Politics & Government

$11 Million Riding on Council Vote

Hess would give city huge grant for power plant easement, but concerns about East Ward project remain


The subject matter may sound dry, but what’s at stake is anything but.

The Newark Municipal Council is considering a request from the Hess Corp. for an easement through sections of Delancy Street, Doremus Avenue, Wilson Avenue and Avenue P in the East Ward, an area near where the company recently won planning board approval to construct a 655-megawatt power plant fueled by natural gas.

The plant will be known as the Newark Energy Center.

Addressing the council yesterday, Deputy Mayor Adam Zipkin said the easement is needed so Hess can install electrical transmission lines. Should the easement be granted by the council, the city will receive a lump sum payment of $11 million from Hess.

But Zipkin and other officials said that if Newark fails to grant the easement, Hess will instead seek to route its lines through Kearny -- and the city would also lose out on the $11 million.

The council yesterday took a preliminary vote to authorize the administration of Mayor Cory Booker to grant the easement. The decision cannot be finalized, however, until a second vote July 11 during a special meeting scheduled yesterday. During that meeting, which begins at 6:30 pm at city hall, the public will be allowed to speak on the easement question.

The power plant itself , due to be completed in 2015, was approved last month by the city’s planning board despite a strenuous outcry from environmentalists and East Ward residents. Members of the municipal council, including Ron Rice and Ras Baraka, have asked for more detailed environmental impact data on the project.

Although next month’s vote on the easement will have no effect on whether it will be built, the proceeding is likely to draw plant opponents who believe the siting of the facility raises profound social justice issues. Newark is home to infrastructure, including a trash incinerator, that, while vital to the entire region’s economy, may be detrimental to the health of city residents, critics charge. 

Jim Walsh, of the New Brunswick-based chapter of Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group, noted that much natural gas -- the fuel for the Newark plant -- is produced through the controversial mining technique known as “fracking.”  At fracked natural gas wellheads, levels of radon are nearly 40 times higher than what’s considered safe under federal guidelines, Walsh said. While there are few studies on whether radon would also be disbursed when fracked gas is consumed in a power plant, Walsh said the time to find that out is now, before the plant is built.

“We should know these things are safe before we do them. We should not wait for people to get sick before we respond,” said Walsh, who is calling for a cumulative impact assessment to be performed.

“This should be front and center on the council’s agenda.”

East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador, however, believes that since the Newark Energy Center has already received planning board approval, voting against the easement next month would be a pointless gesture that would only cost the city a windfall.

“The discussion at the time of the easement hearing is to an extent irrelevant,” said Amador, who is also a member of the planning board.

Amador, who recused himself when the matter came before the planning board due to his ties to rival power generator PSE&G, has voted in favor of the easement. With the plant approved, Amador no longer has a conflict and is free to vote on what is now a side issue.

While Amador concedes that he is not thrilled to have the plant located in the city -- “Is it something I would like to have in my backyard? Absolutely not,” he said -- he is also satisfied that the plant will have no ill effects on residents’ health and will be far more “green” than most of the region’s other energy sources. The project has passed muster with state and federal environmental officials, will be much cleaner than the area’s two coal-fired power plants, and will be located more than a mile from any Ironbound residence.

“This will be closer to a residential complex in Jersey City,” he said.

Hess has also offered a much better deal to the city than other major developers have in the past, Amador added. Along with the $11 million easement payment, the city will get another $3.5 million advance property-tax type payment, $1.5 million for street trees, $5 million to renovate a stadium in the Ironbound, along with the regular “payment in lieu of taxes” the facility will turn over to the city annually once it’s operating.

But even Amador still has reservations. Earlier this week, Hess asked the planning board for additional time to submit final site plans for the Newark Energy Center. The company is also asking that a sound barrier originally included in the plan be scrapped. Amador opposes both requests.

Responding to questions emailed yesterday, a Hess spokesperson said the extension was needed due to pending legislation that may require additional changes to the plan. A contractor just hired for the project may also need to adjust the plan, the spokesperson said, adding that none of the changes would be substantial.

The “sound wall” is not needed because the plant meets noise requirements without it, the spokesperson also said.


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