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Speakers gush about benefits of second Lordstown power plant, some voice concerns
By Ed Runyan
LORDSTOWN
Many of the 23 speakers at a public hearing Tuesday night at the high school added layer upon layer of public benefit to be realized by the construction of a second Clean Energy Future power plant in the Lordstown Industrial Park.
They talked up clean air, revenue to prevent Lordstown residents from paying more for schools, billions of investment, millions in wages earned, money to help reduce social ills, low-cost energy to attract other businesses, even a lift for hopes of landing a $4 billion defense system at Camp Ravenna.
Mixed in were assurances from the Lordstown police chief, fire chief and the president of council that a second 940-megawatt, gas-powered energy plant would not negatively impact the quality of life in the community.
During 90 minutes of testimony before the Ohio Power Siting Board, several residents also expressed concerns – mostly about the possibility that cooling water used in the plant and discharged into nearby Mud Creek might add to flooding problems.
The hearing was part of the permitting process by the siting board, which also will have a proceeding in the Public Utilities Commission offices in Columbus at 10 a.m. Aug. 10 before deciding whether to approve the project.
The second plant, which would be called the Trumbull Energy Center, would be built alongside the one called the Lordstown Energy Center now under construction on Henn Parkway. Each plant is an $890 million investment.
John Mansell, Lordstown Village Council president, was among those who said they had toured the Clean Energy Future plant in Fremont, Ohio, and found little to dislike.
“I’ve visited one of these plants. They’re quiet. There’s no environmental negatives or anything about these,” he said.
He said he understands people don’t like the dust and noise associated with the present construction, but “that’ll be gone” after construction.
The police chief listed eight calls to the construction site since it began in April 2016, mostly for issues with workers. The fire chief said there had been six calls there for his department, none of them work-related.
Former councilman Michael Sullivan was among residents who had questions about the plan Clean Energy Future is developing for holding water from the plant in a 2-million-gallon pond and later releasing it into Mud Creek.
The first plant will release the water into a sewer line, and Sullivan hopes the company will find a way to do something similar with the second plant because of flooding concerns.