Current Notice:
This Notice serves to provide the public notification that the DEC will hold public comment hearings on August 25, 2021 as described below.
Legislative Public Comment Hearings
Pursuant to 6 NYCRR 621.8, legislative public comment hearings for the receipt of public comments on the permit applications will be held on dates, times and at the location listed below.
Danskammer Energy Center
Virtual public comment hearing sessions to receive unsworn statements from the public on the applications and the draft permits will be held on August 23, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and; on August 25, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Any person wishing to provide a public statement must register in advance of the hearing no later than 10:00 a.m. August 20, 2021. Any person who wishes only to observe the webinar online must also register. Any person may listen to the hearing by phone without pre-registration. See below for additional details on each of these hearings.
Applicant
Danskammer Energy LLC
994 RIVER RD
Newburgh, NY 12550
Project Name and Location
Danskammer Energy Center
Town of Newburgh, Orange County
DEC Application ID Nos.
Article 19 Air Title V Facility (3-3346-00011/00017)
Article 19 Title IV (Phase II Acid Rain) (3-3346-00011/00027)
Article 17 Titles 7 & 8 Industrial SPDES - Surface Discharge - (3-3346-00011/00002)
Project Description
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("Department" or "NYSDEC") has prepared a draft Title V Permit, a draft Title IV Permit and a draft State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit, subject to public comments or other information, for the Danskammer Energy Center, located in the Town of Newburgh, Orange County.
Danskammer Energy, LLC ("Danskammer" or "Facility") is proposing to construct a new natural gas fired combined cycle power generation facility, the Danskammer Energy Center, in the Town of Newburgh, Orange County, New York, which will consist of an optimal 536 net megawatt (MW) facility located at the site of its existing Danskammer Generating Station. The proposed Facility (combustion turbine) will be primarily fueled by natural gas with ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) as a backup fuel for up to the full load equivalent of 720 hours per year.
For additional project information and details on providing comments, see the Amended Notice of Legislative Public Comment Hearing dated August 11, 2021.
Virtual Legislative Public Comment Hearings
All In-Person Public Comment Hearings have been cancelled due to changes in guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the New York State Department of Health, and the City of New York. The in-person public comment hearing sessions scheduled for August 25, 2021 have been changed to virtual hearing sessions at 1:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. to receive unsworn statements from the public on the draft Title V Permit, a draft Title IV Permit and a draft State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit. Virtual legislative public comment hearings pursuant to 6 NYCRR part 621 to hear and receive unsworn comments from the public will be held on August 23, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and August 25, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. The hearings will be conducted electronically through the Webex Events electronic webinar platform.
Instructions for Attending the Virtual Legislative Public Comment Hearings
August 25, 2021 Virtual Legislative Public Comment Hearings
To join the 1:00 p.m. virtual public comment hearing through the internet, visit www.webex.com and click "Join a meeting."
Event Number: 179 555 9225
Password: Aug25-1PM
To join the 1:00 p.m. hearing by phone only:
Dial: 1-518-549-0500
Access Code: 179 555 9225
To join the 6:00 p.m. virtual public comment hearing through the internet, visit www.webex.com and click "Join a meeting."
Event Number: 179 776 2049
Password: Aug25-6PM
To join the 6:00 p.m. hearing by phone only:
Dial: 1-518-549-0500
Access Code: 179 776 2049
Interpretation will be available in the following language:
Spanish: Call 518-549-0500 and use access code 96509638
Persons who wish to receive the instructions by mail or telephone may contact the NYS DEC Office of Hearings and Mediation Services by email to ohms@dec.ny.gov, or by telephone at (518) 402-9003. Please provide your first and last name, address, telephone number and reference the Danskammer public comment hearing.
Persons wishing to comment on Danskammer Energy LLC's application and the draft permit will have the opportunity to make a statement at the public comment hearing webinar. Any person wishing to provide a public statement must register in advance of the hearing no later than 10:00 a.m. August 20, 2021. Any person who wishes only to observe the webinar online must also register. Any person may listen to the hearing by phone without pre-registration.
To register electronically: Persons who will login to the hearings electronically must register. To register, visit https://www.webex.com/, click "Join a meeting," input the event number listed above, click "Register," and fill in the requested information. You will be asked whether you wish to make a public statement or not. After registration is complete, you will receive a confirmation by email with information about how to join the hearing. We request that speakers only register for one hearing session.
On the appropriate date and time of the hearings, participants should visit https://www.webex.com/, click "Join a meeting" at the top right-hand corner of the screen, and input the appropriate event number for the hearing. Participants will be asked to "select audio system." It is recommended that participants choose to have the system "call me" or "call using computer." The "call me" option will require participants to enter their phone numbers.
To register by telephone: Any person who is not able to login electronically may participate by telephone. Call-in participants must register to speak in advance by calling the Department at 518-402-9003 no later than 10:00 a.m. on August 20, 2021. Please provide your first and last name, address, email address if any, and telephone number and reference the Danskammer public comment hearing. We request that speakers only register for one hearing session. On the day and time of the hearings, use the phone access phone number, (518) 549-0500, and the appropriate access code listed above to join the hearings.
All participants will be muted upon entry into the hearings. The ALJ will call each person who has requested to provide a statement to speak. Speakers will be called in the order they registered, with elected official being called first. The ALJ will continue the hearings until everyone wishing to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements have been made to include their comments in the record. The ALJ may limit the time available for oral comments to three (3) minutes per person, as necessary to afford all participants an opportunity to be heard. We also recommend that lengthy comments be summarized for oral presentation and submitted in writing as provided above. The hearing will be stenographically recorded for inclusion in the record.
Legislative Public Comment Hearings and Written Comments
All persons, organizations, corporations, or government agencies which may be affected by the proposed project are invited to attend the public comment hearings and to submit oral or written comments.
Lengthy statements should be in writing and summarized for oral presentation. Reasonable time limits may be set for each speaker to afford everyone an opportunity to be heard. Equal weight will be given to both oral and written statements. Interpreter services shall be made available to deaf persons, and translator services shall be made available to persons with limited English proficiency, at no charge for either service, upon written request to the ALJ at least 10 days prior to the hearing. Requests should be submitted to ALJ Caruso, NYSDEC, Office of Hearings and Mediation Services, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233-1550 or by email to ohms@dec.ny.gov.
Written comments submitted to the Department during this comment period and oral comments given at any of the legislative public comment hearings are considered part of the record. At the conclusion of the public comment period, Department staff will determine pursuant to 6 NYCRR 621.8 whether substantive or significant issues have been raised in the public comments or legislative hearing to warrant an adjudicatory hearing, or whether a final decision should be made on the applications without any further adjudication. If no issues are raised to warrant further adjudication, the Department will proceed to final decision. In case of a determination to issue the requested permits, the Department will develop a response to comments, provide public notice of the approval of the permits and issue the requested permits.
Individuals and parties may also file written comments to the NYSDEC representative listed below. All written comments must be postmarked or submitted electronically by email no later than September 13, 2021.
Contact: Michael Higgins, Project Manager, NYSDEC - Division of Environmental Permits, Bureau of Energy Project Management, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1750, Phone: (518 )402-9179, E-mail: DanskammerEnergy@dec.ny.gov.
For additional information, a copy of the NYS DEC's permit hearing procedures is available on the NYS DEC web site at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6234.html.
