Approval sought for power plant

BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY - One hundred and 27 years after Thomas Alva Edison switched on the first electric power plant in New York City, that city may soon get another power boost - from Bayonne.

Proponents of the long-discussed Bayonne Energy Center will seek Bayonne city approvals when they go before the city Planning Board at a special hearing on April 23 at 6 p.m., in the Dorothy E. Harrington City Council chambers at City Hall, 630 Avenue C.

Pure Energy Resources, of Burlington, Mass., in cooperation with the property owner Hess Oil Co. and ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC, of New York, proposes to build a $400 million, 10,800 square foot, 512-megawatt/simple cycle electric power generating and transmission facility on a 10.7-acre site at 401 Hook Road.

The land was formerly occupied by the Grand Corrugated Container operation.

PER's application, filed with the planning board, says the plant "will operate on an as-needed basis" to supply New York City's electrical energy needs. The developers plan to install an underwater transmission cable to run 6.6 miles across the Kill Van Kull, Upper New York Bay and Gowanus Bay to Brooklyn to feed power to New York's grid.

Hess will provide at the project site a 200,000-gallon oil storage tank and a 10,000-gallon tank of pressurized aqueous ammonia to contain any spills and firefighting equipment.

Walls will be erected at the site as noise barriers.

James Monkowski, the city's environmental adviser, said that the project "will have minimal effect on air quality during its operation" and that "potential noise issues during normal operations will be addressed in a manner to ensure compliance with city and state regulations."