(Amy Roe images - protesting the TDC Power Plant at Homecoming yesterday under UD's solar power grid)
(News Journal) John Sweeney did a good job today on Markell's Town Hall ~ Jobs for Delawareans still remains the biggest story
[The governor's] most decisive answer came on a question about the proposed Data Center project on the old Chrysler plant site in Newark. His response to one question about possible pollution problems from the project won the biggest applause of the night – from the project’s supporters. Markell said the Data Center, which wants to build its own power plant, has to go through state environmental hearings and then he added, “We all want to create jobs. The one thing we have to do is we have to stop saying no.” The fear is that if we keep saying no, we will have no chance of attracting future jobs.The cautionary tale is about political influence over the state's agencies. For instance, DelDOT kept promising new roads to meet increasing road capacity demands of the late-20th century housing development boom but failed to deliver. Subsequent congestion led to state and county legislation establishing adequate facility law in NCC in the 1980's and more recently in Kent County.
The sudden burst of applause from throughout the auditorium seemed to startle a cluster of anti-Data Center participants sitting at the front. Throughout the night many of these people had their hands in the air hoping to be called upon for a question. State Rep. John Kowalko, an opponent of the project, later complained that the governor’s office purposely didn’t call on the critics. The governor’s office dismissed the idea. The supporters of the project, many of whom wore union jackets and Tshirts, clapped for the governor and other speakers who mentioned the need for jobs. Not many of them were called upon to speak either. But the one who did won warm applause for his plea that the governor remember jobs for the people who can’t go to college. I wonder if we are seeing a budding political split emerging, with environmentalists on one side and labor on the other. This will be a tough one if it happens. How will the Democratic Party straddle the split, since the party is presumably the home of both factions?
Reality is intruding. Jobs are the obvious short-term and long-term challenge for Delaware. Right now no one has an answer, not the governor, not the legislators, not the environmentalists and not the business leaders of the state. I subscribe to the belief that governors don’t really create jobs. The best they can do, as one observer once put it, is set the table. Business has to serve the dinner..........The governor doesn’t have a lot to do with the Data Center. It is being worked out in the city of Newark and it’s on the University of Delaware’s STAR campus. The state does, he said repeatedly, have environmental standards that the plant will have to meet. Only when they do will the Data Center win the state’s approval.
Enviros helped carry Markell's 2008 election only to see his DNREC agency promoting the lie that Bloom Energy's natural gas was a sustainable energy use and placating PBF Energy in circumventing the Coastal Zone Act. TDC in Newark is not likely to bring more than a few hundred permanent jobs; not the thousands Chrysler supported. And Newark is expected to trust this administration......(see: No Newark Power Plant below)
A letter today ~ Keep industry out of our university town
With some comment rescues ~Construction of the huge, planned Wolf Center fossil-fuelburning power plant at the UD STAR Campus would push Newark toward becoming an industrial town.
The industrial power plant is projected to emit nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane gas into the air we breathe annually. Northern Delaware already has more than enough air pollution. Do not push Newark into becoming an industrial town.
Do not build the Wolf Center industrial power plant.
Keep Newark a university town.
Gary Loikith
Newark
- Build the data center and power plant somewhere in Delaware where it won't have tens of thousands of residents nearby. Or does TDC think it needs to build on the UD campus to enjoy their power of eminent domain to force this down our throats.
- Not what we were promised when UD bought the Chrysler property. Blowing an incredible opportunity to redevelop a former industrial property in an environmentally responsible way, after fighting with Chrysler for over 30 years over their pollution. Anyone remember how hard it was to get them to build a new paint shop? Wasn't a total solution, but it made it manageable. Ask the residents of Arbour Park. The proponents say "What about the jobs?" The jobs will be there for any development. They just haven't found the right one yet.
Plus, No Newark Power Plant raises some new questions ~ New documents change the timeline for the Data Centers project, raise new questions
In August Green Delaware’s Alan Muller submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request about any Regulatory Advisory Service (RAS) meeting for the Data Centers LLC’s project. DNREC’s Small Business Ombudsman Michelle Jacobs claimed that “a RAS meeting has not been held for the project”. On October 10, 2013 Ms. Jacobs contacted Mr. Muller with the following:A while ago you requested to know if a Regulatory Advisory Service (RAS) meeting was held for a project being called The Data Centers. At that time I told you no; however, that was incorrect. In searching for some other things I came across a Data Centers folder containing information from a RAS meeting that was held back on November 22, 2011. I have scanned the information and have attached it for you in response to your previous FOIA request.Read the complete document: November 2011 Regulatory Advisory Committee meeting
This newly-disclosed documentation shows that The Data Centers LLC and David Levandoski, Director at 1743 Holdings LLC / University of Delaware met with state regulatory officials about the permitting process on November 10, 2011. This is much earlier than the timeline asserted by the company at the September 3, 2013 community information session, where discussions were claimed to have begun in January 2012.
In 2011 the size of the power plant was smaller at 180 MW, with NOx emissions estimated to be 22-23 tons per year. Since this meeting the size of the power plant has grown much larger to 248 MW with NOx emissions near 80 tons per year.
In the written comments provided by departments to The Data Centers LLC on November 21, 2011, key points were summarized. Those include:This raises new questions about the power plant.
- “The facility will be a major source of CO2.”
- “Community involvement is very important in projects like these. We recommend you involve the community as early as possible in the planning project to reduce the chance of significant delays.”
- “…concern is over the noise levels emitted beyond the property boundaries. Gas turbines emit more noise per kw/Mw than do most other types of power generating equipment.”
- ”I have no comments on the project. We have no regulatory requirements.” -Division of Energy and Climate representative Thomas Noyes.
What has the actual role of the State of Delaware been in this project?
Why, after meeting with State regulators, would the size of the power plant actually get larger?
When did the University of Delaware get involved in the project? Their participation in the RAS Meeting on November 10, 2011 indicates a much earlier involvement than previously understood.
How did the UD involvement in the project influence the development of the City of Newark’s STC zoning rules, and were important details about planned power generation withheld from the Planning Commission and Newark City Council prior to the adoption of STC zoning rules and the January 2013 electricity contract between UD and the City of Newark?
Why would The Data Centers LLC and University of Delaware officials ignore the advice about community involvement and continue to keep the project secret from the public for an additional 19 months?
There were 17 months between this RAS meeting and the Delaware Economic Development Office’s decision to award the project $7.5 million. Why wasn’t an evaluation of power needs and power alternatives conducted during this time?
Why was the Division of Energy and Climate silent when the “the facility would be a major source of CO2″?
Also, look who showed up with a post about "Important thoughts on Delaware's jobs" from Town Square Delaware friend and community change-leader Ken Grant! Friends, we need to have a serious talk... Since I pointed this out, Town Square Delaware has offered to let Residents Against the Power Plant (RAPP) have equal time on their site. :-)
Meanwhile, TDC promotional brochures were distributed at the Governor's Town Hall with an associated website: http://delawarejobsnow.org/ ~
The website is registered to :
Registrant Name:Thomas Healy, II
Registrant Organization:T J Healy + Associates, LLC
Registrant Street1:P.O. Box 12
Registrant City:Montchanin Registrant
State/Province:Delaware
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