The Wantagh-Seaford Citizen, 2003 February 20, Residents Visit Laern

Residents Visit Laern, Northern Ireland, to Learn More About Neptune Transmission Systems
by Laura Schofer

Originally published in the 2003 February 20 edition of The Wantagh-Seaford Citizen.
Published online with kind permission from our friends at The Citizen.

Paul Rich, Chief Operating Officer of Neptune Transmission Systems, believes that if the residents of Wantagh and Seaford could see a converter station up and running, “then the project would sell itself,” he told the Wantagh Seaford Citizen. With this in mind, Mr. Rich invited residents to join him on a trip to Laern in Northern Ireland to see the converter station his company, along with their partners, the Siemens Corporation and Nexans of Norway, built in Northern Ireland. This facility is the newest and most modern facility this consortium has built. The converter station went online in January of 2002.

On February 5, Mr. Rich, along with Jack Kennedy, President of the Local Building Trades; Angela DeVito of the Building Trades Council, Seaford businessman Rick Falta and Wantagh resident Christopher Wendt, went to Laern to see for themselves if this project is right for our residents.

The group was in Northern Ireland for two days, February 5 and 6. The converter station in Laern is twice the size of the proposed facility at Cedar Creek and brings energy via two underwater cables across the North Channel from Scotland to Northern Ireland. The Siemens Corporation built the actual facility and Nexans of Norway was responsible for laying the underwater cables. Both companies would work in collaboration with Neptune on the proposed project in Cedar Creek.

On the first day, the group took a tour of the facility. Mr. Rich explained that the facility, which is twice the size of the one that could be built in Cedar Creek, sits in a valley and is surrounded by hills on three sides. The fourth side opens out into the mouth of the ocean. “We first saw the facility from a hilltop. Around the perimeter of the facility, on the hills were homes and there were sheep grazing in the fields,” said Mr. Falta.

Mr. Rich explained that Laern is a “coastal fishing community which is spread around like a crescent from the harbor. It’s not a suburban area but there are residents that abut the facility.” Mr. Falta said he thought there were “eight to ten houses in the immediate area. I think the closest house [to the fence line] is about a quarter of a mile away.” But Mr. Rich said that there are “twenty houses that run along one side of the facility, and six houses on the other side.” The facility is 60 feet high. “It was larger than I anticipated,” said Mr. Falta. “We did talk about digging into the ground about 10 feet to lower the height of the building,” said Mr. Falta. “The engineers explained to us that the building must remain five stories high because you need so many feet for air cushion around the rectifiers where they change DC to AC.” “We had free reign of the facility,” said Mr. Rich. “There were four people at the site to give us a tour and explain how the facility works but really only two people are needed to be on site,” said Mr. Rich.

Mr. Falta said “There are no moving parts at the facility. The only people on site were the engineers who monitor the computers.” The following day the group had the opportunity to meet with the fire brigade. “The fire brigade is not anywhere near the facility,” Mr. Falta told the Wantagh Seaford Citizen. “There is a storage tank in the ground to supply water into the facility. As I understand it, there will also be a similar containment unit at Cedar Creek,” said Mr. Falta. “I was also concerned about the transformers. What if anything goes wrong? But it goes into a containment unit in the ground in the tank. I was just amazed at the high tech of the facility and the way it addressed the [fire safety] concerns.” Mr. Rich explained that the fire suppression system that would be put in place at the Cedar Creek facility would be reviewed by the Nassau County Fire Marshall’s before the plant was up and running. He added that the facility in Laern has a fire deluge system. “Over the transformers you have 12 nozzles which atomize and keep it cool and keeps down the flames. There is a three to four hour re-enforced concrete wall. We also have a CO2 fire suppression system.” Mr. Rich also mentioned that the valves are under positive pressure so that there is no sucking in of air to feed a fire.

The fire deluge system also includes spill containment for cooling the oil and can handle 2 full loads of oil. The group met with Mayor Billy McGee, who had fought the converter station for years, according to Mr. Falta. “He was concerned about the loss of jobs at the local power plant, but now he accepts it.” Mr. Rich added that “the additional cheap abundant power has helped the community and the Mayor now embraces it.” The Director of Environmental Affairs, Morris Crum also embraces the new converter station. “They didn’t find anything to be concerned about,” said Mr. Rich. “It’s more environmentally friendly than a power plant.” Mr. Falta said “the old power plant was spewing soot and dirt. This is clean energy.” The environmental commission “didn’t have concerns about EMFs,” said Mr. Falta. “In Ireland there are overhead power lines. But on Long Island all the lines are buried in the ground,” said Mr. Rich, adding that this offers additional protection. Noise was originally a problem for the converter station.” From the top of the hill I couldn’t hear anything but once in the valley you can hear a hum,” said Mr. Falta. Neighbors originally complained about noise and a series of harmonic filters were installed to reduce noise. At the end of nine months the homes closest to the facility had new windows installed to help reduce noise.

Mr. Falta told the Citizen that he believes the project could be a good fit for this community. “I live near Cedar Creek and I believe this is a reliable source of cheap, non polluting energy. We need more power. I don’t want to suffer blackouts. I worry about my business and my home. This might be an inexpensive way to help solve some of our energy problems.” Not all residents think the trip to Ireland was a fact finding mission but a form of bribery. Melissa Cestro, Environmental Co-Chairman of the Wantagh Seaford Civic Association said the trip was “an incentive to get what they want. They keep talking about all the things they will give the community.”

“I don’t take bribes,” said Christine Marzigliano of the Cedar Creek Health Risk Assessment Committee. “I have never accepted a penny on any issue. This is about the community and we want to keep it residential, not industrial. No trip can change that.”