ARCHBALD \u2014 Testimony on the Essential Energy LLC natural gas power plant proposed for Eynon Jermyn Road stoked more uncertainty Tuesday night.\n<\/p>\n
A lack of specificity permeated the three-plus-hour hearing. An engineer for the project tried to assure council members and the community that a power plant proposed near homes, parks, schools and businesses can be built and operated without creating a significant hazard to public health. Specifics on the power plant will come later \u2014 after council approves the project\u2019s conditional use application, according to testimony Tuesday night from civil engineer W. Casey Deller.\n<\/p>\n
Essential Energy representatives returned to the Valley View High School auditorium for the fourth time since April. About 70 community members heard testimony and cross-examination on a \u201csite, project and operational safety report.\u201d An accompanying study looked at possible mine hazards associated with both the power plant and the proposed Project Boson data center across the street. The geohazard study only references Project Boson, though Deller emphasized it encompassed the entire parcel, which includes the Essential Energy site. The property was previously the Highway Auto Parts junkyard.\n<\/p>\n
Deller, a vice president at KCI Technologies, deferred answering questions on multiple topics, including: how much electricity the power plant would generate; expected emissions; what equipment it would use, including the specific number of turbines; its natural gas source; how a natural gas pipeline would connect to the site; impacts on a nearby residential development during rock blasting; and the power plant\u2019s water source and water consumption.\n<\/p>\n
At prior hearings, Essential Energy\u2019s representatives referred to their project as a 400-megawatt power plant.<\/p>\n
But Deller said Tuesday, \u201cWe believe that the site will be suitable to produce power to somewhere in that range.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be less,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could be more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hearing opened on a contentious note.<\/p>\n
When Councilwoman Lisa Osborne pointed out that Deller\u2019s resume was missing from the documents provided to council, Essential Energy attorney Frank Hoegen handed her a large binder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave it to me, but there\u2019s more than just me,\u201d Osborne said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you can pass it around,\u201d said Hoegen of Hoegen & Associates in Wilkes-Barre.<\/p>\n
The crowd groaned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is starting off in a good way,\u201d Osborne replied.<\/p>\n
The councilwoman also criticized the developer\u2019s lack of on-screen presentations. Hoegen contended the report doesn\u2019t lend itself to publication on an overhead.<\/p>\n
Councilman Larry Marchetti admonished Essential Energy over the timing and presentation of its 92-page safety report.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all due respect, when we get this three minutes before the meeting, that\u2019s a pretty lame excuse,\u201d Marchetti said.<\/p>\n
During his testimony, Deller provided an overview of his report and an accompanying study into the mines beneath it, determining, \u201cBased on all of the documentation and studies that have been performed to date, I feel that the site is very suitable for a facility of this nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
He faced cross-examination from council members; attorney Justin Richards of Elliott Greenleaf P.C. in Wilkes-Barre, who represents borough residents opposing data centers; Stop Archbald Data Centers co-founder Tamara Misewicz-Healey; and Karen Timmons, a cancer survivor who lives in the Highlands Archbald development less than a quarter-mile from the proposed power plant.\n<\/p>\n
Archbald\u2019s special counsel, attorney Brett C. Flower, asked to defer her cross-examination so the borough\u2019s professionals can review the safety report. Archbald Solicitor Jay O\u2019Connor approved her request. Resident Meg Nudelman will also question Deller at the start of the next hearing.<\/p>\n
Cross-examination and testimony will continue Aug. 18 at 5 p.m.\n<\/p>\n
Essential Energy and Project Boson are affiliated with Kriger Construction Inc. and its executive leadership. Using a separate limited liability accompany, another related firm, PDC Realty LLC, bought the land a year ago for $1,575,000. Kriger Construction President Jim Marzolino is the governor of PDC, according to a Pennsylvania Department of State business registry.<\/p>\n
Other Kriger Construction-affiliated companies propose four data centers and three power plants across Bell Mountain above Business Route 6 in Dickson City.\n<\/p>\n
Check back for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARCHBALD \u2014 Testimony on the Essential Energy LLC natural gas power plant proposed for Eynon Jermyn Road stoked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2117,2116,201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-249380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-archbald","tag-data-centers","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}