Power struggle

Environmental groups lobby to close Salem Harbor plant, but mayor stresses the need for $4.75m in taxes, revenue

Nov. 6, 2007, seemed like any other work day at the Salem Harbor Power Station. After an 8 a.m. meeting, workers dispersed - with three, Matthew Indeglia, Philip Robinson, and Mark Mansfield - scheduled to work on a 130-foot boiler. Forty-six minutes later, the three were covered with ash, steam, and 600-degree water when the boiler's pipes ruptured, burning and killing them.

After the accident, the state ordered the plant closed for several months, and in the spring the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported 10 safety violations at the plant - including its failure to inspect the area where the explosion occurred for at least nine years. At that time, OSHA announced that Dominion, the Salem power plant owner, would be fined $46,800. Dominion is now appealing that fine.

Now, a year after the accident, Dominion says the plant is safe and will continue to run on the 65-acre site until at least the summer of 2012. "It is absolutely safe now," said Dominion spokeswoman Diane Leopold, who added that the company had no plans to sell the plant. Leopold declined to say how much Dominion spent to repair the plant after last year's accident.

But even with Dominion's public declarations about keeping the plant open, environmental advocates are pushing harder than ever to have the plant closed.

For more than a decade, the environmental group HealthLink fought successfully to have the plant reduce its emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury.

Now, a new grass-roots group, stoptheplantnow.org, led by Marblehead's Susan Livingston, has held forums about the plant in recent months, and also has taken out full-page ads in area newspapers, and purchased a billboard on the Lynnway. A poster-sized ad by the group at the Salem commuter rail platform reads: "Stop the plant. Save the planet."

"I'd like to have it closed down," said Livingston, a Boston banker who has lived in Marblehead for 21 years. Livingston said she became concerned about the plant earlier this year when she noticed dust and soot on her porch that she believes came from the plant.

Livingston said she and others in the 527-member group have paid for the ads. In addition, the group has commissioned a study to look at redeveloping the site.

Livingston did not release the study but she called for a mixed-use facility that would combine condos, a hotel, a marina, restaurants, and a solar, wind, wave, and geothermal park.

Dominion purchased the Salem plant, along with power plants in Somerset and Providence, in 2005 for a total cost of $640 million. That year, the company's attempt to shut the plant down was rejected by the nonprofit ISO New England - which oversees power in the area - deeming it a "must-run" plant. The plant, which was built in 1951, can provide enough electricity for 750,000 homes a year but is now generating enough for about 300,000 homes. "Salem Harbor units are needed to ensure reliability for the electricity supply in Greater Boston," said ISO New England spokeswoman Marcia Blomberg.

Since it was built more than 55 years ago, North Shore residents have had mixed feelings toward the power plant. As the biggest taxpayer in Salem, it employs 147 people and pays $4.75 million a year - a figure that helps keep property taxes lower, says Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll. But over the last decade, environmental advocates - like the North-Shore-based HealthLink - have provided reports that show that byproducts of the coal emissions have been linked to acid rain, smog, and respiratory attacks. A 2002 report by Harvard researchers alleged that the plant was responsible for 30 premature deaths, 400 emergency room visits, and 2,000 asthma attacks each year.

While Dominion disputes that Harvard health report and Driscoll says she has no concerns about the safety or the environmental impact of the plant's emissions, she said any talk of redevelopment of the plant should be accompanied by a detailed financial analysis of how it would impact the city. She said that a mixed-use redevelopment would not bring in the same amount that Dominion annually pays to the city - $3.5 million in taxes, and a $1.25 million "host fee" payment.

"Put a mixed wind park on it, put a hotel on it, put a marina on it - you cannot get there. You cannot get to that number of $4.75 million," said Driscoll, who said any decrease in the property's assessment could mean higher taxes for Salem's homeowners.

While the plant is now in compliance with state and federal emissions regulations, groups like HealthLink and the Conservation Law Foundation have been critical of Dominion's operation of the plant and its investment in renovating it. Four years ago, the then-owner, USGen New England, was ordered by the state to spend $85 million to retrofit the plant to reduce emissions.

Dominion has declined to say how much it has spent to renovate the plant, but said it has achieved reduced emissions by burning low-emission coal, and not by capital improvements.

CLF's Seth Kaplan also questioned whether Dominion would be able to meet new mercury emission regulations that will begin in 2012.

CLF, along with HealthLink, the city of Salem, and several other groups, entered into a legal agreement with Dominion in 2005, which called for Dominion to provide a long-term plan for the plant's operation and environmental compliance.

Kaplan said he hasn't seen a long-term plan yet and believes the company will shut the plant down by 2012. Leopold, the Dominion spokeswoman, said it could reduce mercury emissions by using a carbon injection system at the plant but declined to say how much the company would spend on the project.

As for how long the plant will stay open, Leopold said it had made a commitment to provide energy to the area until 2012. "We'll operate it as long as we make a reasonable return on our investment and we can maintain in full compliance with our regulations and operate safely and reliably," said Leopold.

In 2007, Dominion reported operating earnings of $1.68 billion. Leopold declined to say how much the Salem plant earned.

But environmental activists like Jane Bright of HealthLink said that without a specific plan, residents and public officials need to consider options for the site.

Like Livingston, she wants the plant to shut down. "After the deaths of those three men due to their negligence, it's time for them to close," said Bright.

Rick Robey, president of the union at the plant, criticized the environmental groups for bringing last year's accident into the argument. Stoptheplantnow.org and HealthLink mention the accidents on their homepages.

"I'm very disappointed that they would use the death of these three people to push their project forward. I think that's pretty low," said Robey.

Meanwhile, this morning, a small memorial park at the plant facing the harbor with three redwood benches and plaques will be dedicated to the plant workers who died last year.

"If people want to go and reflect they can sit there and look at the harbor," said Robey.

Steven Rosenberg can be reached at rosenberg@globe.com.