Green Party of Delaware Opposes the Proposed Power Plant University of Delaware Campus in Newark, DE
Members will join a protest on September 21st in front of the proposed
power plant site.
Plus, No Newark Power Plant reports ~ Newark Planning Department’s Michael Fortner defends power plant at Conservation Advisory Commission meeting
Members will join a protest on September 21st in front of the proposed
power plant site.
WILMINGTON, DE — The Green Party of Delaware (GPDE) opposes the
construction of a proposed 248 MW power plant in Newark, DE and plan to
join a citizen protest on Saturday, September 21st from 4:30-6pm in Newark
on S. College Ave.
The Data Centers, LLC (TDC) has leased land from the University of
Delaware on the Science, Technology & Advanced Research (STAR) Campus and
plans to build a 900,000 square foot facility comprising a data center and
a natural gas power plant, which will power the data center. The surplus
power will be sold to DEMEC (Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation,
Inc), the utility that powers the City of Newark.
GPDE is opposed to this project for a variety of reasons. First, there has
been very little citizen oversight--the City of Newark has been in private
talks with TDC for over a year. There are also citizen concerns about the
role to University of Delaware is playing in this project and residents
have shared that they feel bullied by the University.
"When the University of Delaware purchased the Chrysler Assembly Plant,
the members of the community were assured that an open public engagement
process would proceed in the redevelopment of the site for classrooms,
science research and low-impact development. I am particularly
disappointed to learn that the University of Delaware met with The Data
Centers LLC in January 2012 and has been working behind the scenes to
bring a power plant to our neighborhood. Public engagement was replaced
with a back-room deal" said Amy Roe, Newark resident.
Second, GPDE is against this power plant because of issues of health and
safety. Delaware received failing grades for its air quality from the
American Lung Association's State of the Air Report for 2013, including an
“F” for ozone. TDC has stated they plan to emit 80 tons of a year of NOx,
a leading contributor to increased levels of ozone. There’s also the
danger of locating gas pipelines and a power plant directly adjacent to
the rail cars carrying tar sands oil through Newark. The potential for a
large scale disaster (as happened in July in Quebec, Canada) will increase
by orders of magnitude
with the construction of this plant.
Finally, this plant will be powered with natural gas, which is not a
renewable energy source and is a major threat to the climate. Governor
Jack Markell recently signed Executive Order 41 calling for “continuing
Delaware’s national leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions”. It
is disturbing that the Delaware Economic Development Office would give a
grant of $7.5 million to TDC to build a natural gas pipeline in light of
the Governor’s recent commitment to being a national leader in reducing
the emissions that lead to climate change. Total greenhouse gas emissions
from natural gas are nearly identical to coal, when methane leakage at the
point of extraction and during transmission are taken into account.
Members of the Green Party of Delaware will be joining a protest of Newark
residents in support of their opposition to the proposed plant on
Saturday, September 21st from 4:30-6pm. GPDE members will also attend a
community Town Hall scheduled for Tuesday, September 24th from 7-9pm at
Newark High School.
What: Draw the Line No Newark Power Plant in Newark
Who: Green Party of Delaware to join in support of the Newark Residents
Against the Power Plant
Where: Meet in front of the Newark Amtrak parking lot across from the Girl
Scouts on S. College Ave.
When: Saturday, September 21st from 4:30-6pm
For more information:
- Green Party of Delaware - http://gpde.org
- No Newark Power Plant - http://www.nonewarkpowerplant.org
- Executive Order 41 -
http://news.delaware.gov/2013/09/12/governor-markell-executive-order-preparing-delaware-for-emerging-climate-impacts-and-seizing-economic-opportunities-from-reducing-emissions/
- American Lung Association's State of the Air Report for 2013 -
http://www.stateoftheair.org/
Plus, No Newark Power Plant reports ~ Newark Planning Department’s Michael Fortner defends power plant at Conservation Advisory Commission meeting
At the September 10th meeting of the City of Newark’s Conservation Advisory Commission (CAC), Michael Fortner of the Planning Department defended the decision to lure a power plant to the city. Mr. Fortner told the CAC that the power plant “does pollute”, but that it will be “state of the art”, will bring “high tech jobs” to Newark, and will be a source of revenue for the city.
Four Newark residents attended the CAC meeting to ask the commission to look into the power plant issue. The CAC was established in 1977 to advise the City Council “in the development, management and protection of its natural resources with appropriate consideration of Newark’s human and economic resources”.
The CAC was not consulted prior to the city’s negotiations with The Data Centers LLC, which began in July 2012. Some members were unaware of the project, though one did attend the September 3, 2013 public information meeting.
In July 2013 the CAC awarded the University of Delaware the “Better Newark Award” for its sustainability efforts on campus. It is unlikely that the University’s efforts to bring a 248MW natural gas power plant to Newark played a role in the decision to give the University this award.
And from the Washington Post: Cloud centers bring high-tech flash but not many jobs to beaten-down town
The Delaware Sierra Club writes ~
The process is broken when University of Delaware can lease land to a company to build a #powerplant on land that's been zoned to NOT allow power plants. The citizens of #Newark are being silenced by the big business. We should all be very angry and demand a change. This is our town!
Also, here's the UD Review's Editorial: Plans for STAR Campus should consider community environment
The university has disregarded community and university input regarding the implementation of Data Centers LLC., which will be powered by a 248-megawatt natural gas power plant.
The opinions of Newark residents should not be forgotten when considering building a power plant that will drastically affect their lives. Factors such as air pollution and noise are not so easily ignored. Instead of consulting residents and university members prior to negotiations, 1743 Holdings LLC., the wholly-owned subsidiary of the university that purchased the Chrysler Assembly Plant, did not take the community’s concerns into account before acting on their plans to bring this massive project right in the middle of the city. There was little transparency, with the TDC claiming its patent-pending status allowed the project to be confidential for so long.
The gas pipelines, which would stretch all the way to Pennsylvania and Hockessin, Del., would cut through the White Clay Park, which causes loss of habitats and poses a serious threat to that ecosystem. When building, we need to be especially cautious with protected areas like state parks.
The university would do well to ask experts in our prestigious engineering, environmental science and public policy departments to explore alternative environmentally-friendly solutions. The original intention of STAR campus was to bring alternative and renewable energy to Newark. Bringing a data center that consumes a massive amount of electricity—electricity generated from a natural gas plant—is not reflective of the original vision of STAR campus. With everyone working together, we can build up our community without hurting the environment.
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