Environmentalists: New power plant would be detrimental to LI
Posted: October 29, 2018
Originally Published: October 25, 2018
FARMINGVILLE -
Environmentalists say a new power plant coming to Yaphank would be detrimental to Long Island.
“The last thing Long Island needs is a power plant that will shackle us to fossil fuels for the next 50 years,” says Adrienne Esposito, of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
The power plant, dubbed Caithness II, got the green light in 2014 when the Brookhaven Town Board voted 5-2 in favor of it. Back then, Caithness Long Island proposed a facility with two smokestacks. Plans for the project have since been downsized to 600 watts with one smokestack.
Plant opponents made their voices heard during the public comment portion of Thursday night’s Brookhaven Town Board meeting. But not everyone was opposed to the plant. One truck drove around Town Hall with a message in support of the plant.
News 12 reached out to Caithness about the plant. It called Caithness II a modern clean-burning, gas-fired plant that “will also support the increased use of renewable resources, like solar and wind, during times when those resources are not available.”
But environmentalists say they still have their concerns.
Town Supervisor Ed Romaine made it clear at the meeting that the town board will take no further action on Caithness II.
News 12 is told that Caithness is working through the permit process to finish the plant.