Proposed power plant draws dozens of protesters in Killingly
KILLINGLY - Dozens of chanting, sign-waving residents gathered outside the entrance of a Killingly shopping center Monday to protest the proposed construction of a 550-megawatt power plant.
The protest, near the Killingly Commons shopping plaza off Route 101 in Dayville, centered around Florida-based NTE Energy's plan to invest $500 million to construct a combined-cycle, natural gas power plant on Lake Road near the town’s industrial park in Dayville, a plan several residents said ignores potential health and environmental issues.
The plan has drawn sharp criticism from residents living near the proposed site around Alexander Lake, as well as from members of the "Not Another Power Plant" group, whose supporters worry about possible pollutants, decreased water quality and other environmental and health issues the plant might generate.
"My big issue is with the height of the (smoke) stack - it's too short," Dayville resident Earl McWilliams said. "At that height, it creates a wash-down, in which a vortex of pollutants swirl around the base before being dissipated throughout the region."
Project developers said the air-cooled plant has the potential to develop and sell enough electricity to the grid to power 550,000 homes, will require hundreds of construction workers, lead to the creation of more than two dozen permanent jobs and have the potential to bring in millions in tax revenue.
The plant is being proposed on a site about a mile from the Lake Road Generating plant, on the cusp of the town’s industrial park. State Sen. Mae Flexer - who was joined at the protest by state Reps. Danny Rovero and Christine Rosati Randall - said introducing a new power plant so close to an existing one makes no sense.
"If this plant is built, we'd be the second-most electrical producing area in the state," Flexer said. "This is not a matter of not in my backyard, but rather not in my backyard again."
Flexer, Randall and Rovero - all Democrats - are running for re-election this year.
Because the plant is being proposed on private land, the town has little say in the project. The Connecticut Siting Council will determine if the proposed location fits with an overall state plan and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will review the proposal.
NTE previously submitted an application to the state and hopes to break ground on the project in 2017. Commercial operations could begin by 2020 if the plan is approved.
The town can either recommend for or against the plan to the state, but has no final say on the issue. The town has 65 days to file a recommendation on the project after the application is received.
Town Manager Sean Hendricks previously said the relevant town commissions will file their own documents, which may then be submitted as part of the town’s overall recommendation to the council. The documents are to ensure the state knows how such a project would affect local regulations, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Foxwoods’ master plan could invest ‘hundreds of millions’
Big changes may be coming to the Foxwoods campus in Mashantucket.
The executive team has presented a proposed master plan to the tribal council that could result in "hundreds of millions of dollars in investments," according to Felix Rappaport, CEO of Foxwoods.
Rappaport cautions that the council is expected to take a long and thoughtful approach to the proposal and that approval of any element is a ways off. But, he said, among the proposals are:
• A 3,700-foot zipline that would carry guests from the top of a hotel tower, over a wooded area, to a clearing at speeds approaching 65 miles per hour;
• A reimagining of a lake on the property, turning it into an activity center with kayaks and canoes;
• A repositioning of the resort to encourage eco-tourism, making better use of the 100-plus-acre property's natural beauty.
The master plan seeks to position the resort to maximize its natural resources to attract a mix of generations as Foxwoods readies itself for the day when Baby Boomers are no longer the main revenue source.
– Norm Bell
Larson's $10B tunnel vision intriguing, but worrisome
Connecticut and Hartford in particular are in need of bold visions and Congressman John Larson's $10 billion plan to put I-84 and I-91 in tunnels to ease traffic congestion and open up Hartford to the Connecticut River, certainly qualifies.
Larson recently unveiled his unexpected proposal to the Hartford Courant, outlining what he called a "100-year vision for the region" that would create two tunnels: one replacing the I-84 stretch connecting Hartford to East Hartford; the other where I-91 currently runs along the Connecticut River.
We applaud Larson for his bold thinking — although it's not totally an original concept (his Republican opponent in this year's election, Matthew Corey, told the Courant he pitched the same idea two years ago) — and certainly agree that interstate highways, particularly I-84, have harmed the Capital City by dividing Hartford's neighborhoods and cutting off access to the Connecticut River.
Traffic congestion is also a problem as the aging highway system carries more passengers today than it ever intended to serve.
But Larson's plan raises numerous concerns and questions. The timing is also suspect, considering the state Department of Transportation — after years of planning and input from various stakeholders, including the business community — recently ruled out building a tunnel to replace the I-84 viaduct through Hartford, because it's too expensive.
Most concerning is the price tag. Larson said he'd like to get federal funds to help pay for his tunnel plan, but federal transportation funding, much like the state's, has become anything but reliable in recent years. If the federal government remains divided after the November elections, it would make it harder to stir bipartisan support for such a major infrastructure investment.
To Larson's credit, he has been actively lobbying Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and is reportedly open to the tunnel plan. But securing billions of dollars would be a tough slog, particularly when real highway spending per mile has fallen 50 percent in the U.S. since the 1950s, according to the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission.
Meantime, Connecticut's budget constraints are well documented and state DOT officials in June ruled out building a tunnel to replace the I-84 viaduct because the $10 billion to $12 billion price tag was unaffordable.
Instead, DOT officials largely settled on a lowered highway alternative, which would entail complete reconstruction of I-84 at ground level or slightly below. The cost would be as high as $5 billion.
Additionally, one of the key ways Larson wants to finance the tunnel construction is by adopting tolls at each tunnel entrance. We think that's a bad idea. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction Employment Hits Highest Number in Many Years
Association officials noted that average hourly earnings for construction workers increased by 2.8 percent compared to 12 months ago as labor shortages continue to prove challenging for many firms.
"Demand for construction remains quite strong but contractors continue to struggle to find qualified workers," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "The monthly declines the industry experienced during the summer were likely caused by worker shortages instead of shortages of work for many firms."
Construction employment totaled 6,669,000 in September, an increase of 23,000 from August and 218,000 or 3.4 percent from a year ago. That is higher than at any point since December 2008 when there were 6,701,000 people working in construction. The annual rate of increase in construction employment was nearly twice as fast as the 1.7 percent increase for total nonfarm payroll employment. There were 474,000 unemployed job seekers in September who last worked in the construction industry, the lowest total for September in 16 years, Simonson added.
As the available supply of workers continues to shrink, average hourly earnings, a measure of wages and salaries for all workers, increased 2.8 percent in construction over the past year to $28.30 in September, nearly 10 percent more than for all nonfarm jobs, the economist noted. For the private nonfarm sector, earnings rose 2.4 percent over the past 12 months to $25.79.
Residential construction—comprising residential building and specialty trade contractors — added 15,700 jobs in September and 146,000, or 5.9 percent, compared to a year ago. Nonresidential construction—building, specialty trades, and heavy and civil engineering construction firms—added 7,000 jobs for the month and gained 72,000 employees compared to September 2015, a 1.8 percent rise. There were year-over-year gains for all segments, but job losses from August to September among nonresidential building firms. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE