight."

We ask questions we deserve answers. We don't get them they don't get theirs."

The meeting was adjourned until the first week in March.

(When CB7 will vote yes anyway...)

From The Fairness Coalition:

2) Power Plant in the Park?
The plan calls for building a dirty diesel fuel power plant inside the park. Hidden inside the most recent DEIS report, the USTA seeks to build an 8 Megawatt, 20 foot high diesel-fueled power plant. Surrounding communities already suffer from air quality and asthma rates at epidemic levels. This power plant will emit a massive amount of air pollution into the park and surrounding communities. (page 11-17 DEIS Jan 2013)

So Hevesi, Koslowitz, Peralta and Aubry think a power plant inside Flushing Meadows is a great idea? How much payoff did these morons get from the USTA?

Poletti Plant to be demolished

From the Daily News:

One of the city’s dirtiest former power plants is being razed to the ground, ensuring that it cannot be resurrected to once again pollute the air in northwestern Queens.

The Charles Poletti Power Project, located off 20th Ave. in Astoria, is to be dismantled in early 2013, elected officials said Tuesday.

The facility, which began operation in 1977, was shuttered in 2010 following a lawsuit and years of sustained community opposition.

Former Gov. George Pataki announced in 2002 that the Poletti facility would be phased out. The 885-megawatt plant, which burned oil and natural gas, was operated by the New York Power Authority. It was phased out over the next eight years and was replaced in 2005 by a newer, cleaner New York Power Authority facility nearby.

Authority officials did not immediately respond to repeated requests for information on Tuesday.

But Astoria and Long Island City still produce the bulk of the city’s power supply — a fact bemoaned by local environmentalists who blame the area’s high rates of asthma on the facilities.

Consumers may get whacked by regulatory decision

From the Times Ledger:

The state is demanding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission turn back a recent decision regarding how market rates for one of Astoria’s power plants are calculated on the grounds that the ruling could increase electricity bills across the state by up to $500 million.

“FERC is modifying the rule in a way that will artificially force [Astoria Energy II] to increase its offer price for capacity to a point where it will not be accepted,” the state Public Service Commission said in a press release.

The PSC’s request for a hearing was in response to FERC overturning last month a 2010 decision by the New York Independent System Operator. The latter agency determined that the costs of operating Astoria Energy II, a 550-megawatt plant, at 17-10 Steinway St. in Astoria’s Con Edison complex, were smaller than the predicted revenues the plant was projected to earn from the electrical market.

Astoria Energy II’s local competitors — US Power Generating’s Astoria Generating and TransCanada’s TC Ravenswood — had issued complaints against the ISO’s decision and FERC decided to have the ISO redetermine Astoria Energy II’s operating costs with changes to the test the PSC said would set up Astoria Energy II’s cost to be higher than the market rates.

The PSC estimated this could increase electricity bills for consumers both in New York City and upstate by $500 million in 2013.

All on board for new power plant

From DNA Info:

Residents and officials usually oppose bids by power plants in this Queens neighborhood, which they say has suffered from pollution and high asthma rates for years.

But this time they have thrown their support behind NRG's move to replace its generators to cut peak emissions by 98 percent.

Smart Power NY, a coalition of elected officials and community leaders, formed in April to promote the NRG's bid for a deal to sell power to the grid, which is necessary to obtain financing for the $1.5 billion project.

The group is trying to garner as much support from state and federal officials as possible ahead of May 30 deadline, organizers said at a meeting in Astoria Wednesday night.

The Princeton, N.J.-based company wants to replace 31 decades-old generators, which are currently using primarily oil, with four new units, which would use mostly natural gas.

The switch would allow the company to increase energy production from 600 Megawatts to 1040 Megawatts, increasing generation efficiency by 56 percent while reducing on-site peak day emissions by 98 percent, according to NRG.

Company officials also said the project would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 million tons each year, the equivalent of removing 185,000 cars from New York City’s streets.

Power proposal may benefit Astoria

From the Daily News:

A proposal to create a $2.2 billion power transmission line to bring wind and hydroelectric power from Quebec to Astoria is pitting environmentalists and against each another and creating some unusual alliances.

The Champlain Hudson Power Express project would bring up to 1,000 megawatts of Canadian power into the city through a roughly 333-mile underground, and at times underwater, cable.

A public hearing on the project is slated for 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Public School 122 in Astoria. The state Public Service Commission is to review comments on the plan before deciding whether to approve it.

The proposal delighted some locals who don’t want more power plants built in western Queens.

But detractors say it could discourage the state from developing its own renewable energy sources and warned that cost overruns could be passed on to consumers.

Surprise pollution increase in Astoria

From the Daily News:

An Astoria power plant is attempting to clean up its act by swapping out one of its aging generators for two new, more environmentally friendly ones.

The only catch is that Astoria Generating Company's roughly $750 million Luyster Creek Energy Project may actually be permitted to increase pollution in the area.

That fact wasn't made clear at a public hearing Wednesday in Astoria on the proposed 410-megawatt facility. And that's worrying local elected officials.

Community members can submit written comments about the proposal - which needs state approval - to the Department of Environmental Conservation through Sept. 9.

The company hopes to receive the necessary permits by the end of the year and start construction by the spring of 2013, a company official said.

The two new generators would go live in 2015 and allow the plant to produce about 16% more electricity, the official said.

"The overall plan is expected to reduce emissions," said project manager David Perri, who works for US Power Generating Company, which oversees Astoria Generating Company.

The Luyster Creek plan would swap out one old generator for two cleaner-burning ones, and lower emissions of two other generators that are about 50 years old, Perri said.

But regulatory permits could actually allow the company to produce more pollution overall in Astoria.

For example, the plant would be allowed to increase its overall carbon monoxide output by almost 89 tons a year, Perri said. Nitrogen oxide could go up by almost 25 tons annually.

Cleaner energy coming to Queens

From the NY Post:

State utility regulators today OK’d the installation of a giant new power plant in Queens.

NRG Energy Inc. will build the generator on the site of its existing plant, which is within the 600-acre Con Ed property on the northern edge of Astoria.

NRG will shut down its existing generators on the site, which were installed in 1969 and put out 600 megawatts of power.

In their place, the company will install a new generator capable of churning out 1,040 megawatts.

The extra power will be enough for 320,000 new homes, NRG says.

Although the new $1.4 billion plant will be much bigger, every year it will put out just 12 percent of the pollution of the existing plant, NRG says.

The first phase of the new plant will come on line in 2013, and the entire project will be finished by 2015.

On top of this, you can start to kiss your incandescent bulbs goodbye.

River power coming

From the Daily News:

A hydroelectric power project slated for the East River could soon juice the city with a megawatt of electricity if it gets a final thumbs-up from the feds.

After more than 10 years developing a plan to tap into renewable energy by installing turbines off the Queens shoreline, Verdant Power filed for a pilot commercial license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Dec. 29.

If the license is granted, the floor of the East River between Roosevelt Island and Queens could be lined with up to 30 underwater turbines by the end of 2011, said Trey Taylor, president of Verdant.

The company will then make an effort to sell its electricity to Con Edison or the New York Power Authority, and connect to the city's distribution grid.

City to turn crap into fuel

From NBC:

We flush it and it's out of our lives. But does anyone give a you-know-what about our waste going to waste?

"We do," says Commissioner Cas Holloway of the City's Department of Environmental Protection. "And what we're trying to do is take what is pure waste and turn it into a valuable resource."

The water from every toilet that flushes in the Rockaway section of Queens ends up at the Rockaway wastewater treatment plant. But instead of just being treated and dumped in the nearest waterway, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has bigger plans for that waste.

It's part of a pilot program that converts human wastewater into fuel.

"Now we literally have the ability to make gasoline-grade fuel out of waste water," Holloway said. "It's an environmental benefit, and it would reduce energy costs for the agency."

The experiment exposes wastewater to sunlight, causing photosynthesis. The algae that grows is shipped to a lab to be converted to biofuel.

If the technology works and proves cost efficient the city estimates it could power 2,800 cars a day on just 10 percent of the city's waste stream.

Cleaner air for northwestern Queens?

From the Daily News:

Northwestern Queens may soon breathe a bit easier.

The fact that the region bears the burden of five power plants remains a sore point for locals, but many of the 1960s-built plants may be getting makeovers in the form of more modern, greener technology.

One such plant is a 600-megawatt site on the East River in Astoria owned by NRG Energy. Company officials have received most of the permits needed to begin a $1.5 billion repowering project.

Repowering entails replacing vintage steam turbines with newer, more efficient "combined-cycle" turbines, which recycle the waste heat that older units release into the atmosphere.

"The problem is our turbines are 40 years old," said Lee Davis, vice president of NRG. "We bought these older plants with the intent of repowering."

If NRG secures the necessary funding, it will replace 31 old turbines with four combined-cycle units. The new turbines will reduce emissions by more than 75% annually, Davis said. It will also increase generating capacity by more than 400 megawatts.

Of the five plants in the region, three are still using vintage turbines. In January, New York Power Authority closed the Charles Poletti Power Project - a move that locals hailed as a major victory.

Poletti power plant closes tonight

From Fox 5:

Queens Power Plant to Close Sunday

One of New York City's dirtiest power plants is closing this weekend. New York State Power Authority officials confirmed Friday that The Charles Poletti Power Project in Astoria, Queens, will close at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

The Astoria plant was named one of the city's worst polluters in a 2002 report by the Environmental Protection Agency. The generating station was built in the mid-1970's and could burn either oil or natural gas.

Queens City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. calls the closing a breath of fresh air. Vallone and an environmental group won a 2002 lawsuit against the power authority, which led to the plant closing this weekend.

A replacement plant was built in 2005 to provide electricity to city agencies, subways and metro-area commuter trains.

Get ready for a long, hot summer!

From Crain's:

Workers at the Ravenswood Power Plant in Long Island City—which can generate about 2,500 megawatts of power a day—say they’ll walk off their jobs if they don’t have a new contract by 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. Union officials say “zero progress” has been made in talks with owner TransCanada and that management has yet to present them with the proposed length of a contract.

A spokesman for TransCanada, which bought Ravenswood from National Grid in October for $3.1 billion, would not comment on specifics of the negotiations, but insisted the plant would continue to operate in the event of a work stoppage. “We do have a contingency plan in place,” he said, though he would not provide specifics of the plan. “As a result there will be no disruption in operation.”

Union officials argued Ravenswood would not be able to run for more than a day or two without their members. “The notion that TransCanada can keep the plant running…is just pure nonsense,” President Harry Farrell said in a statement.

The strike would occur at a time when the city is expected to go through one of its warmest spells of the year, boosting demand for electricity—and, potentially, the union’s bargaining power. Temperatures are forecast to approach 90 degrees on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, according to Jay Searles, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not respond to requests for comment on any action the city may be taking.

Astoria overwhlemed by power plants

This comes from the Queens Tribune.

And from the NY Times:

The ultimate source of power in New York is a perennial and profoundly puzzling question. Some say it is wielded by a banking cabal; others by a fraternity of real estate developers. Tradition holds that power flows downward from the mayor and his aides in City Hall; cynicism that it has always bubbled up, often from the covert machinations of unions or the mob.

But for 20 percent of New York City, real power — 1,300 megawatts a day — comes from the 9,000-square-foot turbine room at the Astoria generating station, a huge industrial plant that burns each day like a tiki torch at the lonely farthest edge of northern Queens. Six stories high and barnacled on the floor with hulking steam-fed engines, the room brings electrical convenience to a sweeping half-moon of the city that extends more or less from Myrtle Avenue in Queens to the stands of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Power plant gets green light from state

From NY1:

A state board recently approved modifications to the second phase of an Astoria Energy Company power plant project. The ruling raises the power-producing capacity of the project from 1000 megawatts to 1240 megawatts.

Parting with Poletti

From the NY Times:

Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris sent a letter this week accusing the New York Power Authority of trying to keep one of the city’s dirtiest power plants open beyond the January 2010 deadline for shutting it.

The power authority — which provides electricity to city agencies, the Port Authority and other large users — denied the accusation and said it would abide by the 2003 agreement to shutter the 885-megawatt Charles Poletti power plant in Astoria, Queens.

To make up for the loss of the Poletti plant, the authority opened a 500-megawatt plant next door in 2005. It is also working with a company that has proposed building a cable under the Hudson River to transport electricity from plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, where energy prices are generally lower. And the agency signed a deal with Astoria Energy L.L.C., which is supposed to provide power from a new plant it is building in Queens.

But Mr. Gianaris, who represents northwestern Queens, said that the two projects might never get built because of technical complications, cost overruns and tight credit. He argued that the authority had long known of these problems and might use them as excuses to keep the Poletti plant open longer.