Andover Township not pleased with Sparta project

Hydro-electric generation plan sparks lots of emotions, By Jennifer Jean Miller Andover Township - Concerned citizens packed the standing-room only township committee meeting on Monday night to discuss the Sparta Pumped Storage Project. The project is a deal between Riverbank Power Corporation of Toronto, Ont., Limecrest Quarry Developers, LLC and Sparta Township. Power generated from the plant will be sold to the regional power grid, PJM Interconnections, and is obtained when hydraulic energy is stored and water is subsequently pumped into the Limecrest Quarry pits overnight during “off-peak” hours. During peak hours, water sent through turbines located 2000 feet underground. Sparta Township will reap $5 million annually for rental payments from Riverbank, and in turn reallocate $500,000 yearly to Limecrest. Limecrest will profit from rock removed during the anticipated four-year construction project. Proposed power lines from the generation facility will travel around Andover Township in a loop and connect to the JCP&L substation on Limecrest Road across from Lake Aeroflex. According to the Lois DeVries, chair of the Andover Township Environmental Commission, this will require an additional right-of-way paralleling existing power line approximately 190 feet tall. Residents along the proposed right-of-way who refuse to sell, will be subject to eminent domain in favor of the applicant. “Sparta won’t put the lines in Sparta because it will upset the residents there,” DeVries said while the audience applauded. DeVries asked the audience to envision the entire span of Lake Aeroflex covered with a block of rock 63 feet high, the amount of rock to be removed to construct the facility. DeVries’ calculations equaled 18 trucks per hour on Limecrest Road over the four year period to haul out the rock. “The impact on Andover is unacceptable,” said DeVries. “Limecrest Road was undermined during the last flood and we don’t know if the road has the appropriate capacity to handle that kind of traffic.” DeVries’ also addressed the impact the project may have on the water table, and said previous pumping at Limecrest caused a 130-foot rise in the table, which could upset the nearby Andover and Lafayette Township wetlands, a vernal habitat containing some state and national endangered species, and already designated an “Area 5” environmentally sensitive area. Adjacent land also has an “Area 4” rural designation. “Do we really want to be the guinea pigs for someone else’s financial service?” DeVries asked. Dan White of Andover Township, who lives near the new substation on Limecrest Road, said a new 200-foot easement will have to be created to run the entire distance from the quarry to the switching station on new lines. “They cannot put an additional 500 kilovolts of power on the existing lines.” He also asked, “Is Andover making anything to have our homes condemned for ratables for Sparta? What is this excessive power going to do to the lake and how will it affect the water, its temperature and the salmon and trout that are there?” White also said Green Acres Funding was obtained to construct the power plant. Andrew Mulvihill of Limecrest Quarry Developers introduced himself to the crowd. “This project is great,” he said . “It will create thousands of jobs which just result in one small building in the end. There’s a lot of misinformation out there. It is a completely green project with it replacing coal. It’s complicated but water drops through turbines into the pool and water is pumped out at night. Daytime energy costs more. The facility is like a battery that stores energy. Before taking action you need to hear the information. And it will challenge property taxes by creating a major tax ratable for the town.” “It’s not a ratable for Andover Township,” Mayor Bob Smith fired back. “There’s a lot of scary information out there and we need to consider all sides.” Smith said the township feels pressured to answer the issue. Smith said, “It’s also not a fully green project but partially green. To call this project fully green is wrong, when green energy is something that nature provides.” Smith was applauded for this statement. Other environmental activists were present at the meeting, including Marion Harris, head of the Mount Hope Historical Conservancy, Julia Somers of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, Scott Olsen (a Byram town councilman who attended as a concerned citizen and has been actively campaigning against the PSE&G power lines), and Tom Hill of Stop The Lines. There were questions as to why Sparta did not notify neighboring municipalities. Some thought Sparta’s application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission circumnavigating the approval of other municipalities. In a phone interview, Sparta Township Manager Henry Underhill rebutted these allegations. “Up to this point Sparta Township has been negotiating as a property owner in private. Once we have reached the next stage, then there will be public meetings.” Underhill said the exact routes for the power lines have not yet been determined and information presented at the Andover meeting was extracted from the FERC application. “A number of things need to be done to get the project started,” said Underhill, “We need to do some boring at the site to determine if it is even effective for the project. Once we know the project can happen, we will be in touch with other municipalities and invite Riverbank back to further explain the project and to hold public meetings.”