From: C Alderton
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 11:23 PM
Subject: Re: [powerplant] Information Update and a question

From: Me
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 3:58 PM
Subject: [powerplant] Information Update and a question

Update: The old SempraAtFrederickCounty web site is no longer. It now points directly to Sempra Energy Resources / Catoctin Power Project. It seems to still be a work in progress, but now contains some .pdf files of the storyboards that were presented at the community meeting in May. I have updated the Sempra Informational Links to point directly to the story board page.

Question: Does anyone know if it's feasible to get environmental monitoring equipment and set it up at a few locations around the plant so we can get accurate measurements of our existing air quality - particularly the types of emissions that the new plant will add to the air - NOx, CO, SO2, PM10, VOCs, etc - so we can see what the air quality is like around here right now? There are no EPA monitoring stations that I could find that are close enough to do us any real good. I'd like to know - accurately - what the readings are at strategic locations -- like Carroll Manor Elementary, in Green Hill Manor, at the Fire Hall, along Ballenger Creek Pike, at the local churches, etc. Does equipment sensitive enough exist that we can get our hands on? How? How much? Etc...

Also - a side note -- I have added a page with information about the Carroll Manor VFD Carnival that will be held in Adamstown from June 19th through June 26th, and am still gathering additional information about this fun event.. Once the power plant issue is resolved, I plan to try to keep http://www.adamstown.us up and running as a local information site...

From: Peter H. Michael
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 5:46 PM
Subject: [powerplant] Next Commissioners' Meeting On Sempra

At its meeting yesterday, the Board of County Commissioners scheduled a public hearing for 7:00 PM, Monday, July 12, at the first-floor hearing room at Winchester Hall, 12 East Church Street, Frederick, for the purpose of receiving public input on Sempra’s proposed power plant near Adamstown. The Commissioners want to hear the public’s sentiments on the plant before voting to accept or reject Sempra’s proposal. A rejection would not be a guarantee to stop the plant, as the final decision is reserved to the Maryland Public Service Commission [PSC] which by law can pre-empt a county’s decision. However, the PSC is required by law to give “great weight” to the decision of a Board of County Commissioners, and is unlikely to approve a plant rejected by a county. Therefore, it is essential that the Board vote to reject Sempra. If the Board accepted the Sempra proposal, the effort to stop this plant would become much more difficult, if not impossible. The hearing on July 12 is the key.

To assure a rejection by the Board, a large turnout is essential on July 12. Please mark your calendars now, and plan on attending that evening. The more who speak then, the better our chances. The proposed power plant would make a waste transfer station look like a trifle.

Thank you.

Peter H. Michael, President

From: Peter H. Michael
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 5:30 PM
Subject: [powerplant] Economic Damages If the Sempra Plant is Built

Attached are Michael Strategic Analysis’s preliminary estimates of economic damages which would occur if Sempra’s proposed power plant were built near Adamstown.

Peter H. Michael, President

From: Peter H. Michael
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 5:27 PM
Subject: [powerplant] Commissioners' Hearing on Sempra, May 27

Attached are my remarks to the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners yesterday at the board’s hearing on Sempra’s proposed power plant for Adamstown. My presentation dealt solely with the economic damages which would be incurred by people in and around Adamstown and by the county and state governments if the plant were built. At the end of my remarks, the Board asked to be provided with my firm’s earlier economic damages analysis on the proposed Duke, Sempra, Dynegy and Mirant plants of 2002, and our updated 2004 damages analysis for Sempra. I will provide the latter to you also by e-mail.

Peter H. Michael, President

From: Sprey, Marcia
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 9:58 AM
Subject: [powerplant] Power Plant Emissions

During the Sempra presentation they mentioned that the two principal by products of production were Nitrous Oxide and Sulfer Dioxide.

Here is a website that shows some level of detail related to what they are- however they contribute significantly to respiratory disorders.

http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/envirom/princairpol.htm

[Separate email sent at 10:08am]

Please note- Although Sempra insisted that the Nitrous and sulfra emissions were "well" within the tolerances prescribed by the regulatory agencies, they are on the top 7 list by the epa as most noxious. Here is another link to information related to our particular area that provides contacts for the EPA:

http://www.epa.gov/air/where.html

From: Lisa Baugher
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 9:29 AM
Subject: Re: [powerplant] Info from the BOCC meeting held 5/27

Power companies imply that dry cooling is noisier than wet cooling because the up front cost of dry cooling is much more. ($10 to $15 million) However, an optimized dry cooled plant with ultra noise fans produces a 50 db level from 400 feet. This is the same as wet cooling with fans. Wet cooling plants still use fans, just like dry cooling. Attached is one document regarding a Sempra proposal in California.

New dry cooled plants in MA produce the least amount of emissions in the country according to one authority.

This is all on paper, but so are the claims of wet cooling advocates. I can refer those, who are interested to more documents being considered by California and Virginia. The Virginia governor is looking hard at requiring dry cooling for new power plants in Virginia.

The imprint of some of the infrastructure for dry cooling is larger, but they are still short enough to be screenable. The most visible part of the power plant will be the two cooling stacks. Dry cooling stacks range between 75 to 90 feet. Sempra's wet cooled stacks are 160 feet.

The County Commissioners are listening and have provided a public forum in July. The large numbers that have attended meetings to date have gained Adamstown the attention of many officials.

Lisa Baugher

From: Adamstown.us Webmaster
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 8:40 AM
Subject: [powerplant] Info from the BOCC meeting held 5/27

The Catoctin/BOCC meeting was held 5/27 with Eastalco/Sempra presenting some project background, and the meeting itself was focused on the effluent water issue. Discussion topics varied widely, with the outcome of this issue - at this stage - being that the BOCC committed to have their people work with Sempra to develop a concept plan for the use of the effluent water - but due to the short timeframe they required Sempra/Eastalco to provide $10,000 in funding to support the request.

Delegate Weldon spoke about the need to get information out to the people and is going to try to coordinate a community discussion about wet versus dry cooling. Personally (from my research) I am against the use of dry cooling here due to the additional noise and significantly larger structures required. Peter Michael spoke about the significant negative economic impact that this plant will have on the area, and I spoke to the board offering information about the perceived impact to local residents - my presentation has been posted to the web site. Commissioner Gardner brought up having a BOCC sponsored community meeting / forum in July, and after some debate it was approved 4-1 with Commissioner Thompson the only dissenting vote and scheduled for Monday July 12th at 7pm.

I also spoke with Earl Robbins from Eastalco and Mark Nelson from Sempra. Mr. Nelson apologized for the stale state of their web site and promised to get it updated ASAP complete with the storyboards from the community meeting and interactive links to the relevant sections of the CPCN application. Unfortunately the update so far has just been a removal of the old site, and a site redirection to the Sempra Resources page, but I expect that Mr. Nelson will get this straightened out very quickly.

Folks from Eastalco and Sempra both seem very willing to answer questions we may have and provide us with as much information as they can to try to show us that the proposed plant will not be as bad as we think. They have made community friendly modifications including lighting mitigation strategies and lowering the profile of the plant. They also seem to be receptive to ideas we may have for ways to make it better.

Where do people stand on the issue:

Sempra/Catoctin and Eastalso - for the plant (obviously)

Many of the politicians and community groups in the area are still evaluating the pros and cons of the power plant and/or are awaiting additional information and have yet to take a public position that I have seen.

My position on the plant is very simple - I will oppose the plant until it is PROVEN to me that this plant is:
1. SAFE for my family and other Adamstown residents, AND
2. GOOD for the Adamstown community.

PS: As always feel free to forward this to people you know and encourage them to use the mailing list and web site (ours and Sempra's) to help them gather information and make up their own minds.

Don

From: Rolan O. Clark
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 10:01 PM
Subject: [powerplant] my ideas re: bp solar

Dear all,

Below is what I replied to Elyse and I thought it was going to the power plant list but instead I think it just went to Elyse.

I will be glad to meet with anyone who wants to discuss issues and becasue I am an intervenor I will be asking some questions and filing some questions and requests for data and I have already sent in two data requests and if anyone wishes I will be more that glad to post the inquiries to Sempra/Catoctin that I have made and will make.

Take care,

Rolan O. Clark
Adamstown, MD

************************************************************************************************************************************************

Elyse,

I looked at the BP solar site and it looks like solar cells are putting out about 6-8 watts per square foot so for 640 megawatts ( 640,000,000) that would take about 110 million square feet, or about 10,000 feet on a side, which is about 2 miles, so solar panels would have to cover an area 2 miles by 2 miles to generate 640 megawatts but that doesn't mean they cannot be used as supplemental sources for homes and it does not address the almost impossible problem of how to wire that many solar cells together.

A few thousand homes with 50 square feet of solar panels each would generate about 300-400 watts, enought to charge large storage batteries for use during emergencies and supplement house current so you can see that solar cells won't substitute for large generators but a lot of small ones in a lot of homes can make a difference in total power uses.

Also, when one uses solar panels, or solar panels to charge batteries, then the normal 8-18 volt solar/battery voltages will have to run an inverter to change the low dc voltage to 115 VAC if one wants to supplement house current but if one has a lot of 12 VDC equipment, tv's and the like, then that is probably getting to be economically feasable.

In January, Maryland is supposed to have a grant program that will pay for most of the cost of installing solar panels but I don't know the details.

I am really interested in this because I want some reliable 12 VDC sources for Amateur Radio in the event of emergencies so I will pass on any info I get on that program.

I hope this helps and I think that BP is going to work with Eastalco in some form to get some solar power there and if they do that I am really looking forward to seeing what they will have. I believe it will have no effect on the continuation of the Sempra plant.

I think that home gas prices will continue to rise because what I am reading is that the increased use the last few years have left a severe shortage on the delivery system. I think the estimates are that there is plenty of gas at the well head but not enough pipes to distribute it and it takes a long time and a lot of money to build gas lines and the only way that can be done is to raise the prices and I believe that is what Greenspan meant when he predicted that the type of gas used in power plants and homes would increase.

My personal opinion is that the Sempra plant alone won't cause the increase because it is a small part of the total gas usage on the east coast but it all adds up to shortages and higher prices I am sure.

My opinions ,for what they are worth.

Take care,

Rolan

From: Mark Goodwin
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 8:46 PM
To: powerplant
Subject: Re: [powerplant] EastAlco needs to look into BP Solar's Proposal
Elyse,
This is a noble idea, but I don't think you can generate 600 megawatts of power with conventional solar....at least, not at any price that would be affordable. The only way is with water-turbine or fossil fuels.
However, I am not an engineer.
-Mark Goodwin

From: Elyse Wilson
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 9:27 AM
Subject: [powerplant] EastAlco needs to look into BP Solar's Proposal

We found out at the last meeting that BP Solar has offered East Alco on there Alternative Power Opportunity.

BP Solar will not only be more environmentally safe then Sempra but also will help insure that our Gas Prices won't go up more as dramatically high again.

Greenspan has said with the onset of Gas Power Plants this will increase our Gas Prices dramatically.

Eastalco hasn't taken that much time yet too look into BP Solar's Proposal. We need to encourage Eastalco to look into the opportunity that BP Solar has given them.

BP Solar just offered this opportunity a few months ago.

This would be the best of both worlds. We would have a safer environment, looks better, and EastAlco can stay in business.

Please write to Eastalco: 5601 Manor Woods Road Frederick, MD 21701, Delegate Richard Weldon Jr 13 West Potomac Street Brunswick, MD 21716, and the Frederick County Commissioners Winchester Hall, 12 E Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701.

Best regards,

Elyse Wilson
Green Hill Manor

From: Lisa Baugher
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 10:28 PM
Subject: [powerplant] Sempra Meeting with County Commissioners on Thrusday, May 27th at 9:00 a.m.

Lisa Baugher

From: Lisa Baugher
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 6:11 AM
Subject: Re: [powerplant] POWERPLANT

Delegate Weldon and I thank you for your inquiry. Maryland is subject to EPA regulations. For more information regarding Maryland's air quality programs, please visit Maryland Department of Environment: http://www.mde.state.md.us/Air/index.asp

I have copied your inquiry to Diane Brown of Power Plant Research. Diane is the coordinator for power plant applications and please feel free to contact her with more questions. Maryland participates in a program of Nox offsets. Basically this means that a new industry must purchase Nox offsets to offset any additional pollution they create. In other words, the new industry would clean up an older industry equal to the new pollution it creates. The offsets must be purchased in a region that affects the air quality of the location the new industry has chosen.

Unfortunately, Maryland's air quality is affected by a broad region. However, I am aware that Sempra is seeking to purchase offsets in our immediate area. I have also copied your inquiry to Sempra's representative Gordon Chirdon.

Sincerely,
Lisa Baugher

From: Reza Salmasi
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 1:01 PM
To: PowerPlant@Adamstown.us
Subject: [powerplant] POWERPLANT

I just wanted to know how can a powerplant permit be issued, when state of maryland already is in red with EPA in regard to clean air act.

From: Tom Mangold
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 8:46 PM
To: powerplant@adamstown.us
Subject: [powerplant] Reminder: Community Meeting With Sempra on Thursday
 

This is a reminder that there is a community meeting tomorrow night (Thursday, May 13th) at 7:00pm at St. Joseph's Parish Center located at 5843 Manor Woods Rd.

The meeting is sponsored by Eastalco & Sempra.

This will be a great opportunity for you to hear about the proposed 600 MW power plant at the Eastalco site and ask any questions you may have.

I hope to see you there.

Thanks,
Tom Mangold
Adamstown, MD

From: Tom Mangold
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 9:09 PM
To: powerplant@adamstown.us
Subject: [powerplant] Community Meeting with Catoctin Power is Announced

I know it's been a while since I last emailed everyone. I just want to take a moment to catch everyone up on the latest developments.

I hope no one got nailed with that computer virus that was circulating last weekend.

Today, I found out that Eastalco & Sempra Energy are hosting a "Community Meeting" for May 13th (next Thursday) at 7:00pm at St. Joseph's Parish Center located at 5843 Manor Woods Rd to discuss the proposed Catoctin Power project.

Sempra is trying to get the word out. They sent out around 3800 fliers to residents around the proposed plant that you should receive in the next day or two, they are advertising the meeting in the newspaper, and they will take to the airwaves on local radio.

I know it's short notice, but please make every effort to attend this important meeting.

If you haven't been to the PSC web site lately, I do want to let you know that a partial hearing schedule has been announced:
June 3rd: Catoctin Power files its Direct Testimony
June 25th: Status conference to discuss completeness of the application and subsequent schedule. Also, this is the deadline for you to file a petition to intervene if you so choose.
July 19th-22nd: Hearing for examination of Catoctin's Direct testimony
All hearings regarding this matter will be held in the first floor hearing room of Winchester Hall in downtown Frederick. You don't have to travel to Baltimore any more. If you want to have a "seat at the table" and ask questions, you need to file a petition to intervene. Otherwise, you will just have to come and listen. The meetings are open to the public.

So far, Roland Clark & I are the only local residents who have decided to intervene. We can certainly use more help. If you are thinking of doing it, please let me know.

As an intervenor, I received a hard copy of the 3-binder CPCN filing. If you want to take a look at it, just let me know. It'll save you a trip to the library or Winchester Hall. It's also available on the PSC web site, but it's a 74MB file, so it will take quite a while for you to download it. If you want to ask a question at next Thursday's community meeting, take this opportunity to educate yourself.

I know that Catoctin needs to go before the County Commissioners to ask for the effluence. That will be a public meeting and should be happening fairly soon, but I don't know the date/time. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something.

That's all for now.
Tom Mangold
Adamstown, MD