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DEC denies air permit for Danskammer natural gas power plant
Cloey Callahan reports in the Times Union that on Oct. 27 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied an air permit for Danskammer Energy Center near the Town of Newburgh in Orange County. Danskammer wanted to build a new natural gas-fired power generation facility, while New York is busy converting energy generation to sustainable sources. DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said that the proposed project did not comply with the the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and its greenhouse gas limit. “We are delighted to see the DEC made this decision,” said Dan Shapley, Vice President of Programs at Riverkeeper, a nonprofit environmental organization. “We’re glad to see the state is standing firm in the face of the reality that we need to reduce emissions, not increase them. This is a really important decision and a great day for our future.” There were more than 4,500 public comments on the proposal, most against. Currently, there is a smaller plant on the site that only runs when additional power is needed for the statewide grid. Read more about this story in the Times Union.