By Nathan Duke
Astoria residents spoke out in favor of the proposed NRG Astoria Repowering Project plant, which would generate more megawatts of energy at its site on 20th Avenue but use significantly cleaner technology.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation held two public hearing sessions for Astoria residents last Thursday at Riccardo’s catering hall along 24th Avenue.
Community leaders and residents primarily said they supported the repowering project, which will be located on Con Edison’s site at 31-01 20th Ave. in Astoria. The plant is planned as a cleaner alternative in western Queens for the notorious Charles Poletti Power Project, which has long been considered the city’s largest polluter.
“We think the environmental benefit will be immense,” said Lee Davis, a spokesman for NRG, who presented plans for the project at the hearings. “We are creating construction jobs in Queens and investing $1.3 billion in the local economy. These will be state-of-the-art plants.”
The upgrade, which will be completed in two phases, includes replacing 31 simple-cycle electrical generation turbines, all of which are more than 35 years old, that operate at the site with higher efficiency combined-cycle units. The project will also increase the amount of electrical generation capacity by more than 70 percent with no significant increase in emissions of air pollutants.
The plant currently generates 600 megawatts but the new turbines, which will be considerably taller than the old units, are expected to generate 1,000 megawatts, Davis said.
NRG will also build four new oil tanks at the site. Davis said the repowering project will reduce 3,000 tons of pollutants in the air per year.
The Poletti plant will be shut down 24 months to 30 months before the new plant opens.
Astoria generates an estimated 60 percent of the city’s electrical power. Elected officials have long argued that the neighborhood is overburdened by the glut of plants in western Queens and that the community has high asthma rates.
“It’s not the best option, but it’s better than the status quo,” Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said of the new plant. “We would rather be replacing in northwest Queens with cleaner plants that are better dispersed.”
Astoria residents were supportive of the project’s plans.
“We definitely recommend this project,” said Anthony Gigantiello, president of Citizens Helping to Organize for a Kleaner Environment, or CHOKE. “This will put pressure on the old plants to repower.”
Jerry Connelly, a retired boilermaker, said he believed the project was unprecedented in the neighborhood.
“It’s not common to find industries coming into our community to invest millions of dollars to make it less polluted,” he said.
Documents for the project can be viewed at Queens Library branches at 21-45 31st St. and 14-01 Astoria Blvd., both of which are in Astoria. Residents will be able to send comments on the plans to the DEC through June 21.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
