Full Calendar

Current Notice:

This Notice serves to provide the public notification that the DEC will hold public comment hearings on August 23 and 25, 2021 as described below.

Project Description

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.

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.

In-Person Legislative Public Comment Hearings:

In-person legislative public comment hearing sessions to receive unsworn statements from the public on the applications and the draft permits, will be held before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Michael S. Caruso on:

Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Marlboro High School Auditorium
50 Cross Road
Marlboro, NY 12542

Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Marlboro High School Auditorium
50 Cross Road
Marlboro, NY 12542

Please take notice, that consistent with the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or socially distance during the hearing sessions. Unvaccinated/unknown vaccination status individuals need to maintain six feet of social distance and need to wear masks, in accordance with the federal CDC guidelines.

Virtual Legislative Public Comment Hearings:

In addition to the in-person hearing sessions, virtual public comment hearing sessions will be conducted electronically before ALJ Caruso through the Webex Events electronic webinar platform. The virtual sessions will begin at 1:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. on August 23, 2021. Instructions for attending and providing oral statements at the virtual legislative public comment hearing sessions may be accessed at the DEC's website at: https://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6061.html. Persons who wish to receive the instructions by mail or telephone may contact the NYSDEC Office of Hearings and Mediation Services by telephone at (518) 402-9003 or by email to ohms@dec.ny.gov. Please provide your first and last name, address, and telephone number and reference the Danskammer public comment hearing.

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. It is not necessary to speak at both the virtual and in-person hearings, as equal weight is given to statements made in each forum.

Persons who wish to speak at an in-person hearing session are encouraged to pre-register by 10:00 a.m. on August 24, 2021. To pre-register, contact the NYS DEC - Office of Hearings and Mediation Service by telephone at (518) 402-9003, or by email at ohms@dec.ny.gov. Please provide your first and last name, address, and telephone number, reference the Danskammer public comment hearing, and indicate the session you wish to speak at. Instructions for registering to speak at a virtual hearing session may be accessed as indicated above.

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. The hearing locations are fully accessible to persons with mobility impairment. 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 NYS DEC 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, NYS DEC 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 NYS DEC will proceed to final decision. In case of a determination to issue the requested permits, the NYS DEC 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 NYS DEC representative listed
below. All written comments must be postmarked or submitted electronically by email no later than August 29, 2021 to the contact person listed above.

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.

This Notice serves to provide the public notification that the NYS DEC will hold public comment hearings on August 24 and 26, 2021 as described below.

Project Description:

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), as lead agency, has determined that the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS), and applications for draft Title IV and Title V air permits, draft Industrial SPDES permit modification and water withdrawal for the proposed Astoria Replacement Project (Replacement Project), are complete for the purposes of public review and comment. The existing Facility currently consists of 31 older, peaking-only gas and oil-fired CTs including 24 Pratt & Whitney (P&W) turbines and seven retired Westinghouse turbines, with a combined nameplate rating of 646 MWe (502 MWe not including the retired Westinghouse turbines). The proposed Replacement Project, as modified, will replace the nearly 50-year-old P&W and Westinghouse turbines at the Facility with a new state-of-the art simple cycle dual-fuel peaking CTG. The proposed Replacement Project will include a new CTG which will be a highly efficient, quick start, fast-ramping, General Electric (GE) H-Class 7HA.03 or equivalent unit that has a nominal generator output of approximately 437 MWe. The new CTG will fire natural gas as the primary fuel with limited ultra-low sulfur distillate (ULSD) liquid fuel for backup. The proposed Replacement Project will also include a ULSD-fired emergency generator, and two ULSD-fired emergency fire water pumps. All of the existing units, with the exception of one P&W Twin Pac (consisting of two combustion turbines and a single generator), will be permanently shut down once the proposed Replacement Project has completed its shakedown period. The two remaining P&W turbines will remain operational to make the site black-start capable until replaced by an approximately 24 MWe battery energy storage system. The P&W Twin Pac uses natural gas as its primary fuel with ultra-low sulfur kerosene (ULSK) as backup. Make up water will be sourced from existing connections to the New York City water supply. No water will be withdrawn from the East River. Construction will require dewatering of the project site. The dewatering will involve the withdrawal of approximately 0.7 MGD of groundwater. The groundwater will be treated and ultimately discharged via existing outfall 001.

Written Comments:

All written comments concerning the draft air permits must be submitted to the NYS DEC Contact Person listed below by August 29, 2021. Comments sent by regular mail must be postmarked no later than August 29, 2021. E-mail and Fax comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. (EDT), August 29, 2021. All written comments regarding the permit applications, proposed draft permits, fact sheets and SDEIS submitted by e-mail should be sent to: comment.nrgastoriagas@dec.ny.gov.

Public Comment Hearings:

In-Person Public Comment Hearings:

In-person public comment hearing sessions to receive unsworn statements from the public on the applications and the draft permits, and the SDEIS, will be held before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Daniel P. O'Connell at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on August 26, 2021 at the Variety Boys and Girls Club, 21-12 30th Road, Long Island City, NY 11102.

Please take notice, that consistent with the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or socially distance during the hearing sessions. Unvaccinated/unknown vaccination status individuals need to maintain six feet of social distance and need to wear masks, in accordance with the federal CDC guidelines.

Virtual Public Comment Hearings:

In addition to the in-person hearing sessions, virtual public comment hearing sessions will be conducted electronically before ALJ McBride through the Webex Events electronic webinar platform. The virtual sessions will begin at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on August 24, 2021. Instructions for attending and providing oral statements at the virtual public comment hearing sessions may be accessed at the NYS DEC's website at: https://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6061.html. Persons who wish to receive the instructions by mail or telephone may contact the NYS DEC Office of Hearings and Mediation Services by telephone at (518) 402-9003 or by email to ohms@dec.ny.gov. Please provide your first and last name, address, and telephone number and reference the Astoria Gas Turbine Power Replacement Project public comment hearing.

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. It is not necessary to speak at both the virtual and in-person hearing sessions, as equal weight is given to statements made in each forum.

Persons who wish to speak at an in-person hearing session are encouraged to pre-register by 10:00 a.m. on August 25, 2021. To pre-register, contact the NYS DEC Office of Hearings and Mediation Service by telephone at (518) 402-9003, or by email at ohms@dec.ny.gov. Please provide your first and last name, address, and telephone number, reference the Astoria Gas Turbine Power Replacement Project public comment hearing, and indicate the session you wish to speak at. Instructions for registering to speak at a virtual hearing session may be accessed as indicated above.

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. The hearing locations are fully accessible to persons with mobility impairment. 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 Molly T. McBride, NYS DEC - Office of Hearings and Mediation Services, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233-1550 or by e-mail to ohms@dec.ny.gov.

Contact: Christopher Hogan, NYS DEC - Division of Environmental Permits, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-1750 , Phone: (518) 402-9167, Fax: (518) 402-9168, E-mail: comment.nrgastoriagas@dec.ny.gov