By Steve Ahlquist in Rhode Island’s Future
RIDEM’s third data request to Invenergy, released
yesterday, reads as a devastating critique of the proposed $700 million fracked
gas and diesel oil burning power plant. If Governor Gina Raimondo was serious when she recently told ecoRI News that,
“…if there are issues then the plant won’t go forward,” then the project is
dead on arrival.
In addition to “missing info” that renders the application
incomplete, on page 3 the Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management notes that impact of the the various
projects in Burrillville has been fragmented, making the cumulative impact of
Invenergy’s proposed power plant; Spectra Energy’s Aim Project; Eversource Energy, National Grid and Spectra Energy’s Access Northeast project and TransCanada’s Ocean State Power difficult
to determine.
On page 7, RIDEM alleges that the “applicant makes several confusing
and conflicting assertions about the purpose and need for the project…
“The emissions and cost-benefit analyses both primarily only
list benefits. A proper analysis should include costs, yet there is no mention
of loss of forests, biodiversity, ecosystem services etc… This seems
particularly important since the application notes that the majority of the
benefits outlined (e.g. construction jobs and energy costs savings) would be
rather short-lived and the majority of the foreseeable costs would be long term
or permanent.”
When it comes to selling the idea of a fracked gas power plant,
the RIDEM data request accuses Invenergy of circular logic. “A pointed example
includes dismissing hydropower in the Power Generation Alternatives section
(and omitting it from all other sections) solely because it would not be
appropriate on the proposed [power plant] site, which was selected for
proximity to the gas line, and then dismissing alternative project locations
because they do not have the desired natural gas infrastructure.”
Further, the “premise that natural gas is the only way to meet
[New England's energy] demand is not borne out by the information provided,”
says RIDEM.
RIDEM’s report to the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) will be shaped by Invenergy’s answers to these and
other questions. Though these questions raise serious doubts about the need for
the new plant and Invenergy’s integrity in preparing its application,
ultimately the EFSB takes RIDEM’s report as advisory only, meaning the board
could choose to approve the project despite these issues.
Yet Governor Gina Raimondo’s words, that “if there are issues
then the plant won’t go forward,” ring loudly here. The issues raised in this
set of data requests are serious, and the questions raised must be addressed
honestly.
Steve Ahlquist is an award-winning journalist, writer, artist and
founding member of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated
to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action. The views expressed are
his own and not necessarily those of any organization of which he is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com
and Twitter: @SteveAhlquist