Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 49

YAPHANK POWER PLANT Praise and protest for LIPA plan BY ANN GIVENS STAFF WRITER Some say It would be an eye- -sore and a scourge on the environment Others say it's dean and safe and may be Long best hope for keeping the lights on in years to come The 326-megawatt power plant that the Long Island Power Authority proposed for Yaphank yesterday drew varied reaction from local leaders and residents So far the only thing everyone can agree on is that it will have a major impact on residents For the South Country Central School District the plant would be a major boon drawing a projected $5 million a year or more in money payments in lieu of At Stop Shop supermarket in Yaphank Don Gamarano of Medford Joan Tinsley of Bellport and Tom Finn of West islip speak out about the proposed power plant problem" Brookhaven spokeswoman Inez Birbigfia said the proposal seems preferable to a previous LIPA unveils plan for future energy pire Zone site which is an area earmarked by the town for development and does not appear to pose major environmental risks Residents shopping at a Yaphank Stop Shop supermarket yesterday had mixed reactions concerned about the emissions I'm concerned about the aesthetics" said Don Gamarano 47 of Medford "Somehow this area always seems to be a dumping ground for tins type of thing" Joan Tinsley 61 of Bellport said all for anything that would lower her taxes and the new plant most likely would "It would be OK if it's going to save us money" she said "Our taxes are high enough 1 ready" Tom Finn 34 a Stop 8c Shop deli manager said he's more concerned about keeping the lights on than keeping taxes low "Remember all the times they told us to turn off our air conditioners in the summer?" he asked "This might prevent that from happening again" taxes into the district budget Brookhaven officials said a business investment and it certainly would lessen the burden on our taxpayers" said South Country Superintendent Michael LaFever Several Brookhaven Suffolk and New York leaders voiced measured praise for the proposed plant which would use natural gas with an oil backup system The proposal will have to go through an extensive environmental review face community input and pass the Brookhaven Planning Board before it gets final approval "From everything I hear it will be well below the tree line and will stay out of sight and out of mind for residents" said Legis Peter (R-Morich-es) "As long as the community object I see a ing process and a delay in getting it on-line when baseload generation is needed as soon as The ambitious plan to plant windmills in the Atlantic Ocean also could prove difficult especially since several members of board of trustees are grumbling privately that wind power would be vastly more expensive than traditional generation Kessel noted the concerns about the expense yesterday and said his answer was power has no emis- HOW ON NIWSPAYCOM What do you think IV about UPA's energy LVJ proposals? Share your opinion at www-newsdjyxontfB news conference yesterday with Ashcroft and Mueller said yesterday morning on NBC "Today" there was no consensus in the administration for raising the threat level "We need to raise the threat level to increase our Ridge said citing increased law-enforcement activity Ridge cited heightened threats in raising the threat level on Dec 21 from yellow indicating an "elevated" risk of terrorist attack to orange indicating a risk The level returned to yellow on Jan 9 Ashcroft said yesterday that shortly after New al-Qaida announced that its preparations for an attack on the United States were 70 per- LIPA fromA4 LIPA officials said Caithness offered a lower price than its rivals even with the transmission upgrade built in and the selection is contingent on the company securing a supply of gas Former Long Island Lighting Ca executive Matthew Corda-ro said LIPA had made a good decision by choosing the cable from New Jersey but he questioned the wisdom of the Caithness project "I think wise to go with a project that have a permit and have a supply of natural said Corda-ro director of Long Island Center for Management Analysis "I think it opens the door to a protracted licens sions and uses no fuel" said Adrienne Esposito executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment "It literally will bring us a better tomorrow" Assenib Paul Tonko (D-Amsterdam) who frequently has criticized LIPA for inadequate planning grudgingly praised the authority's new plan yesterday "It appears that LIPA has finally seen the light on the need to secure long-term sustainable supply options" Tonko chairman of the Assembly energy committee said in a statement The projects announced yesterday and their estimated completion dates were: An undersea cable from New Jersey with 6 60 megawatts of cent complete After the bombing of trains in Madrid in March al-Qaida said its arrangements for an attack in the United States were 90 percent ford She said the Yaphank plant would be located on a small portion of a 100-acre Em- plan to build a plant in Medford capacity of which LIPA will lease 600 megawatts to be strung by Neptune RTS of Maine 2007 A 39-windmill 140-megawatt wind farm to be built by FPL Energy a national energy firm that grew out of the utility Florida Power Light 2007 A 326-megawatt South Yaphank plant to be built by Caithness Energy of Manhattan 2007 An 80-megawatt power plant to be built in Bethpage by Calpine Energy of California Summer 2005 An 80-megawatt power plant to be built in West Babylon by Pinelawn Power a joint venture of Deer Park's DiFazio Electric and Harbert Power of Birmingham Ala Summer 2005 complete Ashcroft said Some experts say terrorists would target a high-profile event for maximum damage and publicity Others say securi he said what the terrorists want you to do and we're not going to do iL" Bloomberg was asked if there might be a danger that the public would ignore the warnings because of his use of the word "I suppose there is a danger" he said "But unless all of you want to change what you're -doing I don't know that I cm US asks citizens to be on lookout Officials: City as prepared as can be WwwMWMUycam NLWSDAV THURSDAY MAY 27 2004 ty will discourage an attack and terrorists would rather weaken the country by damaging infrastructure such as electric grids and transportation hubs do anything about iL" In a related development two fire union officials criticized the citys protocols for dealing with disaster scenes as "misguided" and said they fail to meet federal requirements They asked for a meeting with Ridge and his staff Staff writers Pete Bowles and William Murphy contributed to TERROR from A3 ering and investigation in upcoming months The FBI has been criticized most recently by the Sept 11 commission for not adequately notifying local agents before 911 of heightened concern about terrorism An FBI official acknowledged that announcement was partly in response to criticism of the agency and said it signaled a contrast to the relative secrecy about threats shortly before Sept 200V when there was increased concern and warnings about an attack adjusted our game the official said Ridge who did not attend a NEW YORK from A3 be the general nonspecific chatter" The mayor said the general public should leave the worrying the "In the meantime I think what all of us should do is go about our business and enjoy the greatest city and not walk away and lock ourselves.