ML19261C748
| ML19261C748 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Green County  |
| Issue date: | 03/02/1979 |
| From: | Butzel A BERLE, KASS & CASE (FORMERLY BERLE, BUTZEL, KASS |
| To: | Cohen E, Cole R, Goodhope A NEW YORK, STATE OF, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7903280362 | |
| Download: ML19261C748 (150) | |
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B U T Z E* L & K A S S 45 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA YOR K, N EW YORK 10020 o,'4 E W m
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Andrew C.
Goodhope, Chairman The Honorable Edward D.
Cohen Atomic Safety and Licensing Administrative Law Judge Board Public Service Commission U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Empire State Plaza Commission Agency Building 3 Nashington, D.C.
20555 Albany, New York 12223 Dr. Richard F. Cole Dr. George A.
Ferguson Atcmic Safety and Licensing Professor of Nuclear Engineering Board Howard University U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Washington, D.C.
20001 Cornission Washington, D.C.
20555 The Honorable Donald F.
Carson NYS Department of Environmental conservation 50 Wolf Road Albany, New York 12233 Re:
Case 80006 and NRC 50-549 in the Matter of Power Authority of the State of New York Greene County Nuclear Power Plant
Dear Sirs:
We enclose herewith the testimony submitted on behalf of Greene County and its associated municipalities.
The issues to which the testimony relates are identified on the enclosed sheet.
Greene County is also co-sponsoring the testimony of Harvey Flad et al. on the visual impacts of the nuclear plant.
This testimony is being mailed today by Robert Stover.
79032803 @
V*"X 'J"lY Y 955' e
/,4 4
DA/
l Albert K.
Butzel cc:
Active Parties George J.
- Pulver, Jr.,
Esc.
c e,
Greene County Testimony and Issues to Which it is Addressed Name of Witness (es)
Issue 1.
William R. McGrath Traffic and Road Access (Stip.
Raymond, Parish, Pine &
Cont. F.1) [Butzel Aff., 516)*
Weiner 2.
James E. McCarthy Socioeconomic Impacts (Stip.
Fred C.
Hart Associates Cont. F 3, 4,
- 6) (Butzel Aff.,
95 18, 19, 20, 21]
3.
Arthur Webster County Position Greene County Legislature 4.
Lawrence Biegel, Stephen Planning & Socioeconomic Impacts:
Finkle, Loretta Simon Visual & Historic Impacts (Stip.
Greene County Planning Cont. D 3, F 1, 3,
4, 5 6)
Department
[Butzel Aff. tt 14, 16-21]
5.
Ulrich Czapski and Meteorological Impacts of Cool-Ronald Stewart ing Towers (Stip. Cont. D 1, 2)
S.U.N.Y.
at Albany
[Butzel Aff. t 14]
6.
Harvey Flad et al.
Visual & Historic Impacts (Scip.
Vassar College Cont. D 3) [Butzel Aff. S 14]
Stip. Cont. = Stipulated Contentions with the NRC Staff.
Butzel Aff. = Affidavit of Albert K.
Butzel sworn to June 10, 1976 in Support of Amended Petition for Leave to Intervene of Greene County et al.
,E1.LTED CORRESPONDENT GREENE COUNTY NUCLEAR GENERATING FACILITY JOINT PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE s'#
BOARD ON ELECTRIC GENERATION e
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SITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT nc s
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___________x 9
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- i1A Ml CASE 80006 (I' )
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___________x and Testimony on behalf of Greene County et al.
on BEFORE THE UNITED STATES Transportation OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION March 2, 1979
x DOCKET 50-549
x Prepared Testimony of:
WILLIAM R.
- McGRATH, P.E.
Director, Transportation Planning Group Raymond, Parish, Pine & Weiner 555 White Plains Road Tarrytown, New York 10059
0 TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM R.
- MCGRATH, P.E.
1 Q.
What is your name and business address?
2 A.
My name is William R.
McGrath.
My business address is 3
Raymond, Parish, Pine & Weiner, 555 White Plains Road, 4
Tarrytown, New York 10591.
5 O.
By whom are you employed, and in what capacity?
6 A.
I am employed by the firm of Raymond, Parish, Pine &
7 Weiner, Inc.
I am Director of the Transportation 8
Planning Group of our firm.
9 Q.
Would you summarize your qualifications?
10 A.
My full qualifications are set forth in the " Statement 11 of Qualifications" annexed to this testimony.
In 12 summary, I am a registered professional engineer and 13 transportation planner with 27 years of experience.
14 Among other things, I have served as Commissioner of 15 the Department of Traffic and Parking of the City of 16 Boston, Massachusetts; as Transportation Coordinator of 17 the Boston Redevelopment Authority; as Director of the 18 Department of Traffic and Parking and Executive Director 19 of the Parking Authority of New Haven, Connecticut (in-20 cluding during the period of, and as a traffic planner 21 for, the New Haven Urban Renewal program); as a member 2.'
of the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor-23 tation Authority; as planning consultant to the
. 1 A.
Yes.
It is attached hereto and is entitled " Nuclear 2
Plant Study Review:
Greene County, N.Y."
3 Q.
Does that document set forth the substance of your 4
analysis and your conclusions with respect to traffic 5
and transportation impacts?
6 A.
Yes, it does.
7 Q.
Do you adopt its substance and conclusions as your 8
testimony in this proceeding?
9 A.
Yes, I do.
10 Q.
Since your report was prepared, have any further facts 11 come to your attention which bear on the analysis you 12 have made?
13 A.
Yes, although they do not affect our conclusions.
14 Q.
Would you please explain?
15 A.
When we prepared our report, PASNY had projected a peak 16 work force of 2100.
In its recent filings, the NRC 17 staff has suggested that the peak force could be as many 18 as 3,000.
If this proves true, our conclusions would 19 not be changed.
As noted at several points in our raport, 20 we have used a number of assumptions (including auto 21 occupancy rates and peak hour arrivals) which result in 22 traffic projections substantially above those that we 23 believe likely for a 2100-man work force.
As stated at 24 pages i and 7 of our report, using more realistic assump-25 tions, the traffic figures which we project and use for
a 1 purposes of analysis are actually those which we would 2
expect to occur with a 3000-man force.
Accordingly, 3
our conclusions are in fact applicable to the number of 4
workers which the NRC Staff anticipates, and the spot 5
improvements which we recommend should be satisfactory 6
even with that larger worker force.
7 Q.
Does this analysis apply to the Austin Glen By-Pass?
8 A.
Yes.
As we have stated in our report, the Austin Glen 9
By-Pass is unneeded -- and this is the case even if the 10 work force totals 3000.
I wish to emphasize, moreover, 11 that the By-Pass is unneeded as either a temporary or 12 a permanent solution.
In short, it should not be built 13 in any circumstances.
14 Q.
Is there an alternative to the Austin Glen By-Pass?
15 A.
As stated in our report, spot improvements at various 16 intersections will be sufficient to carry traffic flows 17 even during peak construction periods.
Thus, no by-18 pass is needed.
However, as we also indicate, if any 19 by-pass is to be built, it should be the Matteson By-20 pass.
This would avoid the environmental damage asso-21 ciated with the Austin Glen routing and could also be 22 advantageous for future development in the Village of 23 Catskill.
24 Q.
Does this complete your testimony?
25 A.
Yes it does.
4 1 Washington, D.C.
Redevelopment Land Agency, the City of 2
Caracas, Venezuela, the New York State Urban Develop-3 ment Corporation, and various small cities.
I have 4
been involved in numerous analyses of road and traffic 5
problems (including many associated with large-scale 6
development projects), both during and prior to my 7
joining Raymond, Parish, Pine & Weiner.
I am a graduate 8
of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and have a graduate 9
certificate in Transportation Engineering from the 10 Bureau of Highway Traffic at Yale University.
I served 11 for nine years on the Board of Direction of the Insti-12 tute of Transportation Engineers and was President of 13 that organization in 1973.
I am also an associate of 14 the Transportation Research Board and a member of the 15 National Society of Professional Engineers, among other 16 associations.
17 Q.
Are you familiar with the proposal of the Power Author-18 ity of the State of New York to build a nuclear gener-19 ating plant at Cementon in the Town of Catskill, with 20 a proposed alternative location designated in the Town 21 of Athens?
22 A.
I am familiar with the proposal insofar as it involves 23 my area of expertise -- that is, the access and trans-24 portation problems associated with each of the sites.
. 1 Q.
How have you become familiar with such proposal?
2 A.
Our firm was asked by Greene County to assess the traf-3 fic impacts and implications that would follow from 4
locating the plant at either the Cementon or Athens 5
site.
6 Q.
Did you undertake such an analysis?
7 A.
Yes.
Such an analysis has been performed by me and 8
under my supervision.
9 Q.
What did you do to familiarize yourself with the pro-10 posal?
11 A.
We reviewed PASNY's application and the reports of its 12 consultants on traffic and road improvements.
We also 13 reviewed relevant answers to interrogatories.
We made 14 several field inspections of the area and the roads 15 that would be involved.
We had meetings with the Plan-16 ning Department and other officials in Greene County.
17 We had meetings and discussions with representatives 18 of the State Department of Transportation and the New 19 York State Thruway Authority.
And we reviewed such 20 other written records and materials as we felt neces-21 sary to understand PASNY's proposals and the problems 22 which these seemed to pose.
23 Q.
Have you prepared a report which reflects the analysis 24 you undertook?
WILLIAM R.
McGRATH, P.E.
STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS Mr. McGrath is Director of Transportation Planning Group of Raymond, Parish, Pine & Weiner, Inc.
In this position, he has the primary responsibility for the professional accuracy and adequacy of all the work of the Group.
He is the advisor to all other divisions of the firm and their clients in respect to traffic and transportation matters.
He directs the activities of the TPG to the end that work is performed efficiently and in accord with accepted standards.
Mr. McGrath has twenty-seven years of professional experience.
During most of that time he had responsibility for administra-tion and daily direction of planning, ope ration, and maintenance pa' king, and transportation facilities.
His work of traffic, r
has been directly related to overall planning, development, and administration of urban areas.
As a professional traffic engineer, he served for nine years on the Board of Direction of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and was the 1973 President of that Society.
He initi-ated and chaired the on-going ITE Equal Opportunity Project, and he has testified before Congress and other bodies as Chairman of the ITE Legislative Committee.
From July 19 68 to January 19 71, Mr. McGrath was Commissioner of the Department of Traffic and Parking of the City of Boston, Mas s achuse tts.
In that pos t, he had administrative responsibility for the department charged with the operation and maintenance of the city's traf fic f acilities.
He held the legal authority for all traffic matters in Boston.
In addition, he served as the traffic and transportation advisor to the Boston Redevelop-ment Authority, which contains within it the Planning Department of the City of Boston.
He was a member of the three-man commis-sion which has legal responsibility for the layout of the street and highways sys tem of the City of Boston.
For five years before the above assignment he was Transportation Coordinator of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and during that time he carried all the previously described responsibilities except the operational and legal authority exercised as Commissioner.
Prior to his work in Boston, Mr. McGrath spent eight years as Director of the Department of Traffic and Parking and Executive Director of the Parking Authority of New Haven, Connecticut.
During that time period, New Haven had one of the most outstand-ing and active Urban Renewal programs in the United States, and his responsibilities included all the street and highway planning of that program in addition to his operational responsibilities.
Under his direction.the Parking Authority developed a multi-million-dollar parking program which included surface lots, a mechanical garage, ramp parking garages, residential parking lots, and all other aspects of a parking program.
During the same period he devised and installed a radio-controlled traffic signal system with central supervision of the city's entire signal system.
"He devised and installed a completely new one-way traffic pattern to conform with the operation of the new State freeways built to serve the City.
Public transportation has always been a major factor in Mr. McGrath's work.
His one-way street plan in New Haven was tailored to assure proper concentration of transit service.
In his earlier years he devised complete revisions of the transit route plans of Louisville, Kentucky and Ottawa, Ontario.
His service on the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority as designee of the Mayor of Boston demanded detailed study and consideration.of proposed capital improvements and operating requirements before casting Boston's vote.
Recently he served on a special Transportation Research Board task force which, at the request of the Urban Mass Trasnportation Administration, produced a report of " Safety Standards in Mass Transportation".
During the course of his public service, Mr. McGrath was privileged to take occasional outside assignments.
On request of the United States State Department, he spent time in Dublin, Ireland and Madras, India assisting those cities in establishing departments for the planning and operational control of traffic and trans-portation.
At various times, he served as consultant to the Washington, D.C. Redevelopment Land Agency, the City of Caracus, Venezuela, the New York State Urban Development Corporation, and various small cities.
Recently, as the representative of TPG, he was part of a site planning team including personnel from Bechtel Corporation and Welton Becket & Associates who traveled to Moscow, Russia to plan a multi-million-dollar international trade center for the Russian government and Occi-dental Petroleum Corporation.
All of the above demonstrates Mr. McGrath's extensive experience in traffic and transportation activities as they exist in the urban setting, closely tied to planning, redevelopment, and other aspects of the urban scene.
During his career he has contributed to regional, state, and national programs and polAcies through service with various organizations and agencies.
As a member of the Executive Committee of the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council, he participated in the general planning activities for the region.
As the only municipal representative on the Governor's Advisory Council on Transportation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he participated 2
~
in policy decisions concerning the State's transportation activities.
He served for several years as a member of the Transportation Steering Committee of the National League of Cities and was Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the U. S. Conference of Mayors, both of which deal with national policy and legislation affecting transportation from the urban viewpoint.
Recently he was a member of the Advisory Council on Urban Ecosystems for the Institute of Ecology.
Mr. McGrath is a civil engineering graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has a graduate certificate in Traffic Engineering from the Bureau of Highway Traffic at Yale Univer-sity.
He is a registered professional engineer in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and California.
He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Chi Epsilon, Sigma Xi, and Pi Delta Epsilon, honorary societies.
He is an associate of the Transpor-tation Research Board and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and the National Council for the Trans-portation Disa'dvantaged.
He served two years on the faculty at Yale.
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NUCLEAR PLANT STUDY REVIEW Greene County, New York by Raymond, Parish, Pine & Weiner, Inc.
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING GROUP
__ _ Tarrytown, New York Decerter, 1978
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 1.
PASNY estimated a peak daily work force of 2100 during the third to fif th year of construction.
We have no information which either verifies or refutes this estimate, but we are cognizant that others have sug-gested it might be as high as 3000.
2.
PASNY estimated 1.2 workers per car, producing an estimated peak hour flow of 1750 vehicles.
This is below the 1.4 national average.
No allowance was made for shifts, varied work hours, absentees or the ef fects of carpooling.
This must be considered a " worst case" estimate, and peak flows undoubtedly would be somewhat lower.
With more conservative es timates, a work force of as many as 3000 would produce peak hour flows no greater than those we have analyzed.
3.
PASNY estimated that 63 percent of the workers would come from the north and 37 percent from the south, based on population distribution in a 70 mile (1 hour1.157407e-5 days <br />2.777778e-4 hours <br />1.653439e-6 weeks <br />3.805e-7 months <br /> driving time) radius.
This appears reasonable.
4.
PASNY estimated traffic flow for the year 1981 (peak year of cons truction) based on an overall 3 percent growth rate plus the imposition of construction worker traffic.
From the data at hand and our own experience we consider this to be an adequate procedure.
The results are sub-ject to item 2 above which suggests that construction worker traffic may be lower than estimated.
5.
PASNY finds that Route 9W between Malden Turnpike and Route 23A is inadequate for handling traffic during the construction period unless it can be reconstructed, relocated or otherwise relieved or the added burden.
We agree with that finding.
The construction of the plant at Cementon should not be permitted unless the Route 9W problem is solved.
6.
It appears BASNY has not worked out all the details for their proposed relocation of Route 9W.
The Lehigh Cement Company, for one, has indicated the ' current plan would make their situation intolerable in the long run, and possibly in the short run as wall.
Dis cussions with Le-high representatives of possible modifications did not produce any plans which they find fully acceptable.
Any permit to construct the plant should be contingent on acceptable resolution of all Route 9W problems.
i
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Transportation Planning Group 555 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591 914/631 9003 212/365-2666 CEORCE M. RAYMONO. A.I.P.AI A Pe A TH ANs E L J. P ARISH. P.E. AI.P.
'^"YL'tL'O,,^ii, December 31, 1978 cI MLLI AM R. McGR A TH. P.E., Dwector Mr. Albert K. Butzel Butzel and Kass 45 Rockefeller Plaza New York, New York 10020
Dear Mr. Butzel:
We are pleased to transmit our Nuclear Plant Study Review report which we have prepared under your guidance for Greene Co un ty, New Yo rk.
Our review focuses on the traf fic conse-quences of constructing the proposed power plant in Cementon, New York or alternatively in Athens, New York.
We have con-sidered the impacts which construction worker traffic would have on the street and highway system of the area, and the impact of making improvements to accommodate that traffic.
Our three most important findings are:
(a)
The PASNY solution to Route 9W problems is unsatis-f actory in many respects, but some acceptable solution must be found if construction of the plant of Cementon is approved.
(b)
The construction of the Austin Glen by pass is not ex-sential for the handling of construction worke'r traf fic or for future traffic, and due to its undesirable effects, it should not be built at all.
( c)
The construction of the Matteson by pass would reduce many of the potential construction worker problems and could be advantageo us for future development in the Village of Catskill.
We are prepared to testify in respect to this study at your convenience.
Yours very truly, n
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CORDON FLOW MAP 3
GREENE COUNTY, NEW YORK us NUCLEAR PLANT REVIEW RAYMOND, PARISH,P1NE 8 WEINER,INC.
of Catskill or Saugerties or the surrounding communities, or whether they might occupy such mobile home space as may be available.
Some of this probably would occur, but it is not likely that it would drastically change the approach route volumes because these workers probably also would drive toward the site from the same directions and along the same routes.
Volume Studies Existing (1976) traffic volumes were presented in Table A-1 and Volume / capacity ratios in Table A-2 of the impact study, copies of which are included in the Appendix of this report.
For purposes of visual examination, the 1976 AM peak hour traffic flows on the existing road network are shown in Figure 3 (back flap of report).
For analytic curposes, th,e road network was divided into study sections with numbered nodes at the end points as shown in Figure 3.
It is noted from Table A-2 that the volumes on links 12-49, 12-13, 18-50, 18-19, 23-38, 56-22 and 45, are currently of such magnitude as to of fer capacity problems but these problems are all in the evening peak hour.
It should be noted, hcwever, that capacity ana5yses are primarily an examination of the ability of the roadway to handle the imposed volume without undue congeation and they do not di;eetly address the question of relative safety.
A highway such as Route 9W might very well be able to accommodate its traffic volumes without undue con-gestion, but because of its al.ignment and physical condition, 9
it may not provide the desired level of safety.
Our field inspections led us to the conclusion that Route 9W does not have a level of design safety throughout most of its length between the villages of Saugerties and Catskill, and particularly between the Ulster-Greene County line and Embought Road, which will permit the arbitray imposition of any additional traffic loads of significant magnitude.
The signal controlled one way operation of the two railroad underpasses in the latter segment is clear evidence of the problem.
Estimated traffic flows during the construction period and immediately thereaf ter for the years 1978 through 19 83 were shown as volume / capacity ratios in Table A-2 of the impact report.
Based on those estimates, the sections of the road system which would have volume / capacity ratios in excess of the allowable maximum at Level of Service "E"
are shown in Table 1 for existing flows (1976), for the fourth year of construction (1981), and for the first year after con-struction (1983).
The effect of the construction period traffic is evident Obviously, the calendar dates no longer apply, but only slight adjustment would be necessary to bring this data in line with a new set of construction dates.
10
TABLE 1 Deficient Roadway Links AM Peak Hour Volume Capacity Ratio Limiting Existing During After Link Ratio Traffic Construction Construction 7-37 0.61 0.62 5-54 0.90 1.00 54-10 0.90 1.03 55-11 0.70 0.81 11-46 0.51 1.37 0.96 31-46 0.58 1.37 0.96 31-51 0.53 1.39 0.97 49-51 0.53 0.72 0.55 12-49 0.19 0.19 0.68 0.53 12-13 0.19 0.19 0.68 0.53 13-14 0.30 0.96 0.73 14-15 0.49 0.78 0.59 15-29 0.49 0.50 16-29
- 0. 19 0.30 0.25 18-50 0.90 1.09 1.05 18-19 0.56 0.59 0.61 23-38 0.40 0.41 0.42 56-22 0.90 0.90 6-47 0.90 1.08 Ratio of Level Of Service D volume to Level Of Service E capacity
construction peak traffic, and, therefore, it would be even less than that of the AM peak hour.
These factors would minimize the effect on the street and highway system, but they would not eliminate it.
6 12
a For visual examination, the data of the impact report have been used to develop Figure 4 (back flap of report) which shows the 1981 AM traffic volames as they would occur on the revised road network if construction were permitted and the network was changed as proposed by PASNY.
Also shown are the volumes as they would be if the Austin Glen by pass road were not built.
Basic Findings The basic finding of the impact report is that Route 9W throughout virtually its entire length between the vil-lages of Saugerties and Catskill would be ir. adequate for the imposition of future traffic loads plus nuclear plant construction activity at the proposed Cementon Site.
It also finds there would be a substantial number of deficient intersections in each village with these additional loadings.
Our review of the information which has been presented leads us to concur with those findings.
We note however that the added construction period traffic may be only 68% of that estimated in the impact report for the AM peak due to travel time-offsets and-greater vehicle occupancy.
Furthermore, the PM highway peak probably would not coincide with PM 11
7.
PASNY proposed a new roadway through Austin Glen between Route 23A and Route 23 for the accommodation of construc-tion werker traffic.
While this road would divert sub-stantial traffic during the construction period, it is not essential to the maintenance of acceptable traffic flows in the Village of Catskill during that time, and it is not needed for future traffic.
It would premanently alter a natural wild area and it would have other potentially adverse environmental effects.
It should be eliminated from further consideration.
If there is a desire to apen the Glen area for recreational purposes, it can be done in other less harmful ways.
8.
PASNY has proposed the improvement of several intersections in the Village of Catskill to accommodate construction traf-fic and future traffic.
We concur in the need for and de-sirability of these improvements and have developed specific proposals for them.
If a permit is issued for construction of the plant it should be contingent upon the improvement of the following intersections.
(1)
Routes 9W and 23A
- Figure 6 (2)
Route 145 and Exit 21 Figure 7
( 3)
Routes 23 and 145
- Figure 8 (4)
Routes 9W and 23
- Figure 9 (5)
Routes 9W and 385 Figure 10 (6)
Routes 385 and 23
- Figure 11 9.
Investigation shows there are village owned sanitary sewers and water mains of ancient vintage lying under Route 9W from its crossing of Catskill Creek to its intersection with Route 2 3A.
Numerous leaks have occurred in these lines in the past, and the imposition of heavy construction traffic would exacerbate the situation.
If a permit to construct the plant is granted it should be contingent on advance re-placement or protection of those facilities and provision of emergency repair service if needed during the construction period.
- 10. The possibility of constructing a new road known as the Matteson by pass west of Maple Avenue-from Catskill Creek to West Bridge Street was investigated.
While this by pass is not essential from a traffic viewpoint, it has significant advantages.
It would avoid the utility problems described in item 9 above and would relieve Maple Avenue of all construction traffic and much future traffic as well.
It would avoid the necessity of improving the intersection of Routes 9W and 385 (Figure
- 10) and if appropriately located would simplify the in-tersection of Routes 9W and 2 3A.
ii
8 3
4 Also, even though the taking of some houses would be required, it could enhance the development of the Village by providing access to currently unaccessible land.
It is f ar preferable to the Austin Glen by pass in terms o f environmental impact and would be continously useful regardless of whether the nuclear plant is built.
- 11. Similar intersection improvements to those named above have been proposed in the Town and in the Village of Sau-gerties in Ulster County.
These should also be required ~
to the extent they are acceptable to local officials.
- 12. PASNY investigated the possibility of temporary inter-change facilities to replace or supplement other proposals,
but they have been rejected by the Thruway Authority.
We believe such a facility for carpools and for park and ride operations at Malden Turnpike is entirely feasible.
It should be further explored if it appears likely that a permit will be issued to construct the plant.
It cannot, however, be s ubstituted for Route 9W and intersection im-provements.
- 13. PASNY has identified a set of off site parking lot locations which would be serviced by busses for park and ride operations.
These would be in lieu of its highway and traf fic proposals.
Such a system is not likely to operate with full success.
- 14. As a variant to the PASNY park and ride proposal, we would recommend that carpool lots be established at Thruway Exits 20 and 21, -and that carpooling construction workers be given preferential parking privileges at the construction site.
This would be a supplement to Route 9W and the intersection improvements.
- 15. PASNY has examined an alternate site for the nuclear plant in the Town of Athens, north o f Catskill.
A number of modifications to PASNY's traf fic handling plans would be essential to minimize the potential adverse ef fects of this alternative.
iii
PROPOSED PASNY IMPROVEMENTS Having established the " worst case" effect of construction traffic on the surrounding highway system, PASNY examined relief measures which might be applied to solve the pro-blems this traffic would create.
This is a reasonable ap-proach, but care must be taken dhat the proposed solutions are not only workable but also are not harmful in themselves.
The impact repcrt was further reviewed from this point of view.
Alternative Solutions The impact report considered various solutions to the con-struction worker traffic impact which would take place throughout the construction period.
It considered three basically different kinds of solutions as follows :
1.
Improve the Route 9W corridor and the traffic network leading to it to handle the expected traffic load.
2.
Provide new f acilities by direct connection to the NY Thruway from the site by means of new in-terchanges and roadways to handle the greater portion of the expected traffic load.
13
3.
Implement carpooling, park and ride and other such services intended to lessen the magnitude of the expected traffic load.
There were many variants to the basic solutions.
Among these were choices as to whether any constructed facilities would be public or private and whether they would be per-manent or temporary.
After a series of analyses the report selected one permanent public roadway construction option and one temporary operational option as its preferred al-ternatives.
It also offered the possibility that the con-srruction option would be done on a private mad temporary basis.
Construction Option.
The construction option contained the following elements :
a.
Relocate route 9W on new right-of-way east of its pre-sent location between Embought Road (node 31) and Malden Turnpike (node 29).
b.
Construct a new by pass roadway up through the valley of Catskill Creek (Austin Glen) between the intersection of Routes 9W ant 23A (node 11) and the intersection of Routes 23 and 145 (node 4).
c.
Make intersection improvements in the villages of Cats-kill and Saugerties.
14
Operational Option For the operational option there were identified some half dozen locations in and near the villages of Catskill and Saugerties where off-street parking lots could be built and utilized by the construction workers.
The proposed locations and capacities are indicated below:
Park-and-Ride (Alternative III)
Pickup Locations Parking Lot Number of Number or Location Location Parking Spaces of Workers A
Route 32 in the vi-cinity of Thruway Exit 20 300 354 B
Route 9W/32 south of Saugerties 200 194 C
Route 23B in the vicinity of Thruway Exit 21 450 533 D
Route 9W north of Cats-kill 550 610 E
Intersection Route 23A and Route-9W 100 71 38
-F Vil-lage of Saugerties 1,600 1,800 O
15
The lots would be provided with bus service to and from the construction site.
The bus service would be free and there would be no parking available for construction workers at the construction site.
As presented, this option assumes that virtually all construction workers would use the parking lots and no heavy added flows would be encountered along Route 9W and on the village streets other than the approaches to the lots themselves.
Thruway Interchanges The PASNY projections indicated that the majority of construction workers would approach the area via the NY State Thruway.
The site is slightly south of a midpoint between exits 20 and 21 on the Thruway.
Workers using Exit 20 from the south would have to travel through Saugerties, or via a somewhat circuitous route utilizing Route 32 and Malden Turnpike.
Workers using Exit 21 from the north would use the Austin Glen by-pass if ;c were built, or would pass through the Village of Catskill.
As a possible method of improving access to the site, PASNY con-sidered temporary Thruway interchanges at various points between exits 20 and 21.
These were discussed with the Thruway Authority b'y PASNY, but after some deliberation the Thruway Authority re-jected the proposals on the basis that a temporary interchange would be most difficult to close af ter the construction period was over.
They also felt that operation of the temporary inter-change would be difficult to control for exclusive use by 16
construction workers.
The manpower needed at the temporary c
interchange would also be a problem.
With the Thruway objections to the PASNY plan in mind, we also made a presentation to the Thruway Authority involving two tem-porary interchanges.
These interchanges would have been at Route 23A and at Malden Turnpike.
Construction workers from the north would use the Route 23A interchange and workers from the south would use the one at Malden Turnpike.
Field observations at these points suggested that exit ramps at grade could be made inexpensively at these locations.
The two temporary interchanges as we proposed then would be operated for construction workers only and would lead only to a park and ride - carpool lot.
No one would be permitted to use them for direct access to the inter-secting highways.
Anyone who entered inadvertently would be re-quired to return to the Thruway and to continue in their original travel direction.
This would eliminate difficulties of eliminating the interchange _af ter construction was completed.
The Thruway representatives decided that the Route 23A site would be too dif-ficult to achieve.
The Malden Turnpike location, however is the site-of a former interchange ramp which could easily be reopened.
Nevertheless, the Thruway Authority was not willing to undertake such action even if all costs were borne by PASNY.
We believe, if the nuclear plant license is granted, every effort should be made to convince them to use the Malden Turnpike plan.
It would be of more importance to Saugerties and Ulster County, however, than to Greene County.
17
IMPACT OF PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS This section of the report examines the PASNY alternatives from the viewpoint of their ability to handle the traffic and their likely feasibility and impact upon Greene County and the Town and Village of Catskill.
Relocated Route 9W In this proposal, Route 9W would be completely relocated to the east of the existing road, starting just north of its intersection with Embought Road, crossing over to the east side of the railroad tracks, passing through the Mar-que tte, Lehigh and Alpha Cement companies properties plus other property, and rejoining existing Route 9W at Malden Turnpike ( Route 34).
Present Route 9W is a two lane roadway generally 24 feet in width.
It has many low speed curves and stretches of limited sight distance.
The existing alignment is essentially adequate southward from Route 23A (node 11) to Embought Road (node 31).
From there to Alpha Road (node 12) it has several steep vertical curves and tight horizontal curves.
At Alpha Road it passes under one of two narrow railroad bridges which 18
permit only one vehicle at a time to pass underneath in each direction and is signal controlled for this purpose.
The section between nodes 13 and 14 lies on the east side of the railroad and has relatively good alignment.
At the Ulster County Line (node 14), Route 9W again passes under a one lane railroad bridge and traverses a winding path with numerous curves and grades to Malden Turnpike (node 29).
Development along the road, particularly at Eavesport, West Camp and Cementon crowds the right-of-way in many locations.
Route 9W is the primary route used by the Marquette, Lehigh and Alpha Cement Companies.
These companies generate sub-stantial truck movement north and south on this highway.
Local traffic to and from the villages of Catskill and Sau-gerties also use it.
Fortunately, considering its relatively low design standards, the presence of the New York State Thru-way paralleling it about one to two miles to the west relieves it of any substantial through routed or regional traffic, even though it is part of the U.S. Primary Route System.
The Thruway offers interchange with connecting highways at both CatskillandSauherties,butnoneinbetween.
19
Functionally, the new alignment of Route 9W proposed by PASNY (shown in Figure 4) would provide the same services as the existing road.
The terrain it would traverse is flat and level in most places and it could be built to modern design standards.
It would provide direct and safe access for the construction workers to the proposed nuclear plant as they approached from Catskill, Saugerties and the
~
Malden Turnpike.
The volume of construction traffic and local traffic estimated by PASNY to be handled along route 9W in the morning peak hour also is shown in Figure 4.
Examination of the terrain to be traversed by the proposed relocation of Route 9W did not reveal any obviously detri-mental land or property takings outside the cement company properties.
The PASNY impact report indicates there would be no houses or businesses taken for this section of roadway.
The alignment does pass through a recreation area named Bristol Beach Park, but it is currently ~ undeveloped and it would need the access provided by the roadway if it were to be opened for use.
20
Examination of the PASNY report documentation indicates there is no need for serious concern in regard to visual quality; the effects on cultural resources are minimal and can be handled under the guidance of the SHPO; air quality would be essentially unaffected, or possibly improved due to smoothed traffic flow, except fugitive dust during con-struction and some concentration of emissions due to traffic stoppages.
Noise levels would be essentially unaffected, or possibly improved due to smoothed traffic flow mnd lessened elevation differentials, except for the noise of construction equipment.
The report indicates there will not be any serious detrimental effects on ecological resources; and there won' t be any serious detrimental affect on water resources provided proper care is exercised during construction.
Potentially, there can be serious detrimental effect on the operation and economic visibility of the cement companies, caused by the proposed right-of-way takings.
To our knowledge one of these, the Lehigh Cement Company, has registered concern in this regard.
The proposed nuclear plan would be built on a sdastantial acreage acquired from the Lehigh Cement Company, and the new location of Route 9W would be west of the nuclear plant, 21
further diminishing the Lehigh property.
The proposed new route would pass between the company's manufacturing plant and its riverside docks to which it presently hauls its finished product by truck to be loaded onto barges.
Meetings with representatives of the Lehigh Company revealed that they believe PASNY's proposed relocation of Route 9W could cause economic damage to the Lehigh Cement Company to the extent they might be forced to vacate the premises and close the plant.
They expressed concern about possible interference with their trucking operation by Route 9W traf fic and increased hauling distances due to the revised layout.
Most importantly, they say, the resultant condition would foreclose forever any possibility of modernizing their plant, which would have in-cluded a conveyor system to the docks to replace the truck haul system.
They stated that the inability to undertake mo dernization eventually would make the plant economically infeasible.
With the above objections in mind we made preliminary studies of possible treatments of Route 9W which might lessen the damage to the Lehigh Cement Company.
We considered the possibility of re-constructing Route 9W in its present location between nodes 31 and 29 or between nodes 31 and 12, but from our field inspections and sketch work it appears that such rebuilding would be most difficult due to the extensive earth moving which would be required, 22
and substantially more costly than the proposed relocation.
In some sections residential and business property takings would also be extensive.
We concluded these would not be feasible alternatives.
We considered possible realignments and grade separations through the Lehigh property which would lessen the impact on their operation.
An overpass at the north property line would ease access to the water intake f acility and an overpass at the south property line could improve the travel haul route and the railroad siding to the nuclear plant.
Moving the road as close as possible to the nuclear plant could improve the Lehigh Company's general operating situation, but this would require agreement concerning penetration of the nuclear plant exclusion boundary.
Access from new Route 9W to both the Lehigh Company and the nuclear plant could be completely controlled to the extent desired by each.
All of these things were discussed in a further meeting with representatives of the Lehigh Company.
They agreed that some of the ideas we presented could be used to alleviate the short range situation, but they indicated that
~
the continued long range interference with plant modernization eventually would make the plant economically infeasible.
23
The Lehigh Comnany representatives also expressed great con-cern with conditions during construction if the project goes ahead.
They indicated they could not function if they were subjected to delays in their usage of existing Route 9W, delays in usage of their truck haul route to the docks or interference from construction worker traffic.
A subalternate of the construction option would be the con-struction of. private roads in the place of relocated Route 9W.
These would terminate at the nuclear plant and construction workers coming from the north and the south could reach the plant without traveling on the critical sections of existing Route 9W.
This plan would not dhange Route 9W as it now exists and general traffic plus the Cement Company traffic could con-tinue to use Route 9W as they do today.
After completion of the plant, the roadways could be eliminated, or they could be retained under PASNY control for plant access.
Interference with Lehigh Ccmpany operations.would be minimized by this plan, but the basic impediments to mcdernization would remain.
There is an important issue concerning future maintenance if the public construction option is implemented.
Relocated Route 9W would be maintained by the S tate of New York Department of 24
Transportation, and they have indicated they would no longer maintain existing Route 9W under those circumstances.
The responsibility for upkeep of the old road would then rest with either the County or the Town of Catskill.
This would place an unwelcome burden on those municipalities which they have indicated they are unable to accept.
The private roadway alternate would eliminate this problem; alternatively some arrangement could be made whereby PASNY would make payments to the municipal 1 ties suf-ficient to cover these maintenance costs.
Austin Glen By-Pass The Austin Glen by-pass, as proposed by PASNY, would be built from the intersection of Route 23A and 9W northbound across Catskill Creek and up the valley wall to Jefferson Heights at the intersection of Routes 23 and 145.
Field inspections were made of this area and it is clear the roadway would tra-verse an area which is largely wilderness and river bottom famn land.
It would pass closely by an historical seventeenth Century Dutch f arm house located near the north bank of Cats-kill Creek immediately adjacent to the abandoned railroad.
While the impact report deprecates the visual and aural effect of this roadway in this area there can be no doubt it would be
~
detrimental to th'e peace and quiet which now exists.
The noise of trucks climbing up some 250 feet from the valley ficar to Jefferson Heights on maximen allowable grade is not to be aini-mixed.
25
It is not clearly stated in the report that the emissions from the climbing vehicles will neither rise to form heavy concentrations in the Jefferson Heights residential area nor sink and be trapped in the confines of the valley.
If this valley is naturally and adequately self ventillating the report doesn't say so, and none of the seventeen monitoring locations which were measured and analyzed are located in the valley.
As for the visual impact, even if a temporary roadway solution were adopted, no feasible amount of landscaping or obliteration could remove the effects of benching the valley wall to con-struct this roadway.
This new man made contour would be forever visible in any southeasterly view of the valley.
It has been suggested the by pass could be used to open up the area for recreation or other purposes.
To the extent that is desired, other less destructive alignments that do not pass all the way through could be found.
It was concluded from all the above that the Austin Glen by pass should not-be -built unless it could be clearly shown to be needed for traffic handling during or after the construction period.
To assess this need, the PASNY traffic estimates were plotted for both of these periods and reassigned for the "no 26
by pass" condition as shown in Figures 4 and 5.
The detailed turning movements as they exist and as they would occur during and af ter construction for the critical intersections in the Village of Catskill are shown in Tables 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
These flow patterns were analyzed and it was found that con-struction period traffic could be adequately handled if neces-sary improvements were made at six of the critical intersections which were identified in Figure 2.
The details of these im-provements are described in a later section of this report.
Some of the improvements were proposed by PASNY and others were developed in the course of this review.
As for the post construction period, it is seen in Figure 5 that only 150 southbound vehicles and 50 northbound vehicles would be using the by pass at that time.
This is indicative of an ADT of about 1500 cars which would not justify the roads existence.
Furthermore, the loads on the rest of the network would have returned to easily managed levels.
Based on all the above, it is concluded that the Village of Catskill s treet system can handle imposed traf fic flows both during and after the nuclear plant construction period without the Austin Glen by pass.
The necessary intersection improvements can be accomplished without excessive takings or disruption, and the additional capacity and smoother flow would be beneficial in the post construction period.
27
Table 2 Nuclear Plant Study Review Greene County, New Y0rk Estimated Traffic Volumes AM-Peak Hour Existing Intersection Without Bv Pass L
S R
T Route 9W & 23A NB 25 65 90 SB EB 230 20 250 WB 75 85 160 Route 145-Exit 21 SB 90 15 105 EB 25 90 115 WB 40 100 140 Route 23-145 NB 45 70 50 165 SB 70 95
.15 180 EB' 20 80 130 230 WB 10 130 50 190 Route 9W-23 NB 35 170 45 250 SB 30 125 45 200 EB 25 130 45 200 WB 15 120 105 2 40 Route 9W-385 SB 110 110 EB 120 175 295 WB 50 50 10 0 Route 385-23 NB 10 15 120 145 SB 15 5
25 45 EB 10 120 75 205 WB 205 25 2 30 Route 145-9W NB 45 115 10 170 SB 120 15 50 185 EB 125 20 90 235 WB 5
70 10 85
Table 3 Nuclear Plant Study Review Greene C;unty, New York Estimated Traffic Volu=es AM-Peak Ecur - Curing Construction With By Pass Without 3y Pass Intersection L
S R
T L
S R
T Route 9W & 23A NB 30 30 45 105 30 75 105 SB 55 640 30 725 EB 10 260 70 340 -
265 75 340 WB 555 70 10 635 1190 100 1290 Poute 145-Exit'21 SB 490 20 510 490 20 510 EB 30 145 0
175 30 145 175 WB 45 130 175 45 130 175 Foute 23-145 L
b S
R R
T 2
l y
2 NB 10 45 80 55 190 55 80 55 190 80 40 495 20 6 35 350 265 120 735 SB EB 25 100 90 210 425 25 300 100 425 WB 10 10 15 0 50 220 55 80 55 190 By Pass 10 20 10 10 50 Route 9W-23 NB 35 195 50 2 80 45 195 50 290 SB 35 480 50 565 35 480 50
- 565 EB 30 150 65 245 30 150 525 705 WB 140 135 120 395 140 135 120 395 Route 9W-385 505 505 SB 1160 1160 EB 155 205 360 135 205 340 130 60 190 WB 130 60 190 Ecute 385-23 NB 10 20 140 170 10 20 140 170 SB 20 80 40 140 20 80 40 140 EB 10 135 90 235 10 135 90 235 WB 0
345 30 375 345 30 375 3 cute 145-9W
~
NB 50 155 10 2 15 50 135 10 195 SB 140 4 85 60 685 140 945 60 1145 EB 115 25 10 150 145 25 205 375 WB 10 80 10 100 10 80 10 100
Table 4 Nuclear Plant Study Review Greene County, New York Esti:: ated Traffic Volu=es AM-Peak Hour - After Construction With By Pass Without By Pass Intersection
~
L S
R T
L S
R T
Route 9W & 22A NB 30 30 45 105 30 75 105 SB 60 60 30 150 EB 10 225 25 260 265 25 290 WB
-25 70 10 105 85 100 185 Route 145-Exit 21 SB 105 20 125 105 20 125 EB.
30 105 135 30 105 135 WB 45 130 175 45 120 175 Route 23-145 L
L 5
R R
T 2
1 1
2 NB 10 45 80 55 190 55 80 55 190 SB 80 40 70 20 210 80 110 20 210 EB 25 100 90 60 275 25 95 155 M5 WB 10 10 150 50 220 10 15 0 70 2 30 By Pass 10 20 10 10 50 Ecute 9W-23 NB 35 195 50 280 45 19 5 50 290 SB 35 145 50 230 35 145 50 230 EB 30 150 65 245 30 150 50 230 WB 20 135 120 275 20 135 12 0 2 75 Rdute 9W-385 120 120 50 50 SB 340 360 135 205 EB 155 205 55 60 115 55 60 115 WB Pcute 385-23 NB 10 20 140 170 10 20 140 170 SB
.20 5
25 50 20 5
25 50 IB 10 135 90 235 10 135 90 235 2 40 30 270 240 30 270 WB Pcute 145-9W NB 50 155 10 215 50 135 10 195 SB 140 30 60 230 140 15 60 215 EB 115 25 10 150 145 25 105 275 WB 10 80 10 100 10 80 10 100
Therefore, the Austin Glen by pass is neither desirable nor necessary, whether the nuclear plant is built or not, and it should not be constructed.
It should be clearly under-stood, of course, that the Village could not handle the con-struction worker traf fic if the indicated intersection im-provements were not undertaken, or, alte rn atively, if the Matteson by pass described below was not constructed.
If a permit is granted for construction of the plant, therefore, it must be contingent upon the completion of the intersection improvements or the Matteson by pass by PASNY before con-struction worker flow reaches any substantial level.
Maple Avenue As the anticipated traffic volumes without Austin Glen by pass readily show, Maple Avenue would be subject ~to heavy peak hour flows during the construction period.
The southbound AM peak hour flow between Catskill Creek and Bridge Street would be 1160 vehicles per hour.
This flow is within the carrying capacity of this s treet, but with.only one lane in each direction, and the street lined with residences as it is, this is a sub-stantial burden.
Most importantly, in a meeting with the Cats-kill Village Engineer it was learned that there are several water and sewer lines under this street which have been subject to failure from time to time.
At least one of these lines also continues westward on Bridge Street past the 9W-385 intersection.
It must be anticipated that the twice a day' surge of construction worker 28
traffic, plus the probable increase in heavy truck loadings, will tend to accelerate the deterioration of these utility lines through impact loading.
If this deterioration were to lead to major failures requiring massive repair during the peak of the construction period, this key link in the rout-ing system would be seriously impaired.
Without the Matteson by pass (described below), the only available detour route would be via Main and Spring streets, neither of which is suitable for that purpose.
If a permit is granted for construction of the nuclear plant, therefore, and the Matteson by pass is not man-date d, then the premit should be contingent upon a commitment from PASNY to inspect all underground utilities along Maple Avenue from Catskill Creek to Bridge Street and along Bridge Street to Route 23A and to undertake whatever repairs or pre-ventive maintenance may be needed.
PASNY also should be re-quired to arrange for an emergency repair capability ready for immediate services in this regard for the duration of the con-struction period.
Matteson By Pass As an alternative to the improvement of the intersection of 9W-385 and the protection. of Maple Avenue utilities it has been suggested that a by pass roadway be constructed that would branch westward off Maple Avenue ( Route 9W) immediately south of Catskill Creek and continue west of and more or less parallel to the railroad to an intersection with Bridge Street (Route 9W).
It is shown schematically in Figures 4 and 5.
29
(Alternatively, it could branch off a bit further south and continue just east of the railroad).
This potential route has been described previously in village development plan documents, and it would offer development advantages to the west side of the Village.
During the construction period this by pass would carry virtually all of the traffic which has been estimated to use Maple Avenue.
To be most efficient, it should inter-sect Route 9W at Route 23A, and become the main route between there and the Catskill Creek bridge.
This would dictate the westernmost location, and Maple Avenue would then be returned to the stature of a local access street.
This by pass route would eliminate the intersection pro-blems at Routes 9W - 385 and simplify those at Routes 9W -
23A.
It would eliminate the Maple Avenue utility problem and it would relieve the Maple Avenue residents of cons truc-tion worker traffic.
It is quite evident that this by pass would offer many benefits to the Maple Avenue corridor even though it would require the acquisition of a new right of way through a residential area and the introduction of considerable activity in an area which 30
is currently quiet and secluded.
No location or design plans have been prepared to the best of our knowledge, but field inspections indicates that from 5 to 15 dwelling units might be taken or affected.
We conclude that this suggested by pass should be considered primarily on own merits.
From a traffic handling point of view it is more desirable than the anticipated heavy use of Maple Avenue even though it is not essential to the operating plan.
If the Village wants it built it is a logical sub-stitute for the previously recommended improvements at Routes 9W - 385 and Routes 9W - 23A and it can subste mutt #or the recommended utility repairs.
If the Village does not want it built, then it should be dro? ped from considiaration.
e 31
Intersection Treatments - Catskill The analyses of conditions at the critical intersections in Catskill are shown below:
Route 9W-2 3A The critical movement at this location is the lef t turn from Route 23A westbound to Route 9W southbound.
If one of the by passes is not built, this would total 1190 vehicles in the AM peak hour.
(In the af ternoon the re-turn right turn movement would be the heaviest).
The PASNY report assumed the construction of the Austin Glen by pass and developed intersection plans on that basis.
Figure 6 shows our version of a design without a by pass.
The Capacity analysis fcr this intersection shows that it would be necessary to add a westbound through traf fic lane and to use the other two lanes for lef t turns.
With these improvements the intersection would operate at Level of Service "C" throughout the construction period.
Route 145 - Exit 21 This intersection would have the same traffic flow with or without a by pass.
Presently, however it is not adequately channelized.
The proposed design shown in Figure 7 was developed by PASNY.
It provides raised 32
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raised islands to channelize the traffic to and from the Thruway.
It could be operated safety and adequately during the construction period without a traffic signal.
Route 23 - 14 5 Route 23 is a limited access four lane divided highway which leads to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
Presently, to enter Route 23 eastbound from southbound Route 145 (from the Thruway), requires a left turn onto the entry ramp.
Our version of a design without the by pass is shown in Figure 8.
The left turn is replaced with a grade sepa-rated turn ramp from Route 145 to Route 23.
Route 145 would operate through the interchange in a circular pat-tern to facilitiate all turns and the other ramp move-ments.
With this design the intersection would be free flowing without signal control.
Route 9W Presently, this interchange is a two quadrant cloverleaf.
Left turns are required off and on Route 2 3.
These move-
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Figure 9 shows our version of changes which would provide two new ramps to complete the cloverleaf.
With this accomplished, the median could be closed to pre-vent the left. turns.
It is recognized that there would 33
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be extreme grade problems to overcome to accomplish this design, but we are satisfied from field inspections that it can be done if the ramps are of sufficient length.
If this plan is rejected because of land acquisition problems, consideration should be given to the signalization of the Route 23 lef t turns.
Such signal controls would improve the relative safety at this location and would operate at Level of Service C during the construction period.
It would be considered adequate, even though not in full compliance with the basic freeway design of this section of Route 23.
Route 9W - 385 Our version of a design plan for this intersection calls for an additional lane to be added to Route 9W in each direction as shown in Figure 10.
The left turn from Route 9W southbound to Route 385 eastbound would be pro-hibited.
The capacity analysis for this intersection indicates it will operate at Level of Service C during construction without the by pass if these improvements are made.
. Route 385 21 This intersection is a two-way 90 degree crossing with two way " diamond" slots for both lef t and right turns in all quadrants.
As a result, the through movements 34
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cross the path of entering lef t turns prior to the crossing point, and departing lef t turns beyond the crossing point.
It is an unusual design and potentially hazardous.
The construction period traffic would be the same at this location with or without a by pass.
In the morning peak hour the left turn from Route 23 westbound to Route 385 southbound would tend to be quite heavy.
This movement is undersirable because it would carry con-struction workers through the center of the Village via Spring and Bridge streets.
This left turn should be pro-hibited in the morning peak hour,during the construction period so all workers would be required to continue on Route 23 to Route 9W and use that path to go toward the site.
Our version of an improved layout is shown in Figure 11.
It calls for left turning lanes on all approaches ex-cept westbound and elimination of the existing diamond slots.
Af ter the construction period, the westbound left turn slot should also be added for the convenience of local
~ residents.
New signals should be installed to achieve max -
imum efficiency of the intersection.
Preliminary investi-gation shows that only minimum land taking would be needed to rebuild this intersection.
The capacity analysis in-dicates Level of Service C can be attained during the con-struction period.
35
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Route 145 - 9W This intersection would not be greatly af fected by con-struction worker traffic because Route 9W passes through by means of an underpass.
No improvements would be necessary provided provisions were made to prevent ex-cessive use of Route 145 at Route 23.
- e.
e 36
Intersection Treatments - Saugerties The PASNY report identifies a number of critical locations in and near the Village of Saugerties.
Generally, their analyses indicated that Route 9W in the village was not satisfactory for added construction worker loads, and Route 32/212 from Exit 20 through the village would not be a usable ' route either.
As a result of conferences with local officials, PASNY proposed some detours in the village and the previously mentioned round about routing from Exit 20 via Route 32 to'the Malden Turnpike.
In the absense of Ulster County participation in our work, we did not presume to second guess their agreements with PASNY.
We examined the routes in question, however, and we have some doubts as to the extent to which the Malden Turnpike diversion would be used.
Certainly a temporary interchange between the Thruway and Malden Turn-pike would be f ar more successful.
Operational Option The operational option proposed by PASNY calls for six parking lots located at various points as listed previously.
Buses would transport _ workers from the parking lots to the construction site, with no charge to the workers.
The lots would have ameni-ties such as bus shelters and public telephones.
Bus service 37
would be as frequent as required in peak hours and every hour in the off peak.
Special trips also would be made.
No on site parking would be provided for the construction workers and, obviously, problems would arise if any large number brought their cars to the site anyway.
Recognizing the independence of automobile drivers in general, and con-struction workers in particular, we believe a considerable number would drive to the site.
Also, without incentives such as portal to portal pay at the lot, the initial parkers probably would tend to change to drivers as time went by.
We conclude that while there is no objection to the parking lot plan;it would not be sufficient by itself to handle the construction worker traffic.
We believe, instead, that at the very least there should be carpool lots established at Exits 20 and 21, and, of course, at Malden Turnpike if a temporary interchange is built.
This type of facility is being used in increasing numbers along
~ - ~ ~
express highways everywhere.
It offers the advantage of vol-untary action by the workers themselves and they have the freedom to disperse at will from the lot.
To the extent the facilities were used, the expected street traffic volumes would 38
5 be decreased.
As an incentive, the carpools should be given preferential parking locations at the site.
Bus service could also be offered to those who wish it.
Vanpooling could also be added.
All of the above actions would reduce peak volumes or allow for larger construction forces.
Under no circumstances, how-ever, would they be considered as a complete substitute for the required intersection improvements or Matteson by pass.
m e+
M 39
ATHENS SITE ANALYSIS The site chosen by PASNY for consideration as a possible alternative to its proposed Cementon Site is in the Town of Athens about three miles north of the Village of Cats-kill as shown locationally in Figure 1.
The designated site lies in essentially open country encompassing a total of about one square mile centered in the area bounded by Schohaire Turnpike (Route 28) on the north, Route 9W on the west, Leeds Athens Road (Route 34) on the south, and the Village of Athens border on the east.
The Conrail Railroad runs north-south through the site.
A portion of the site already contains a power transmission f acility.
The impact report prepared by PASNY for this alternative site indicates construction worker traffic of 1750 vehicles per day during the peak construction period; the " worst case" previously described.
As can be seen from the highway pattern surrounding the site, as shown in FA 7ure 12 (back flap of this report), vir-tually all of the construction worker traffic would be expected to approach from the north via Route 9W and from the south via Routes 9W and 385.
Essentially, all traffic from the south which does not originate in the Village of Catskill itself 40
would enter the area via the Rip Van Winkle bridge and from the NY Thruway.
As a result, in contras.t to the Cementon site the imposed traffic roads would occur pri-marily on or north of Route 23 and would have very little effect on Route 9W or the Village intersections to the south.
They would of course generate a different set of problems north of Route 23 which require resolution.
Deficient Links In its Athens report, PASNY identified 12 deficient links' in the highway system which would require attention if the site were selected.
These are set forth below mad, identified by nodes as shown in Figure 12:
1.
Ramps at the intersection of Route 9W and Route 23 (6-47, 7-4 8) ;
~
2.
Intersection of Route 2 3 and County Road 385 ( 8) ;
3.
Intersection of Routes 5 3 and 28 and Route 5 3 and the proposed Flats Road (north) site entrance (6 8-85) ;
4.
Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) Toll Plaza at Exit 21, Catskill (2) ;
5.
Intersection of-Route 74 and the South site entrance-exit at Flats Road Extension ( 83) ;
6.
Intersection of Route 9W and County Road 28 (65) ;
7.
Intersection of Route 9W and Route 74 (6 3) ;
8.
Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) Toll Plaza at Exit 21B, Coxsackie (6 7) ;
e 41
9.
Ramps at the intersection of County Road 145 (23B) and Route 2 3 (4) ;
- 10. County Road 2 8 from U.S.
Route 9W to County Road 53 (65-6 8) ;
- 11. County Road 74 from U.S.
Route 9W to County Road 5 3
( 6 3-6 9) ;
- 12. Reactor Vessel Haul Road (County Road 28 - Union Street) from County Road 53 to east of Washington Street.
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS The PASNY report provided a set of recommendations for allevi-ating the identified deficiencies in the access routes to the Athens Site.
Their recommendations and our comments are set 3
forth below:
la)
Intersection of the Route 23 ramps to and from Route 9W southbo und:
PASNY "The entrance ramp at the junction with Route 23 eastbound (Node 6-4 7) will be widened along the right shoulder to provide storage in a separate lef t turn lane to Route 23 westbound for an estimated 500 to 600 vehicles in the PM peak commuting hour.
This widening will prevent blockage of vehicles attempting to enter Route 23 eastbound.
In addition, due to the increased traffic volumes and for safety, signalization with vehicle-actuation on this left turn movement as well as on the left turn from Route 23 westbound will be provided."
lb) -Intersection of the' Route 23 ramps to and from Route 9W northbound:
PASNY "There will be a heavy eastbound to northbound movement (500 to 600 vehicles) in the AM peak commuting ho ur.
This movement is opposed by approximately 250 vehicles per hour on Route 23 westbound.
Signalization with actuation on the ramp and in the eastbound Route 23
'left turn lane is recommended to provide safety.
This proposed signal will be coordinated with that at the in-tersection of the Route 23 ramps to the west of this location (la). "
42
Our comment As was previously described, the existing left turn pro-visions at Route 23 and 9W are potentially hazardous and should be eliminated through the addition of appropriate ramps as shown in Figure 9.
- Signalized is a second best solution.
2)
Intersection of State Route 23 and County Road 385:
" A left turn lane southbound en County Road 385 will be provided to accommodate the PM peak hour site traffic heading east toward the Hudscn River rather than using the present " diamond cutoffs" for this movement.
This lane would reduce the number of vehicle conflicts and driver decisions inherent in the present operation and reduces the hazards that can result from the estimated increase in traffic at this intersection.
The present right turn cut-off westbound on Route 23 to County Road 385 northbound. is retained to facilitate the AM move-ment of site-oriented traffic. "
Our Comment North of this intersection, Route 3 85 has a very ha:ardous intersection with Route 53.
The entire 385-53 route would require substantial upgrading to be usable for construction worker traffic.
To avoid any need for use of this route there should be no construction worker entry to the site from Route 53 or in fact, anywhere east of the Conrail railroad tracks.
All Route 23 traffic should be routed to the ramp system at Route 9W.
The improvements set forth in Figure 11 should be made, but there would be no need for any turn restrictions.
We suggest that the main entrance to the site should
-be on Route-9W as shown in Figure 13.
A widened roadway plus a trumpet interchange should be built to provide adequate capacity.
Secondary entrances for service vehicles and whatever else could be provided on Rouges 28 and 74 if necessary.
43
3)
Intersection of County Roads 28 and 53 and the proposed Flats Road (North) Entrance:
" Route 28 will be widened to two lanes on the eastbound approach to provide a right turn lane on to County Road 53 and the site entrance.
This entrance is estimated to handle 40 percent of the plant construction-generated work trips.
To avoid vehicle conflicts and delays at the site entrance and to provide an unimpeded flow of local traffic along Route 53 to the greatest ex-tent possible, the right turn lane and site entrance will form a continuous lane which is segregated from local traf-fic movements along Route 53 southbound.
The center lane as a reversible lane serving site traffic during the PM peak period.
A schematic of the proposed intersection is shown in Figure 3 (N.I.C. in this report).
In addition, the intended operations during the AM, Off and PM peak periods are indicated on the figure."
Our Comment We have recommended there be no north entrance in the vicinity of County Roads 28 and 53.
If that is followed, this proposed improvement would not be required.
4)
.I-87 (NYS Thruway) Toll Plaza at Exit 21, Catskill:
PASNY "During the AM peak period, a total of three toll booths must be operated on the interchange exit from I-87 to prevent a backup on the exit ramps and reduce delays.
The existing plaza has four toll lanes with the ability to reverse lane direction and toll operations. "
Our Comment In view of the f act that PASNY has projected the " worst case" situation and has not allowed for any traf fic re-ducing effects of carpooling, we doubt that the operation of three toll booths at this interchange will be necessary.
In any event, the nature of the toll plaza makes it pos-sible for the Thruway Authority to handle this as an operating decision when and if the requirement arises.
44
5)
Intersection of County Road 74 and the South Site Entrance:
" A left turn lane on County Road 74 eastbound and a channelized right turn lane on the westbound approach will be constructed to separate entering traffic.
Thus, potential conflicts and delays will be avoided by defining the move-ments for vehicles entering the site. "
Our Comment In keeping with our recommendation that the main entrance be on Route 9W, we doubt that the indicated improvements would be required.
This is not to say, however, that some repaving and the provision of passing lanes for the lef t turn gate entry would not be desirable if a secondary en-trance is provided.
6)
Intersection of U.S.
Route 9W and County Road 2 8:
PASNY - " Route 9W on both approaches and Route 2 8 on the westbound approach will be widened to two lanes to accommodate turning movements into and out of Route 2 8 and to provide sufficient capacity.
On Route 28, the westbound curb lane will provide a channelized right turn with a lane pick-up on Route 9W northbound joining the original pavement in approximately 400 to 600 feet to permit the continuous merging of site-generated traffic with the normal Route 9W northbound traffic.
To avoid vehicle conflicts and promote a smooth transition of right-of-way at this intersection, signalization will be installed with vehicle actuation on the southbound left turn lanc and the eastbound and westbound approaches."
Our Comment In keeping with our recommendation that the main entrance be on Route 9W, we believe the proposed improvements at this location would not be necessary, even if there is a secondary entrance from Route 28.
45
7)
Intersection of U.S.
Route 9W and County Road 74 :
PASNY - "The northbound approach will be widened to two lanes to permit the continuous smooth flow of AM plant construction generated traffic to County Road 74.
- Also, two lanes will be provided on the westbound approach with the outside lane to function as an alternative exit for northbound site generated traffic.
For safety reasons (because of generally poor sight distance on the Route 9W approaches) and to permit an orderly flow of traffic, signalization will be installed at this location.
Vehicle detection devices will be placed on both the eastbound and westbound approaches to actuate this signal.
In ad-dition, because of the poor alignment of the south leg of this intersection, advanced warning signs and/or signals will be provided."
Our Comment In keeping with our recommendation that the main entrance be on Route 9W we believe these improvements would not be necessary.
8)
Interstate 87(New York State Thruway) Toll Plaza at Exit 218, Coxsackle:
PASNY "During the morning period, two toll booths must be operated on the interchange exit from I-87 to prevent a back-up on the exit ramps and to reduce delays.
Temporary signals will also be installed at this intersection to facilitate the safe, orderly movement of exiting plant con-struction generated, morning traffic to Route 9W. "
.Our Comment In view of the fact that PASNY has projected the " worst case" situation and has not allowed for any traffic re-ducing effects of carpooling we doubt that the operation of two toll booths at this interchange will be necessary.
In any event the Thruway Authority can handle it as an operational matter if the need arises.
46
9)
Intersection of County Road 145 and NY State Route 23 Ramos :
PASNY - "A left turn lane on Route 145 southbound and north-bound approaches to the Route 23 ramps will be constructed.
To ensure the orderly and safe movement of traffic, traffic actuated signals at these locations will be installed.
Vehicle detection will be provided in the lef t turn slots and on the ramps to minimize delays to Route 145 traffic, particularly during off peak traffic hours."
Our Comment We agree that the interchange of County Road 145 and Route 23 needs revision.
We have shown a solution in Figure 8.
It would be a useful long term improvement, and it would be superior to traffic signal control as proposed by P ASNY.
10)
County Road 28 (US Route 9W to County Road 53) :
PASNY "This roadway will be widened from its present two 10-foot lanes and two 4-foot shoulders to two 12-foot lanes with 6-to 8-foot shoulders.
East of the railroad crossing the vertical profile will be flattened to alleviate abrupt curves and blind spots.
Also, the quality of the railroad grade crossing will be upgraded to conform to lates t NYSDOT s tandards. "
Our Comment The widening and improvement of County Road #28 from Route 9W to County Road 53 will not be necessary if our recom-mendation for the location of the main entrance on Route 9W is follbweh.
This is not to say that some improvements shouldn' t be made between Route ) W and any secondary en-trance which may be established.
47
11)
County Road 74 (US Route 9W to County Road 53) :
PASNY "The existing 20 foot pavement with two 4-foot shoulders will be widened to two 12-foot lanes with 6-to 8-foot shoulders to provide for vehicle breakdowns and the safe smooth flow of traffic to the site.
Also, the grade crossing will be upgraded to eliminate the impact of vertical curves on motorists and to meet NYSDOT standards. "
Our Comment If our recommendation for the location of the main entrance of Route 9W is followed, this improvement will not be necessary.
This is not to say Route 74 should not be im-proved-from Route 9W to any secondary entrance which may be built west of the railroad.
12)
Reactor Vessel Haul Road (County Road 28 - Schoharie Turnpike and Union Street) from County Road 5 3 to the east of Washing-ton Street:
PASNY "This route represents the most direct overland path from the Hudson River to the plant site for transporting oversized loads brought in by barge.
Two such movements are anticipated including the delivery of the reactor vessel and attendant equipment.
To insure the safe passage of this equip-ment and to minimize the adverse impacts on local residents and the community, a number of remedial measures will be undertaken.
These measures include the relocation of aerial wires, pro-tection of storm and sanitary sewers, removal of approximately a dozen trees west of Washington Street, changing the vertical profile to reduce steep _ grades and abrupt curves, and, as necessary, repairing the ro ate.
The changes in vertical profile are required to provide adquate ground clearance for the haul vehicle at the crest of curves.
In addition, the intersections of County Roads 2 8 and 5 3 plus County Road 5 3 and the. North plant construction entrance will be designated to accommodate the turning radius of this vehicle.
48
Our Comment The problem of transporting the reactor vessel from the river to the point of installation is a "one time" pro-blem which requires special handling from beginning to end.
Field inspection of the proposed route reveals it to be as short and straight as could be reasonably hoped for.
It does not appear there necessarily would be any permanent disruptive effect which could not be made right by PASNY.
Field inspection also revealed it may be practical to save the dozen or so trees along the north side west of Washington S tree t, by temporarily removing fences, lawns, shrubs and whatever else along the south side and building a temporary paved or plank road.
Such a solution might require tem-porary evacuation of all residents to safe accommodations during the actual haul, and, obviously, it would require complete restoration afterwards.
This procedure could be better than destruction of the tree line.
If a permit is issued to construct a nuclear plant at this site, it should be contingent upon the formation of a special " Reactor Vessel Haul Committee" representing the people of the Village and Town of Athens.
This committee would review and approve all PASNY plans for this special move.
Items for committee consideration would be:
(a)
Assurance that the reactor vessel had been broken down into its reasonably smallest component parts for haul purposes.
(b)
Detailed review and approval of the precise techniques and procedures to be followed in preparing and executing the haul.
(c)
Detailed review and approval of plans for restoration of the area af ter the haul is completed.
(d)
Agreement with PASNY _br appropriate compensation or
- inkind replacement of any destroyed trees and other
~
important local conditions which might be affected.
(e)
Inspection and release af ter completion of all re s toration.
49
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$RCORRESPONDENCh S>
(
occumo UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ussac NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION MAR 21979 >
NEW YORK STATE BOARD ON
- ?..f#'
"I ELECTRIC GENERATION SITING AND THE ENVIRONMEh'-
N.-n,
x In the Matter of POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE Docket No. 50-549 OF NEW YORK Case No. 80006 (Greene County Nuclear Power Plant)
(Greene County Nuclear Generating Facility)
-___________________x CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing document in the above-ca tioned proceeding have been served on the following by de it in the gqitep States Mail, first class or air mail, this day of W\\gA L 1979.
Hon. Edward P. Cohen Dr. Richard F. Cole Presiding Examiner Atomic Safety and Licensing Public Service Commission Board Board on Electric Generation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Siting and the Environment Commission Empire State Plaza Washington, D.
C.
20555 Albany, New York 12223 Stephen Lewis, Esq.
Donald Carson Office of the Executive Associate Examiner Legal Director Department of Environmental U.
S. Nuclear Regulatory Conservation Commission 50 Wolf Road Washington, D.C.
20555 Albany, New York 12223 Mid-Hudson Nuclear Opponents Andrew C.
Goodhope, Esq.
P. O.
Box 666 Chairman, Atomic Safety and New Paltz, New York 12561 Licensing Board 3220 Estelle Terrace Algird White, Esq.
Wheaton, Maryland 20906 DeGraff, Foy, Conway and Holt-Harris Dr. George A.
Ferguson 90 State Street Professor of Nuclear Engineering Albany, New York 12207 Howard University Washington, D.C.
20001
o
. Vito J.
Cassan, Esq.
Edward R. Patrick, Esq.
General Counsel Assistant Counsel for Power Authority of the State Energy of New York Department of Environmental 10 Columbus Circle Conservation New York, New York 10019 50 Wolf Road Albany, New York 12223 Robert J.
Kafin, Esq.
115 Maple Street Robert C.
Stover, Esq.
Glens Falls, New York 12801 Norwick, Raggio, Jaffee
& Kayser John Nicholitch 2 Pennsylvania Plaza Cementon Civic Association New York, New York 10001 P.
O. Box 124 Cementon, New York 12415 P.
Hollander Library Clerk Jeffrey C.. Cohen, Esq.
Catskill Public Library New York State Energy Office Franklin Street Swan Street Building - Core 1 Catskill, New York 12414 Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223 Jeffrey P.
Englander, Esq.
Friedlander, Gainers, Cohen, NRC Docketing and Service Rosenthal & Rosenberg Section 1140 Avenue of the Americas Office of the Secretary New York, New York 10006 U.
S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mr. Harold Ettelt Washington, D.
C.
20555 Head Librarian Columbia-Greene Community Gregory Golgowski College Planning Aide P.
O. Box 1000
' Columbia City Hudson, New York 12534 247 Warren Street Hudson, New York 12534 Mr. Samuel Madison, Secretary Public Service Commission Nancy Spiegel, Esq.
Empire State Plaza Public Service Commission Agency Building #3 Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223 Albany, New York 12223 f(~k f/
/[ldo u l, / W l
BUTZ3L & KASS Attorneys for Greene County et al.
45 Rockefeller Plaza New York, New York 10020
asLuso coRnESPONDENCE GREENE COUNTY NUCLEAR GENERATING FACILITY JOINT PROCEEDINGS co os BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD ON ELECTRIC GENERATION f
S SITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT N"c 4
gm I
r MAR 21979 F.-
____________x g
g s
p%,w o. -,7 u,, s s CASE 80006
/s' A
GhD G
____________x q,,
and Testimony on behalf of Greene County et al.
on BEFORE THE UNITED STATES Socioeconomic Impacts OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION March 2, 1979
____________x
. DOCKET 50-549
___________x Prepared Testimony of:
s JAMES E. McCARTHY Manager, Economics Group Fred C. Hart Associates, Inc.
527 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10022
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4 TESTIMONY OF JAMES E. MCCARTHY l
Q.
What is your name and business address?
2 A.
My name is James E. McCarthy.
My business address is-3
-Fred C. Hart Associates, Inc., 527 Madison Avenue, New 4
York, New York.
5 Q.
By whom are you employed, and in what capacity?
6 A.
I am employed by.the firm of Fred.C. Hart Associates, 7,
Inc. as Manager of that firm's Economics Group.
I have 8
been employed by that firm since December 1976.
9 Q.
Please state your educational training after High School 10 and your professional work experience.
11 A.
This information is set forth in the " Statement of 12 Qualifications of James E. McCarthy", which is attached 13 hereto.
14 Q..
Are you familiar with the proposal of the Power Authority 15 of the State of New York to construct a nuclear generating 16 facility at Cementon in the Town of Catskill in Greene 17 County, with a proposed alternative location designated 18 in the Town of Athens in Greene County?
19 A.
Yes, I am.
20 Q.
How have you become familiar with such proposal?
21 A.
Fred C. Hart Associates, Inc. has been asked by Greene 22 County, the Town and village of Catskill and the Town 23 and Village of Athens to assess the socio-economic impacts 24 which would result in Greene County if the proposed nuclear e m me e
_me-
s
. 1 phasing out of operations would result in job losses 2
and also in the loss of present tax revenues totalling 3
approximately $285,000.
Even more significantly, the 4
1Laitations which a plant at Cementon would place on 5
expansion of the Lehigh facilities would deprive the 6
County of a possible tripling of the current taxes --
7 for a prospective loss of between $600,000 and $800,000 8
in property taxes.
This loss, due to the nuclear 9
plant's usurpation of prime industrial land, is an ex-10 tremely severe one when compared to the in-lieu taxes 11 which PASNY would pay or, indeed, when compared to 12 present tax levels.
13 Second, the NRC Staff has estimated that the peak 14 construction force for the nuclear plant is likely to 15 be 3000 workers rather than the 2100 persons pASNY pro-16 jected and we used in our study.
If this proves true, 17 the impacts of in-movers will be considerably greater 18 than indicated in the report.
Our estimate based on a 19 work force of 2100 was 592 in-movers.
With a larger 20 work force, this number would undoubtedly exceed 600 21 and could be as high as 950.
The resulting socio-22 economic impacts in terms of housing, public services 23 and the like would be commensurately greater.
24 THIRD, I note that in projecting added costs for 25 new school children generated by the construction, we wm a
n=
e Statement of Qualifications James E. McCarthy My name is James E. McCarthy. My business address is Fred C.
Hart Associates, Inc., 527 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022.
I am Manager of the Econanics Group at Fred C. Hart Associates.
I have been employed by that finn since December, 1976.
Since joining Fred C. Hart Associates in 1976, I have managed a variety of projects for Federal, regional and local government agen-cies, as well as for private industry.
These projects have involved the analysis of socio-economic impacts from construction projects and envi-ronmental regulations, as well as the evaluation of alternatives to the proposed actions.
For the Region II office of the U.S. Enviornmental Protection.
Agency, I directed a study of the economic impacts of constructing Westway, a proposed 4.2 mile section of interstate highway which would replace the West Side Highway south of 42nd Street in Manhattan.
The economic effects of the proposed. highway were compared to an alternative package in which a modified arterial highway would be constructed and the renaining funds used for mass transit. The two alternatives were compared in four ways:
(1) effect on the long-term economic health of the City (with emphasis on regional transportation needs); (2) fiscal impacts including changes in real estate tax revenues as a result of the project; 3) employment impacts, including the effect on unemployment rates in New York City; and 4) effect on energy use.
For the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, I directed a study of the economic impact of the closure of steel mills in the Mahoning Valley.
The study reviewed the economic situation of the Valley in the wake of layoffs by the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, discussed the importance of the steel industry to the area's economy, and reviewed currently available assistance and economic development programs. It also discussed some of the fundamental factors which have led to the current situation and reviewed potential regional development approaches, including infrastructure development, capital subsidies, worker relo-cation assistance, worker ~ training programs, price subsidies, and wage subsidies.
For the same client I directed a study of wage subsidy options to reduce employment losses from compliance with environmental regu-lations.
This project evaluated four types of wage subsidy programs,'
using five criteria: econanic efficiency, equity, effectiveness, admini-strative feasibility, and political feasibility. The objective of the study was to determine which of the four options would deal most effec-tively with employment losses resulting fran the imposition of pollution control regulations.
e, e-.auw--.
mas--.==-ei
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The dissertation was published in its entirety by the Federal Reserve Bank, and an article based on it appeared In the Menthly Labor Review.
I have published articles on business and economic topics in other publications as well.
In addition to my academic training and work experience as an economist, I served in 1969 and 1970 as a lecturer in miere and macro-economics for the University of Maryland.
I also currently serve as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at St. Francis College in New York City, where 1 teach courses on the Principles of Economics and on Environmental Economics.
On behalf of Greene County, the Town and Village of Catskill and the Town and VT11 age of Athens, our firm has undertaken an evaulation of the socio economic impacts of constructing and operating the Greene County Nuclear Power Plant, either at Cementon (prime site) or at Athens (alter-native site).
My responsibilities on this project included development of the methodology, conduct of research and analysis, and supervision of repor* preparation.
Our firm has also undertaken an evaluation of the socio economic impacts of constructing and operating a fossil-fueled power plant at Athens.
This analysis was undertaken on behalf of Greene County and the Town and Village of Athens.
J BEL &TED CORRESPONDOTCE GREENE COUNTY NUCLEAR GENERATING FACILITY JOINT PROCEEDINGS co os BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE y
g BOARD ON ELECTRIC GENERATION mm umc SITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT e-7 MAR 21978 > H e
____________x g.
ce. ig: w.
CASE 80006 o,,
g p.
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____________x and Testimony on behalf of Greene County et al.
on BEFORE THE UNITED STATES County Position OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION March 2, 1979
-___________x DOCKET 50-549
____________x Prepared Testimony of:
ARTHUR WEBSTER, CHAIRM1LN Greene County Legislature Courthouse Main Street Catskill, New York 12414
1 TESTIMONY OF ARTHUR WEBSTER 2
3 Q.
Please state your name and address.
4 A.
Arthur Webster.
Greene County Legislative Building, 5
Main Street, Catskill, New York.
6 Q.
In what capacity do you give this testimony?
7 A.
As Chairman of the Greene County Legislature.
8 Q.
Are you familiar with the proposal of the Power Author-9 ity to build a nuclear plant either at Cementon or at 10 Athens within the County?
11 A.
Yes.
12 Q.
Would you please state the position of Greene County in 13 this proceeding?
14 A.
The County is opposed to siting a nuclear plant either -
15 at Cementon or Athens.
16 Q.
Has the County previously expressed this position?
17 A.
Yes.
The County has been on record as opposing the 18 plant since 1974.
We have adopted several resolutions 19 opposing the plant or seeking a moratorium on construc-20 tion of nuclear plants in the County.
These resolu-21 tions are collected in Appendix J to the Final 22 Environmental Statement prepared by the Staff of the 23 Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
24 Q.
Has the County taken any recent actions not reflected 25 in the resolutions you mention?
. 1 inconsistent with our efforts to concentrate development 2
in existing centers, rather than scatter it.
3 Q.
Could you identify particular aspects of the Plant 4
which the County finds objectionable?
5 A.
Yes.
At the outset, we are deeply disturbed by the 6
potential impact that a plant at the Cementon site 7
could have on the Lehigh operations.
As set forth 8
in Mr. Leggio's letter, the Lehigh operation is one 9
of the keys to the County's economy and tax base, and 10 its loss would be a serious blow.
We are inalterably 11 opposed to any new project that would endanger the base 12 of our existing industrial activity.
13 We also find objectionable the huge cooling tower 14 that would have to be built at either site.
This mas-15 sive structure is incompatible with the rural charac-16 ter of the County and would not only have direct 17 adverse impacts on historic areas, but could adversely 18 affect the tourist industry in the County.
We are 19 especially concerned in this regard because of the 20 public perception of nuclear plants as being unsafe.
21 Whether this be so or not, the wide visibility of the 22 nuclear plant at either site may have a broad negative 23 effect.
24 In addition, we are greatly disturbed by the 25 traffic problems associated with the Cementon site,
.A W[Lk]p GREENE COUNTY LEGISLATURE CCURT HOUSE 0
/
CATSKILL, NEW YORK 1 4,_ [
OSEPH N. LEGGIO. CHA8RMAN AYERS A. LUTZ. CLEng ILLI AM PALMER. DEPUTY CLERM December 16, 1978 Mr. Frederick R. Clark, Chairman Power Authority State of New York 10 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10019
Dear Mr. Clark:
It is with great concern that I note the recent devel-opments in your desire to locate a power facility in the Cementon area of the Town of Catskill.
I refer to the recent announcement that the Lehigh-Portland Cement Company will not consider any further expansion of their operations in this area if facility construction occurs, and further, that any construction would force the company to reconsider existing levels of operations.
It is my opinion as Chairman of the Greene County Legislature, and the opinion of.each and every one of my fellow Legislators, that any and all actions taken by the Power Authority.that m_
will have any deleterious impact on the future operations of the,Lehigh-Portland Cement Company will be opposed as vigorously and as completely as ue are able to with,the resources.available to us.
He are a poor county with few strong,~ viable'and beneficial industrial operations within our area, and to do less than completely reject plans that are potentially damaging to our county would be a gross disservice to the residents of our area.
I cannot express the deepness of our dissatisfaction with the situati~on we are faced with, other than to say that any " progress" that is made that causes as deep and harmful effects that your p.res,ent proposals would is not progresc at all.
I FyLA
r-Ilr. Frederick R. Clark December 16, 1978 Page 2 If your office would like any of the statistical information that we have used to come to our decision please do not hesitate to contact me.
Respec #ully, A?
Joseph N.
Leggio, Chairman Greene County Legislature JUL:bg cc: Hugh L.
Carey, Governor Edward W.
Pattison, Representative in Congress Jacob K. Javits, U.
S.
Senate Representative Daniel P. Moynihan, U.
S.
Senate Representative Gerald B.
Solomon, Congressman-elect Clarence D. Lane, Member of Assembly Howard C. Nolan, Jr.,
State Senator Members, Greene County Legislature Albert K.
Butzel George J.
Pulver, Greene County Attorney
Fubruary tJ, 1979 f rederick C1.nk, Chairman Powe r Author i ty o f the State of New York 10 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10019 l'
Dear fir. Clark,
recommendation by the staff of the In view of the recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the proposed Greene County Nuclear Power Plant (CCNPP) not be sited in Ccmenton, we the undersigned ask you, as chairman of the Power Authority.
State of New York (PASNY), to initiate action to with-of the draw the application for the proposed plant.
To continue with the present hearings on the proposed GCNPP, considering the slim chance of achieving a license for the Cementon site, seems to us to be without merit. PASNY has ex-the tremendous additional cost that would be pressed dismay atinvolved if the plant were to be constructed at a dif ferent site.
In addition, the cost of the hearings has already been a burden the electric ratepayers, the PASNY bondholders, upon the taxpayers, to continue the hearings would only create and the intervenors; an additional burden.
this point to The Power Authority has a unique opportunity at regain the public's confidence and respect as a public benefit authority. PASNY, with its vast organization and financial resources, could take positive steps to expand its role in the development of safe, renewable sources of energy, as it is now doing with hydro-electric power. We feel that the State Energy Office, under the would welcome such effort by the chairmanship of James Larocca, Power Authority.
The NRC staf f, in its Final Environmental Statement (FES),
stated that several other sites were superior or preferable o
Cementon. All of these sites were in the mid-Hudson region. The undersigned are elected representatives of these communities. You are probably aware that many of these communities have held refer-
{
enda which resulted in overwhelming opposition to nuclear power l
plants in their municipalities.
f, The dedication and commitment of the vast majority of our constituents to preventing the construction of nuclear power i
plants in their communities is unflagging. The only prudent course of action is the withdrawal of the application for the proposed Greene County Nuclear Power Plant.
l I
i Sincerely, l
~
OA_ va. LEA 0, YLo Ww h
Jaqawj~~
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e n{A~ 4. - s?l,
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Assemblyman C.D. Lane Room 448 LOB Albany, N.Y.
12248 9
Assemblyman Maurice Hinchey Room 625 LOB
- Albany, N.Y.
12248 i
I Loretta Simon, Trustee Village of Athets l
6 South Washingt n St.
j Athens, N.Y. 120 ;
Arthur W. Webster, Chairman Greene County Legislature Main St.
Catskill, N.Y.
12414 William Beck, Jr., S pefvisor Town of Catskill 1
t Main St.
Catskill, N.Y. 12414 Ronald E. Vincent, Councilman Town of Catskill Main St.
Catskill, N.Y. 12414 Helen M. Pinkowski, Councilwoman Town of Stuyvesant Stayvesant, N.Y.
Senator Howard C. Nolan Room 302 LOB Albany, N.Y.
12247 Senator Jay P. Rolison, Jr.
Room 512 LOB Albany, N.Y. 12247 l
l l
t i
4
_E_maTEn.COIULESNDI!"
c GRETIE COUNTY NUCLEAR GENERATING FACILITY JOINT PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD ON ELECTRIC GENERATION e
4)
SITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT jjyy 9
1\\
MAR 21979 >F; 2
____________x g
~
"y~ll sagl/
WE CASE 80006
---x qst t rd
and Testimony of Greene County, et al.
on Planning Issues.
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR March 2, 1979 REGULATORY COMMISSION
____________x DOCKET 50-549
x Prepared Joint Testimony of:
Lawrence G.
Biegel Stephen M.
Finkle Loretta Simon Planner, Greene County Director, Greene Greene County _ Planning Planning Department County Office of Department Mountain Avenue Economic Development Mountain Avenue Cairo, New York 12413 Mountain Avenue Cairo, New York 12413 Cairo, New York 12413
1 TESTIMONY OF GREENE COUNTY PLANNING PANEL 2
3 Q.
Would you please state your names and business address?
4 A.
Lawrence G.
Biegel, Greene County Planning Department, 5
Mountain Avenue, Cairo, New York.
6 7
Stephen M.
Finkle, Greene County Economic Development 8
and Promotion Department, Mountain Avenue, Cairo, New 9
York.
10 11 Loretta Simon, Greene County Planning Department, 12 Mountain Avenue, Cairo, New York.
13 14 Q.
Mr. Biegel, would you please give your position and 15 summarize your background?
16 A.
I am a Planner with the Greene County Planning Depart-17 ment and have held that position since July 1978.
For 18 a year prior to the time, I was employed in the Plan-19 ning Department as a Planner Trainee under the C.E.T. A.
20 Program.
In these positions, I have participated in 21 various aspects of the County's planning activities,
~
22 including agricultural districting, zoning, 208 non-23 point source pollution planning, and the coastal zone 24 management program.
I have also served on various 25 advisory committees during this period, including as a 26 member of the policy advisory committee for the Energy
. 1 Program of the Greene County Community Action Agency.
2 I am a 1977 graduate of Rutgers University where I 3
received a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental 4
Planning.
5 Q.
Mr. Finkle, would you give your position and summarize 6
your background?
7 A.
I am Director of the Greene County Office of Economic 8
Development and the County's Promotion Department and 9
have served in these positions since 1976.
As such, I 10 am responsible to the Greene County Legislature and the 11 Greene County Industrial Development Agency for all 12 matters related to economic development.
My duties as 13 director of the Office of Economic Development include 14 (1) the formulation of programs for economic develop-15 ment within the county, including industrial, commer-16 cial and tourism development; (2) aiding localities in 17 their development efforts; (3) seeking financing for 18 expanding or new industries; (4) assisting local indus-19 tries with operational problems; (5) working on commun-20 ity development and economic development projects; (6) 21 working with Federal and State agencies involved in 22 development; and many related functions.
As Director 23 of the Promotion Department, I am responsible for 24 studying and developing programs and materials to ad-25 vertise Greene County, including its tourist and 26 recreation industries.
In addition, I assist small
1 resort businesses with information on management, 2
financing and government assistance programs, and am 3
also responsible for coordinating travel shows, local 4
and regional events and similar events having County-5 wide significance.
I am also a member of the Board of 6
Directors of New York State Travel and Vacation Associa-7 tion where I represent the Catskill Region.
8 I am a 1975 graduate of the State University of 9
New York, College at New Paltz, where I received a 10 B.A.
degree in Urban Geography.
I have a Masters' 11 Degree, concentrating in Urban and Regional Planning, 12 from the Geography Department of the State University 13 of New York, Albany.
I have also taken a Basic Indus-14 trial Development Course at the Rochester Institute of 15 Technology.
Prior to joining the Greene County Staff, 16 I worked as a Development Consultant and Development 17 Aid for Columbia County.
18 Q.
Mrs. Simon, would you indicate your position and gener-19 ally describe your background?
20 A.
I am on the Staff of the Greene County Planning Depart-21 ment where I have been principally responsible for 22 coordinating the County's evaluation of, and participa-23 tion in the hearings involving the Greene County Nuclear 24 Plant.
My duties have included developing basic data 25 in support of studies being undertaken by or on behalf 26
. 1 of the County; helping define and ccordinate the stud-2 ies themselves; developing outside funding for the 3
studies; acting as liason for the numerous individuals 4
and bodies concerned with the PASNY application; and 5
participating directly in the hearings from time to 6
time.
In addition, and in a slightly different role, I 7
have spent a good deal of time researching and evalua-8 ting historic preservation issues, particularly as 9
related to the Athens site.
10 In addition to my role on the Planning Staff, I 11 have been a member of the Power Plant Committee of the 12 Greene County Legislature and have served as a member 13 of the Athens Village Board of Trustees since 1974.
In 14 addition to my legislative responsibilities, my duties 15 as a member of the Village Board have included applying 16 for and administering Federal grants, overseeing codi-17 fication of the Village Law, and serving as Commissioner 18 of Public Works.
I also oversaw the historic preserva-19 tion study which led to nomination of various areas of 20 the Village for historic designation.
21 I am a 1961 graduate of the College of New Rochelle 22 where I received c Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine 23 Arts.
In 1967, I received a Master of Science degree in 24 Education from Russell Sage College.
I have also re-25 ceived graduate credit from the Historic Preservation 26 and Planning Institute at Cornell University.
I am
. 1 Biegel are primarily responsible for the testimony on 2
Athens and plant impacts at that site.
3 I.
Planning Background and Impacts 4
Q.
Would you generally describe Greene County?
5 A.
Greene County is located in the mid-Hudson Northern 6
Catskill Mountain Region of New York' State.
It is 7
bordered on the east by the Hudson River, on the 8
north by Albany County, on the west by Schoharie and 9
Delaware Counties, and on the south by Ulster County.
10 Within the County, there are fourteen towns and five 11 villages, and the population recorded at the 1970 12 Census was 33,136.
The County is a widely known vaca-13 tion area with much of the county located in the 14 Catskill Park.
15 Greene County has a land area of 654.6 square 16 miles, with a population density of about 51 persons 17 per square mile in 1970.
This compares with popula-18 tion densities of, 142 persons per square mile in 19 Upstate New York and 368 persons for the State as a 20 whole.
Nearly 80% of the land in Greene County was 21 classified as woodlands according to the 1967-69 N.Y.
~
22 State Land Use and Natural Resources Inventory Study.
23 Approximately 9.2% of the county was classified as 24 active agriculture.
Over 70,000 acres of land, or 25 roughly 18%, is state-owned land, almost all within 26 the Catskill Park.
The topography of the county is
t 1 certified by the State of New York and Massachusetts 2
to teach art and have done so in both States and also 3
in Athens, Greece.
During 1961-62 when I was teaching 4
in Athens, I tray 11ed extensively in Egypt and Western 5
Europe, and assembled a slide collection of Western 6
Architectural history which I then used in my future 7
teaching.
I have also worked as a free-lance artist 8
and have exhibited my pen-and-ink sketches of historic 9
structures both locally and in New York City.
I am a 10 member of various committees and groups within Greene 11 County, including the Greene County Arts and Crafts 12 Guild, the Greene County Council on the Arts and the 13 Board of Trustees of tne Greene County Historical 14 Society.
15 Q.
Are you all familiar with the proposal of the Power 16 Authority of the State of New York to build a nuclear 17 power plant within Greene County, either at Cementon or 18 at Athens?
19 A.
Yes.
20 Q.
In the testimony which follows, which of you are re-21 sponsible for the various sections.
22 A.
Mr. Biegel and Mrs. Simon are primarily responsible for 23 the planning testimony; Mr. Finkle is responsible for 24 the section dealing with available rooms for construc-25 tion workers and potential impacts of the construction 26 force on the tourist industry; and Mrs. Simon and Mr.
. 1 New York City metropolitan region.
Population projec-2 tions for 1970-75 indicate that it is the third fastest 3
growing county in the State.
Current estimates put 4
Greene County's population at about 40,000.
The fol-5 lowing chart compares Greene County's growth rate for 6
the five years 1973-78 with the surrounding counties:
7 8
1973 1978
% Increase County Population Population
'73 - '78 9
Greene 35,860 40,006 11.6 10 Albany 287,546 288,680
.4 Columbia 53,794 57,569 7.0 11 Delaware 45,946 47,948 4.4 Schoharie 26,902 30,333 12.8 12 Ulster 148,395 160,408 8.1 13 14 (These population projections were prepared by the 15 N.Y.S. Economic Development Board; the Greene County 16 Planning Department concurs with these figures.)
The 17 following chart breaks down the 1970 population among 18 specific age groups.
The largest difference in the 19 proportion of individuals in the various age groups 20 between the county and state was in the 55 years and 21 older group.
In Greene County, about 27% of the popula-22 tion was 55 years of age or older in 1970, compared with 23 slightly less than 21% statewide.
This means a larger 24 percent of the county's population are living on fixed 25 incomes.
26
, 1 TOTAL POPULATION BY AGE GROUP AND SEX 2
Greene County 1970 3
4 Age Group Total Male Female 5
Total all ages 33,136 16,194 16,942 15 and under 9,104 4,656 4,448 6
16 - 19 years 2,339 1,392 947 20 - 24 years 1,995 919 1,076 7
25 - 44 years 6,953 3,378 3,575 45 - 54 years 3,780 1,790 1,990 8
55 and older 8,965 4,059 4,906 9
Median age (years) 34.1 31.5 36.5 10 SOURCE:
1970 Census Population 12 Although growing rapidly, Greene County is an economic-12 ally deprived area.
Census data indicated that the 13 County was the second in the State for number of families 14 living below the poverty level in 1970.
15 Q.
Would you please summarize the planning role of the 16 County?
17 A.
Greene County officially gave recognition to the need 18 for planning with the creation of the County Planning 19 Board in March 1968.
(Prior to this, some planning 20 activities had been undertaken by local planning boards 21 in the larger municipalities -- for example the Village 22 of Catskill adopted a zoning ordinance in 1959 -- but in 23 general, there was little planning activity.)
A profes-24 sional full-time planning director was hired in July of 25 1969, and additional staff added on in 1970.
The newly 26 created Planning Department proceeded with the outlined
, 1 Section 701 planning process, which initially consisted 2
of an inventory and analysis stage involving the pre-3 paration of base maps, surveys, existing land use maps, 4
soils, slopes and the like necessary before any formula-5 tion of a comprehensive plan.
After much discussion, a 6
comprehensive county land use plan and map was offici-7 ally adopted in 1971 by the Giaane County Planning 8
Board.
9 In subsequent years, the activities and roles of 10 the Planning Department have expanded.
Thus, the 11 Department now provides technical assistance to town 12 and village planning boards and acts as liaison with 13 state and regional agencies.
Section 8 housing assis-14 tance became incorporated into the Planning Department 15 in 1973.
16 Q.
What land use planning is in place in the County today?
17 A.
Appendix A is a chart showing the current extent of 18 land use regulations on a town by town basis.
As can 19 be seen from that chart, there are numerous gaps in 20 regulation, including the absence of zoning ordinances 21 in many of the municipalities.
This reflects, in part, 22 an attitude of independence on the part of many resid-23 ents, who have resisted the imposition of zoning 24 ordinances as an undue restriction of private property.
25 In addition, however, serious budgetary restrictions 26 within the County have discouraged the application of
. 1 planning and zoning regulations due to the associated 2
costs.
3 In the circumstances described, many of the local 4
planning boards have turned to the County Planning 5
Department for aid.
This is usually provided in the form 6
of technical assistance in the formulation of plans and 7
ordinances.
The Department's policy has been to lend 8
such assistance, but not impose itself or its views on 9
the municipalities.
We seek to bring planning concepts 10 to bear in the County, but respecting the autonomy of 11 the local governments, we neither can, nor would choose 12 to, enforce regulation.
13 Indeed, since under the New York State Constitution, 14 primary responsibility for land use control is given to 15 town and Village governments, Greene County has chosen 16 to encourage desired growth patterns through the use of 17 development incentive.
Studies have sought to identify 18 where growth is most desirable and to find means to 19 encourage growth in those areas.
The County seeks to 20 direct growth and development by reinforcing major 21 activity centers and increasing their long-term via-22 bility through economies of density.
Development 23 incentives include adequate transportation routes, 24 municipal facilities and other services which offer 25 economy of density.
The County, through the Planning 26 Department, has been aiding local governments in
. 1 developing those facilities, seeking funding, and 2
designing land use plans and implementation procedures.
3 However, it is up to the individual towns and villages 4
to guide their own development with plans and policy 5
implementations as this is not within the county's 6
jurisdiction.
7 Q.
Has the County developed any planning documents bearing 8
on its future development?
9 A.
Yes.
Under the Federal 701 program, a comprehensive 10 plan was developed and adopted in 1971.
Subsequently, 1.
in 1977, the Planning Department published a Land Use 12 Element for the County.
13 Q.
Would you describe the County's planning objectives and 14 policies?
15 A.
The County's land use policy is intended to orient 16 growth into the most conducive and amenable areas, 17 accommodating that growth with minimum disruption to 18 the environmentally sensitive land which comprises so 19 much of the land area of the county.
Growth is desired 20 to the extent that it represents increased economic 21 opportunity.
To the extent that it results in destruc-22 tion of the rural life style or degradation of the 23 environment, it is not welcome.
All land is regarded 24 by the County as an irreplaceable resource.
Its use 25 should harmonize with the natural environment, and 26 certain categories of land ought to be kept natural, or
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s 1 at least free from urban development pressures.
2 Greene County places a high priority on efforts to 3
revitalize the traditional centers of population and 4
socio-economic activity.
By making a commitment to 5
existing population centers, the County is attempting to 6
insure that these centers not become racial, ethnic, or 7
economic ghettos, and that integration is maintained.
8 The County encourages and seeks to facilitate those 9
forms.of economic development which will provide long 10 term benefit for its residents and environs.
Particu-11 lar emphasis is given to those activities which expand 12 year-round permanent employment and raise the prevail-13 ing wage rate in those areas where significant low 14 income and minority concentrations can benefit.
15 The County will continue to promote and protect 16 the resort industry, a major source of jobs to the 17 County.
The County recognizes that its natural fea-18 tures, the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River 19 Valley, are extraordinary treasures to be preserved for 20 present and future generations.
The environment is an 21 economic as well as an aesthetic asset.
It provides 22 the pillar upon which rests the tourist, recreation, 23 second home and retirement home sectors of the local 24 economy.
25 The built environment is part of the environmental 26 resources of Greene County.
Most of the hamlets,have
- 1 been settled for over one hundred and fifty years.
2 Some are considerably older.
Within these hamlets and 3
scattered throughout the countryside lie individual 4
structures, historic districts, and archeological sites 5
either nominated to the National Register of Historic 6
places, already listed, or waiting to be surveyed.
7 Several communities are presently conducting surveys or 8
are about to start surveys of historic property.
It is 9
intended that emphasis on appropriate revitalization of 10 hamlets and preservation of the traditional character 11 of the communities and of the rural landscape will serve 12 to reinforce this interest in the heritage of the area.
13 Greene County also desires that land and those 14 farms which have been maintained and improved and are 15 suitable to modern agricultural techniques to remain 16 in agriculture.
To the extent feasible, the County is 17 attempting to relieve the pressure to convert economic-18 ally viable agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, 19 mainly through the formation of Agricultural Districts.
20 As the County seeks to accommodate an increasing 21 population and to expand the economic opportunities for 22 its residents, it recognizes that the values of small 23 community, personal independence and private initiative 24 must be protected.
Encouraging appropriate new develop-25 ment near the existing centers will reinforce the major 26 villages and hamlets as activity centars as well_ as
, 1 providing an alternative to development in the areas which 2
are more environmentally fragile.
In this way Greene 3
County intends to channel growth and development in a 4
manner which will preserve resources, provide permanent 5
employment, and protect the traditional character and 6
rural life style which is its heritage.
7 Q.
In your judgment, would the Greene County Nuclear Plant 8
be consistent with the County's planning goals and 9
policies?
10 A.
No.
11 Q.
Please explain the basis for this judgment?
12 A.
In the first instance, the Plant would not be likely to 13 generate jobs for Greele County residents.
Few of the 14 construction jobs, and virtually none of any permanent 15 positions, could be expected to go to Greene County's 16 unemployed.
Therefore, the County sees little benefit 17 in terms of long-term employment.
To the contrary, due 18 to the potential impact of a plant at the Cementon site 19 on Lehigh Portland Cement Co.,
there could be a signifi-20 cant loss of jobs and also of tax revenues.
21 Second, a plant at either site would usurp land 22 that could be used with much greater benefit to the 23 County.
At Cementon, for example, Lehigh's expansion 24 plans could add very substantially to the County's tax 25 base, and private development at the Athens site would 26 have a similar effect.
A PASNY plant, however, would
. 1 preempt these uses, while paying virtually no taxes in 2
its own right.
3 Third, the cooling tower and plume would stand as 4
a sign of heavy industry which is incompatible with the 5
traditional rural and small town character which the 6
County seeks to preserve.
The possible change in image 7
may adversely affect the tourism industry, which is the 8
largest employer and taxpayer as a group in Greene 9
County.
This change in image is inconsistent with Greene 10 County's goal to protect and nuture the tourism industry.
11 Fourth, the construction impacts could seriously 12 disrupt und burden local governm'nts and school dis-13 tricts, as well as the housing market.
A tight housing 14 market already exists within the County.
This problem 15 would be exacerbated with large numbers of in-migrating 16 workers and could force housing costs to rise, perhaps 17 displacing low income people and senior citizens living 18 on fixed incomes.
19 Fifth, the road proposals associated with the 20 Cementon site in particular involve unnecessary disrup-21 tion and are completely unacceptable to the degree that 22 they intrude into Austin Glen and affect the Lehigh 23 operations.
24 Sixth, the transmission lines associated with the 25 Cementon site would add a new industrial corridor 26 across sensitive lands and intrude on two historic
. 1 structures nominated to the Historic Register.
In addi-2 tion, at Athens, the accumulation of lines adjacent to 3
the Leeds substation would industrialize that area far 4
beyond anything reasonable.
5 Finally, the health and safety issues surrounding 6
nuclear power generation cause further concern.
Greene 7
County has called for a moratorium on nuclear plant con-8 struction until the problem of waste storage is solved.
9 The question of possible danger to the population from 10 low-level radiation is also a cubject of disagreement 11 within the scientific community.
Any possible degrada-12 tion of the environment of Greene County from nucl Tr 13 generation does not conform to the County's goal of 14 protecting and preserving the quality of the environment.
15 Q.
What if the Plant were to be sited in Greene County over 16 the County's objections?
17 A.
in the outset, solutions would have to be found for the 18 access roads, transmission lines and other structures, 19 to reduce to a bare minimum their environmental impacts; 20 and in no event could a road through Austin Glen be 21 permitted.
Beyond this, it would be essential that the 22 Power Authority provide a mitigation program along the 23 lines developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 24 connection with its Hartsville Plants.
This program 25 should include substantial mitigation payments, includ-26 ing payments in lieu of taxes which would substitute
. for Lehigh's projected expansion.
In addition, effec-2 tive liaison would have to be established with County 3
and local authorities, which would require, at a minimum, 4
that PASNY fund a coordinator's position within the 5
Planning Department.
Finally, there should be a commit-6 ment that if Lehigh abandons its plant at Cementon, the 7
Power Authority would not only make up the lost taxes 8
but would cover costs of retraining and, when applicable, 9
continuing unemployment benefits for displaced workers.
10 11 II.
Room Availability for Construction Workers 12 13 Q.
Turning to another subject, have you considered the 14 availability of housing in the County for construction 15 workers?
16 A.
We have reviewed the Power Authority's position that 17 adequate rooms should be available in motels and other 18 tourist establishments and have concluded that this is 19 incorrect.
20 Q.
On what basis did you reach this judgment?
21 A.
We conducted a survey of representative resort and 22 motel owners in Greene County.
The nature of this survey 23 and the results are described in Appendix B annexed to 24 this testimony.
The following results are apparent from
.5 that survey:
26
, 1 1.
There are not enough winterized establish-2 ments to meet the needs of transient construction 3
workers.
This precludes use of a majority of establish-4 ments during the months of October through April.
It 5
should be noted that out of approximately 240 estab-6 lishments, only 50 remain open on a year round basis.
7 It should also be noted that the majority of year round 8
accommodations available are in large resorts, many of 9
which.are at a high rate of occupancy, especially 10 during the peak tourism Summer season.
Another impor-11 tant point is that the remaining Winter accommodations 12 are located primarily in and around the major ski 13 areas, which have little vacancy during the ski season.
14 2.
The results also indicate that even during 15 the time of year when most resorts are open fully, 16 three factors preclude access to rooms by transient 17 construction workers:
18 A.
Reluctance on the part of resort owners to utilize 19 rooms for non-tourist clientel.
20 B.
A pricing situation which wot.ld accompany the need 21 by transient workers to rent on a long-term basis.
22 For example, even if an establishment would be 23 willing to rent accomodations to a person or group 24 of people for an extended period of time, the cost 25 would run much higher than rental of a house or an 26 apartment.
One resort (one of the largest in the
. 1 County) indicated that the cost of a room for an 2
extended period of tir.:e would run $100 or more per 3
week per person.
4 C.
Many of the resorts in Greene County are found in 3
outlying arear which may hinder commutation.
The 6
resorts on the mountaintop areas are accessible 7
mainly via Route 23A which will undergo a major 8
route change in the near future.
This roate 9
change may add up to a half hour or more to a 10 commute which can take 30-45 minutes on a good day 11 with good conditions.
12 3.
Another factor, which may be the most signi-13 ficant, is the cumulative effect the rental of rooms to 14 non-tourists for an extended period of time.
Even if 15 the construction period were only 2-3 years, the pres-16 ence of non-tourist " boarders" would effectively mean 17 that the rcsorts' repeat business would suffer.
In the 18 survey, the average rate of repeat business was 62.6%,
19 which runs the range of 20%-90%, with over 50% of the 20 establishments responding a 70-90% repeat rate.
This 21 means that a majority of accomodations establishments 22 depend on a return visitation r.te to make up 70-90% of 23 their annual business.
If tou.ists could not find a 24 vacancy at their usual vacation site, they would go 25 elsewhere, thus hurting business in the current year 26 and cutting the establishments return rate for the years
. 1 to come.
The return rate is a vital part of the 2
tourism business.
For years, the Catskills, and 3
especially Greene County, had enjoyed a prominance in 4
the resort industry partially because this was the best 5
esttblished recreation area, and because of the geogra-6 phic location close to metropolitan New York which our 7
area enjoyed.
Transportation changes had a major 8
impact on return visitation rate which fell very 9
sharply.
The area is starting to recover from changes 10 of this type, and marked progress can be seen.
If this 12 type of business interruption is repeated, the effects 13 would be disastrous for a large percentage of establish-14 ments in Greene County.
By renting rooms ordinarily 15 used by vacationers, the workers would (with the 16 approval of the owner of the establishment by consent 17 in renting long term rooming) help set back the County's 18 development efforts a great deal.
19 20 III.
Impacts on Athens 21 22 Q.
Turning to a further subject, would you please describe 23 the community of Athens?
24 A.
The Village of Athens has been a planned community 25 since its founding in 1805.
Early maps show an orderly 26 arrangement of streets and alleys balanced with open
4 e 1 spaces, good urban planning for what the founding 2
fatht:s envisioned as the future capital of New York 3
State.
Since Henry Hudson's Halfmoon anchored off 4
Athens in 16 9, the village's life was connected with 5
the Hudson River.
The community flourished as a 6
riverport and transportation center, and was an early 7
gateway to the west.
The earliest ferries between 8
Hudson and Athens consisted of canoes lashed together.
9 The last Hudson-Athens ferry, the City of Hopewell, 10 made its final crossing in 1947.
Schoharie Turnpike 11 served as a transportation route to the sparsely 12 settled interior, and the products from that interior 13 were transported eastward to the river and rail lines 14 in Athens.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was one of the inves-15 tors in the Athens to Saratoga Railroad.
The Village 16 is reputed to have_been a stop on the Underground 17 Railroad.
It even was the scene of a famous tragedy, 18 the Wreck of the Swallow, a Hudson River nightboat.
19 Many industries once were located in Athens.
20 Shipyards, brickyards, and ice houses lined the River's 21 shore.
Herman F.
Dernell's ice tool industry was the 22 largest in the country in its time.
Examples of Athens 23 pottery are included in museum collections.
Changes in 24 technology brought an end to these industrics and the 25 associated prosperity.
Athens slept.
The ensuing 26 subsistence economy nurtured a new resource, however.
. 1 Property owners had no extra money to alter their homes 2
in the name of progress.
There was little need to 3
demolish structures for parking lots.
Today, the 4
streetscape is essentially the same as it was in the 5
mid-nineteenth century.
Fine examples of Federal, 6
Greek Revival, and Victorian architecture abound, 7
including homes built by the earliest settlers, Village 8
founders, and important citizens.
The vernacular ar-9 chitecture of the workers' cottages remain, most with 10 the facades intact.
Large slate paving stones still 11 are used for many of the sidewalks.
(An expanded 12 summary of the history of Athens, together with a map 13 of historic structures, is annexed to this testimony as 14 Exhibit C.)
15 Q.
Has the historic character of the Village been offici-16 ally recognized?
17 A.
The New York Board of Historic Preservation has recog-18 nized the unique character of Athens by approving for 19 nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, 20 two historic districts and three individual structures, 21 a total of approximately 330 buildings.
The Athens 22 Lower Village District is almost identical to the 23 earliest Village of Athens, then called Loonenburg, as 24 shcwn on a map drawn by John D.
Spoor in 1801.
Loonenburg 25 prospered and subsequently enveloped Esperanza, the 26 community to the north, founded by the Livingstons.
In
. 1 what was Espe.ranza stands the Brick Row Historic 2
District, a collection of row houses, built for the 3
workers on the Athens-Saratoga Railroad.
Of the 4
individual structures, the Zion Lutheran Church is part 5
of the oldest Lutheran Church continuously in existence 6
today.
Wilhelm Christoph Berkenmeyer, author of the 7
church record known today as the Albany Protocol, 8
chose to make his headquarters in Athens and wrote the 9
Protocol there.
10 Athens has also been the subject of photographic 11 essays and historical research.
It is presently the 12 subject of a planned study to be undertaken under the 13 auspices of Columbia-Greene Community College and 14 funded by the New York State Council on the Humanities 15 and the National Endowment for the Humanities (see 16
. Appendix D).
Athens has been selected because it is an 17 intact, living example of a fast-disappearing pheno-18 menon -- the untouched small town.
Such a great store 19 of tangible architectural evidence of two-and-one-half 20 centuries of activity is rare on the East Coast.
21 Q.
How does the historic character of Athens relate to its 22 future development plans?
23 A.
The Athens Village Board recognizes
- t. hat this unique 24 resource is the community's key to economic stabiliza-25 tion and revitalization.
This position is reinforced 26 by tangible evidence that the character of the community
. 1 is attracting new life and development.
Athens has be-2 come a cultural center for Greene County and the sur-3 rounding area.
Artists, craftspeople, and other 4
professionals have moved into the village and estab-5 lished their offices and studios there.
The Greene 6
County Council on the Arts and the Greene County Arts 7
and Crafts Guild have their offices in Athens.
The 8
Council on the Arts also chose to locate its Gallery 9
in Athens and sponsors exhibits of work by artists of 10 local and reg 1 tal importance.
Both organizations hold 11 classes supported by grants and other outside funding.
12 The Lexington Conservatory Theatre, a repertory group 13 j
which has est blished a fine reputation in the Capital 14 District, has its winter quarters in Athens.
15 All these organizations are located in a former 16 elementary school built in 1900 in the heart of the 17 Lower Village Historic District.
The Village Board 18 recycled the school building into the Community Center 19 which also houses Town and Village offices, a state 20 agency, the youth program, and facilities which attract 21 meetings of organizations from both within and outside 22 the village.
The Athens Museum, located in the Com-23 munity Center, is supported by the Town and Village and 24 is developing a growing collection of maps, records, 25 ice tools, and other evidence of Athens' past.
26 Because private collections are increasingly being
. 1 donated to the Museum, it is hoped that this collection 2
will become a major Hudson River attraction.
The 3
Greene County Senior Citizen Center, which the County 4
Senior Citizens Council has chosen to locate in the 5
Athens Lower Village Historic District, will also serve 6
to bring people into the village.
7 Q.
What further actions does the Village contemplate with 8
respect to its redevelopment?
9 A.
The Athens Village Board is taking several other steps 10 to encourage revitalization.
A long-range plan is being 11 developed which will once again tie Athens closely to 12 the River.
Zoning regulations in the final stage of 13 drafting designate the waterfront as a greenbelt.
A 14 major riverfront park and marina are now being devel-15 oped on land deeded by the County to the Village for 16 public use.
This facility will serve the neighborhood 17 which is the thickly settled Lower Village Historic 18 District.
It will provide access to the Village from 19 the River and is seen as the future emb'rkation point 20 for a regional recreational and cultural center on 21 Middle Ground Flats, the island located within the 22 Village limits where Henry Hudson ran aground more than 23 350 years ago.
Long range plans include using the 24 still extant ferry slip, establishing ferry service to 25 the island and to Hudson, linking Athens to the Amtrak 26 service on the eastern shore.
. 1 A meeting between the Athens Village Board and 2
then Secretary of State Mario Cuomo has brought a com-3 mitment of State help in the form of technical assis-4 tance in developing details of the plan and seeking 5
outside funding.
All work up until this point has 6
been accomplished with little professional staff but 7
with a great deal of professional volunteer time and 8
energy donated to the Village.
With the aid of the 9
Division of Planning, the Division of Legal Services, 10 and sponsorship of the Department of State, the devel-11 opment of the plan should progress much faster.
The 12 Village is also seeking technical assistance from HUD 13 through the Community Development Block Grant Technical 14 Assistance Program.
The Village received a Community 15 Development Block Grant in 1977 and has applied for 16 additional funding for housing rehabilitation.
17 The plans of the Village of Athens for revitali-18 zation and economic development conform to Greene 19 County's land use recommendations to revittlize exist-20 ing hamlets, preserve neighborhood character, protect 21 historic resources, and facilitate economic develop-22 ment.
23 Q.
What impacts would the Greene County Nuclear Plant have 24 if it were located at the Athens site?
25 A.
The construction of a major electric generation faci-26 lity at the Athens site with its heavy industrial
, 1 structures and related sccial and economic pressures is 2
not compatible with local plans for orderly develop-3 ment.
The presence of the cooling tc-oer and plume as a 4
dominant element on the landscape will change the image 5
of the community -- the image which the Village sees as 6
the key to economic stability and its future as a 7
self-supporting municipality.
While it is not possible 8
at this point to indicate all points from which the 9
tower will be seen, it is clear that the plume will be
,10 visible throughout the Village.
In addition, consultants 11 to the County have informed us that the tower itself 12 will also be visible from many parts of town, including 13 the Athens Lower Village Historic District and the 14 waterfront area.
In the waterfront area, as much as 15 200 feet of the tower wil] be visible from some locations, 16 and in the area of the Dutch Reformed Church, there will 17 be a clear view of up to 300 feet.
In addition, along 18 Vernon Street and from interiors of a number of historic 19 buildings, significant portions of the tower will be 20 visible.
While these may be partial views, the indus-21 trial nature of the structure, accentuated by tha plume 22 when one exists, will be completely misplaced and 23 inconsistent with the historic character the Village has 24 worked so hard to revitalize.
The landscape will be 25 changed, the view from the River will be changed, the 26 streetscape will be changed, and the Village's major
. 1 hope for restoration may well be lost.
2 In addition to the visual impacts, the housing 3
pressures during the construction period could push 4
property sale prices and rentals out of the reach of 5
the present residents.
A large progortion of those 6
residents are senior citizens on fixed incomes.
Athens 7
also is one of the few communities in the area where a 8
young couple can still buy a home and restore it as 9
their. income allows.
The residents of the Village 10 enjoy the diversity of its population and would not 11 want to see a change in its composition.
Some families 12 trace their roots back to the earliest settlers, and 13 y'st may be forced out of the Village by prices beyond 14 their reach.
The change in image and visual environ-15 ment may also cause people who have more recently 16 chosen to settle in Athens to seek elsewhere the 17 amenities which the Village once offered, causing 18 further neighborhood instability and perhaps loss in 19 property value.
20 The plan of the Village, on the other hand, seeks 21 to provide permanent jobs which would encourage young 22 people to stay.
It seeks to attract visitors who would 23 add outside support to businesses and services needed 24 by elderly residents who cannot easily travel outside 25 the community.
The Village plan supports economic 26 development while preserving the fabric of the community.
. 1 Construction of the proposed nuclear power plant at the 2
Athens site is inappropriate, incompatible with local 3
plans for orderly growth, and intolerable to the 4
community.
5 Q.
One final question.
On page 159 of the Joint Testimony 6
of Cummings and Lilly of the Public Service Commission, 7
it is suggested that construction of the nuclear plant 8
at either the Cementon or Athens sites would be com-9 patible with the New York State Coastal Zone Plan.
Is 10 this correct in your opinion?
11 A.
No.
It is true that the sites have been identified in 12 the preliminary coastal zone surveys as Geographic Areas 13 of Particular Concern where power plants might be loca-14 ted.
However, the Village of Athens has been assured 15 by the Coastal Program Manager that designation of the 16 Athens site as a GAPC does not represent either approval 17 or disapproval of the land use, but rather a simple 18 notation that it is a proposed site.
The inclusion of 19 the site in the boundary cannot be used as evidence of 20 approval of the Department of State.
21 Q.
Your answers have been addressed to the Village of 22 Athens.
Would the Plant be compatible with the Town's 23 plans for development?
24 A.
No.
At the outset, the plant would be inconsistent with 25 the Town's zoning, which limits the site to light indus-26 trial uses.
Otherwise, the impacts in the Town _would be 1
similar to those of the Village, including adverse 2
visual effects, pressure on housing and services, 3
impairment of historical properties, and a negative 4
change in image.
In addition, it should be noted 5
that residential growth in the Athens area has been 6
quite rapid in recent years and is expected tc continue.
7 As a result, the plant at Athens could have a much 8
greater future impact than might be thought and could 9
serve as a significant deterent to future development.
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SURVEY /RESULTS There are approximately 240 establishments in Greene County which offer some type of accommodations.
These establishments range in size from four rooms to one hundred and sixty rooms, the majority ranging from fif teen to thirty rooms.
These est.:blishments include all categories of lodging from a bedroom in a boarding house to a room in a luxurious resort.
Of these 240 establishments, only 50 are in operation during the Winter months.
The majority of these resorts are directly tied in with Winter attractions such as the three downhill ski areas, and are located in the mountaintop area which is currently experiencing no vacancies on weekends and on some weekdays.
The balance of resorts, numbering approximately 190, rely on the Summer urism season which is generally considered the time between Memorial Day and Colcmbus Day (some close Labor Day).
This is partially due to the high seasonal variation in business, which also had an effect oc the physical plant of many resorts in that they do not have Winterized facilities.
A survey was taken by the Greene County Office of Economic Deve.1.opment and Promotion Department to determine the feelings of resort owners regarding the impact of doing business with non-tourist boarders and the impact on a nuclear power generating facility on their own business and on the Greene County Tourism industry (our largest) as a whole.
The methodology used in this survey was the utilization of a printed questionairre developed by theDirector of the Office of Economic Development and Promotion Depart-ment.
Fifty resorts (representing 20.8% of the total number of resorts) were sampled by mail, and we received twenty six forms back, representing a 52% response rate and also represents 10.8% of all establishments offering accommodations in Greene County.
The resorts surveyed represented primarily the Valley towns which would play the most important part in servicing transieat, non-tourists working at a site along the Hudson River.
The geographic breakdown of establishments surveyed is as follows:
DURHAM 7
14%
CATSKILL 17 34%
CAIRO 15 30%
GREENVILLE 8
16%
HUNTER 3
6%
50 100%
SURVEY P.2 It is estimatud that during the peak tourism season (Summer) that there are approx-imately 4000-4500 rooms available in Greene County.
The responses to the survey represent 1097 rooms, or 24.3 to 27.4% of the total available rooms.
The figure of 25% would be an appropriate figure for use.
The results of the survey are as follows:
26 RLSPONSES 1.
Total number of rooms represenced 1037
'2.
Season (s) of operation All year 2
7.7%
Summer 21 80.7%
May-Nov.
1 3.8%
Apr-Nov.
1 3 T.
3.
Repeat business rate Average S2.o1 Range 20 to T}%
over 50% of busine.ases indicat2d a range fron W 9tC of retura business ciirre.2 4.
Would you consider renting all of your rooms to a group of construction workers on a year round panjs?
NO 22 84.6%
YES 3
11.5%
N0/ANS.
3.8%
5.
Would you consider renting some of your rooms to a group of construction workers on a year round basis?
NO 18 69.2%
YES 6
23.0%
POSSIBLY 1
3.8%
6.
If so, how many would you consider renting?
NONE 17 93.8%
1029 rooms SOME 7
6.19%
68 rooms NG/ANS.
2
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,124gicie.sege2eu at November 29, 1978 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
Dear Resort Owner,
Enclosed, you will find the survey which the Promotion Department called you about.
It is a VERY IMPORTANT survey, as the infomation collected may have a bearing on Greene County's case with the nuclear power generating facility to possibly be located in Cementon or Athens, New York.
We are trying to determine how many resort owners will rent their rooms to construction workers who are not tourists, and how this renting to non-tourists will affect off the road and repeat tourist business during the construction period and after work is completed.
We would also like your opinion on the affect such a nuclear plant would have on the tourism industry t.s a whole.
Please fill out this survey completely, answering all of the questions.
Do not put your name on the survey, the results will be confidential.
We will take the completed surveys, compile the infomation and use the totals for our Your individual forms will be seen only by ntyself, and. they will be kept use.
strictly confidential.
Thank you for your time.
Please return the survey with the enclosed envelope the same day, if possible, as we need these results as soon as possib %
Please don't delay, these forms are very important to the tourism industry in Greene County.
Sincerely, M
Stephen M. Finkle, Director Promotion Department SF/bc Enc.
$bRVEY P.3 Do you think that renting your rooms to non-tourist workers for a long period 7.
of time will affect your repeat customer business?
YES 19 73%
No 5
19%
N0/ANS.
2 Do you think that renting your rooms to non-tourist workers for a long period 8.
of time will af fect your off the road and new customers?
YES 16 61.5%
NO 8
30.8%
N0/ANS.
2 7.7%
9.
FILL IN ANSWER... SUBJECTIVE VIEWS, OPINIONS (SEE ATTACHMENT)
- 10. If the workers would be.enting your rooms for a period of years, do you think it will have a positive or an adverse affect on the tourism industry in Greene County?
ADVERSE 16 61.5%
POSITIVE 2
7.7%
NO CHANGE 3
11.5%
N0/ANS.
5 19.2%
- 11. Do you think the presence of a nuclear power generating facility will affect your particular business?
YES 14 53.8%
NO 12 46.1%
- 12. Will it affect it positively or negatively?
NEGATIVELY 14 53.8%
POSITIVELY 4
15.3%
NOT AT ALL 1
3.8%
N0/ANS.
7 26.9%
- 13. Do you think the presence of a nuclear power generating facility will affect the tourism industry in Greene County?
YES 16 61.5%
NO 10 38.4%
2.
14.
Please use the space below to express your feelings about the possibility of a nuclear oower generating plant being located in Greene County; also, the affect of construction workers renting accommodations which would other-wise be used by tourists, and how this will affect repeat customers and the tourism industry in Greene County?
The proposed Greene County Nuclear Plant and the possible fossil fuel electric 15.
generating plant would have a cooling tower 450 feet high with an attendant plume.
Would the tower and plume, either at Cementon or at Athens have an aesthetic impact on your business? Would it have a positive or adverse affect on your repeat customer business?
e
Please answer all of the questions completely.
Your responses are confidential and will be tallied to come up with a good sampling of feelings about an important If you own a business involved with tourism, these responses are especially issue.
important.
1.
How many rooms do you have?
2.
What is your main season?
3.
How much of your business is repeat business (in percent)?
Would you consider renting all of your rooms to a group of construction 4.
workers on a year-round basis?
5.
Would you consider renting some of your rooms to a group of construction workers on a year-round basis?
6.
If so, how many rooms would you consider renting?
7.
Do you think that renting your rooms to non-tourist workers for a long perind of time will affect your repeat customer business?
8.
Do you think that renting your rooms to r.an-tourist workers for a long peri 3d of time will affect yc.:: aff the road ane new customers? _
9.
How will your business be affected by questions #7 and #87 10.
If the workers would be renting your rooms for a period of years, do you think it will have a positive or an adverse. affect on the tourism industry in Greene County?
11.
Do you think the presence of a nuclear power generating facility will affect your particular business?
12.
Will it affect it positively or negatively?
13.
Do you think the presence of a nuclear power generating facility will affect the tourism industry in Greene County? __
~
til 210RIC AND CURRENT POINTS OF INTt;REdT Athens, N.Y.
1.
Hudson Ainun 1. igh thouse - Built 1874
- 38. W.11. Morton & W. L th ady llook & l.adJer 2.
Forme,,ite of Athens Foundry Machine Co.
Company Firehouse Built 1889 3.
Former ait ol Foster & Scott Ice Company
- 39. Athens Rural Cemetery 4.
Former sne of W. H. Morton Shipyard and
- 40. Former site of the Glue Factory Athens im luk
- 41. Former site of The Clark Pottery 5.
Jan Van l.oun House - Built 1706 (Fox)
- 42. Former site of St. Paul's Methodist Church 6.
The Triant;te - A dedication plaque is en-
- 43. Former site of Every Brothers Ice House scribed with these words "The love of
- 44. Former site of " Swallow Rock" Athens for her Soldiers who gave their lives
- 45. Athens Waste Treatment Plant - Built 1970-71 in the World War for freedom lives in this
- 46. Former site of Trinity Church tree planted April,1919"
- 47. Mount Hope Cemetery 7.
Haight - Gantley House -
Buf.t 1812
- 48. Athens Recreation Association Swimming (Hallenbeck)
Pool - Built 1969 8.
Northrup House - Built 1803 (Fox)
- 49. The first St Patrick's Church - Built approx.
9.
Lydia Coffin House - Built 1840 (Hyer) 1871 10.
W. H. Morton House - Built 1850 (Reinsdorf)
- 50. Former site of Knicke bocker Ice House
- 11. Former site of Dernell ice Tool Company
- 51. Albertus Van Loon House - Built 1724
- 12. Trinity Episcopal Church (Williams)
- 13. Nichols House - Built 1803 (Wilson)
- 52. Village Green
- 14. Former site of Old Brick Yard
- 53. Village Building
- 15. Athens Elementary School - Built 1967
- 54. Zion Lutheran Church - Built 1853
- 16. C. Van Loon House - Built 1795-1804 (Fay)
- 55. Makawomuc Firehouse - Built 1897
- 17. Site of the Old Quaker Meeting House (Rosse)
- 56. The Del Vecchio House - Built approx.1840
- 18. Former site of The Brasier House
- 57. Old Upper Village School - Built 1876
- 19. E. Titus House -- Built 1803 (Conine)
- 58. Former site of Hudson River Ice Co.
- 20. Brooks Opera House - Built 1893 (Atlanta
- 59. N. Y. State Boat Launch Site Knitting Mills)
- 60. Former site of Gladfelter's Brick Yard
- 21. Athens Knitting Co. - Built }or r:897. demolished 1978 1.
Former site of Rider's Brick Yard 6
8verfr ni Park
- 62. Former site of Mayone's Brick Yard
- 22. Old Ferry Slip
- 23. The Stewart House - Buil. i883 (Athens
- 63. Former site of White Elephant Railroad Hotel)
- 64. Athens Marina - (Gerrain)
- 24. National Commercial Bank & Trust Company
- 65. Sleepy Hollow Dam
- Built 1925
- 66. Black Rock
- 25. Former site of Seeley's Tavern, the First Tavern built in Athens
- 26. The second St. Patrick's Church - Built August,1908 Historic District Foundaries
- 27. Post Office Names in parentheses indicate present owners
- 28. Legion Hall - Built 1954
- 29. Evarts I i'c ary - Built 1907 or residents.
- 30. First Ref ormed Church - Built 1825
- 31. Old School Building - Built 1900, now the Community Center
- 32. Federated Church - Built 1833
- 33. Father Casey Hall - Built 1965, also former site of The Travis Foundry
- 34. Former site of Howlands Ice House
- 35. Former site of Briggs Ice House
- 36. Former site of Howlands Coal Yard
~~~~
- 37. Former site of Howlands Shur #
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December 11, 1978 Ms. Loretta Simori Greene County Planning Dept.
Box 541 Cairo, New York
Dear Ms. Simon:
Thank you for your interest in the College's Lifa History Project, especially our plans to embark on a major program to document the social history of Athens, New York using the oral history methods, as well as photographic documantation of the town as it now exists.
The Life History Project is part of my two semester course, Field Studies in the Humanities.
Last summer, the Stat; Uni-versity of New York awarded me a stipend to design this course as a way of of fering students an opportunity to participate in off-campus projects related to the humanities.
A feature of the Field Studies program is to provide an on-going supply of students who will contribute to the College's archives of local history.
Three major projects have been initiated this year:
The Life History Project. The Photography Survey, and Documenting the Architecture of Columbia & Greene Counties.
I have attached brief descriptions of each project which should give you some idea of their objectives.
Since these projects are in their early stages, I have begun specifying certain geographical areas in the region which offer the greatest potential for documentation.
Naturally, Athens has become a prime site for all of these projects because it still maintains the essential pattern of small town life, a rare circurastance in an age of superhighways, shopping plazas, and suburban subdivisions.
Many long-time residents of Athens still reside in the arua and have expressed a sincere interest in participating in the College's project.
-2 At this time, I am working with the staff of the New York Council on the Humanities to prepare a grant proposal for an oral history and photography project on Athens, New York.
In addition, I plan to apply for additional funding from the Na-tional Endowment of the Humanities.
At a recent conference, I discussed the College's involvement in social his tory wi th a representative from NEH and they informed me that such prop-in os;1s will be given top priority by all of their programs the next few years aq part of the nationwide movement to re-trieve and save America's rapidly disappearing heritage.
As you know, my wife, Gloria Wexler, completed a major These photographic documentary of Athens several years ago.
photographs have been displayed both in Athens and at the Gloria's College's North Gallery, as well as at Bard College.
photographs on Athens have received much praise, especially in their depiction of a vanishing American scene, the small town.
Gloria is exploring various ways of using these photographs in publication form, including a written text which expands on the images of the people and places in Athens.
In April, I am scheduled to conduct an oral history work-shop in Greene County as part of the Continuing Education At that time, I will publicize the College's plans program.
to document Athens in tape-recorded interviews and photographs.
I hope this workshop will encourage non-students to participate in the project.
I share with you your concern about plans to make Athens a si te for a nuclear power plant.
If such a plant were con-structed, Athens would certainly lose its active identity as a small town because the construction and operation of the facility would bring major economic, cultural, and social changes.
It is difficult to convey the idea that Athens' way of life is a valuable asset to those who live there, as well as a living re-cord of a viable Hudson River community.
I agree with the plans to make parts of Athens a designated historic district.
Perhaps the College's project on Athens can be of some assistance.
Sincerely, f
_f V
Cl f ord E. Wexl r Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences CW/sw
GREENE COUNTY NUCLEAR GENERATING FACILITY JOINT PROCEEDINGS s
G' 42
%F%f s
BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE p;
l\\
BOARD ON ELECTRIC GENERATION MAR 21978 >
SITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT g,
9
/-
p.,.. s-
- gg',i, a :.n e p.'loi
____________x tR 4
LN CASE 80006
x and Testimony on behalf of Greene County et al.
on BEFORE THE UNITED STATES Meteorological Impacts OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION March 2, 1979
x DOCKET 50-549
x Prepared Testimony of:
Ulrich H.
Czapski Ronald Stewart Associate Professor Associate Director of Atmospheric Science Atmospheric Sciences State Unversity at Albany Research Center Albany, New York State University at Albany.
Albany, New York
. 1 A.
We are familiar with those aspects of tne proposal 2
relating to the cooling tower to be built in conjunc-3 tion with the plant.
4 Q.
How have you become familiar with such proposal?
5 A.
We were retained by Greene and Columbia Counties to 6
evaluate the cooling tower aspects of the proporal.
7 Q.
Have you undertaken such an evaluation?
8 A.
We have, to the extent of reviewing the work done by 9
the Power Authority and setting forth judgments of our 10 own.
Our evaluation is set forth in the report at-11 tached hereto and entitled:
" Report on the Meteorolo-12 gical Impact of the Proposed Greene County Nuclear 13 Plant Cooling Tower."
14 Q.
Does that document set forth the substance of your 15 analysis and your conclusions with respect to the 16 cooling tower impacts?
17 A.
Yes, it does.
18 Q.
Do you adopt its substance and conclusions as your 19 testimony in Case 80006 before the State Board of 20 Electric Ge;.eration Siting and the Environment?
21 A.
Yes, we do.
9
TESTIMONY OF DR. ULRICH H. CZAPSKI AND RONALD STEWART 1
Q.
Would you please state your names and business addresses?
2 A.
Ulrich H. Czapshi, Stata University of New York, Albany, 3
4 5
Ronald Stewart, Atmospheric Sciences Research Centr.r, 6
State University of New York, Albany, New York.
7 Q.
Dr. Czapski, would you please identify your position 8
and state your background?
9 A.
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of 10 Atmospheric Science at the State University of New York 11 at Albany.
My qualifications are set forth in the 12 Curiculum Vitae annexed to this testimony.
13 Q.
Mr. Stewart?
14 A.
I am Associate Director of the Atmospheric Sciences 15 Research Center at the State University at Albany, and 16 also serve as Research Professor in the Graduate 17 Studies Program.
My qualifications are set forth in my 18 resume attached to this testimony.
19 Q.
Are you familiar with the proposal of the Power Author-20 ity of the State of New York to build a nuclear plant 21 at Cementon or Athens in Greene County?
Curriculum Vitae and Research Interests Dr. Ulrich H. Czapski, Associate Professor Personal:
Born at Munich, Germany, July 15, 1925.
Married.
Education:
Abiturium 1943, Herderschule, Berlin 1944-1947, Humboldt University, Berlin 1947-1949, Universities at Basle and Zurich, Switzerland 1949-1952, University at Hamburg Spring 1953, Dr. rer. nat. in Meteorology at Hamburg
_P_rofessional Experience:
1952, spent 10 months at the International Institute of Meteor-ology at the University of Stockholm, Sweden under Professor C.A. Rossby as a research fellow (guest staff member);
v' gaged mainly in research on numerical forecasting methods.
Autumn 1953-Spring 1955, scientific staff member of Askania Werke A.G., Berlin; worked in geophysical and meteorological instrumentation.
March 1955-April 1961, field geophysicist, party-chief and supervisor in many seismic, gravimetric and geoelectrical surveys in Europe, Brasil and Egypt.
May 1961-May 1962, served as WMO advisor to the Pakistan Meteorological Service in the establishment of a meteorolog-ical and geophysical training Institute at Karachi, Pakistan, under the UN technical assistance program.
July 1962, joined the Imperial College of Science S Technology (london University) as a lecturer in Meteorology and con-ducted research into free convection and turbulence until September 1964.
October 1964-present, Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, State University of New York at Albany.
-Publications:
"Uber den cut-off Zyklus und die Wiederherstallung der Viererdruckfelder nach Raethjen."
Doctor Dissertation at the University of Hamburg.
" Der cut-off Vorgang..."
Annalen der Meteorologie, Hamburg, 1953.
"A comparative study of barotropically computed 500 mb topographies..."
Paper given at the " Symposium on Numerical Forecasting Methods," Stockholm, October 1952.
Abstract in Tellus 1952.
"The cut-off cycle as a consequence of Rossby waves at dif-ferent latitudes."
Paper read at a Symposium on Dynamical Meteorology, at Stockholm, May 1952.
" Turbulent Convection over a horizontal heated plate" In preparation.
"Possible Effects of Thermal Discharges to the Atmosphere" Proc. 5th Annual Environm. Health Res. Symposium.
Publications:
" Thermal Discharges, " New York State Dept. of Health, New York State Poll. Control Assoc., Albany, N.Y.
1968.
"The Atmospheric Effects and Beneficial Use of Large Thermal Effluente" Paper presented at Air Poll. Symposium at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Aug. 1970 (abstract only).
" Estimation of Lagrangian Energy Spectra from Short Particle Trajectories,"
Amer. Met. Soc. Conf. on Phys. Processes in the Lower Atmos.
March 1967, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Abstract in Bulletin of A.M.S.,
Jan. 1967.
Recent Publications:
" Turbulent Convection over a Heated Horizontal Plate" In publication.
"Possible Effects of Thermal Discharges to the Atmosphere,"
Proc. of 5th Annual Environmenta. Health Research Symposium on Thermal Discharges, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York, 1968.
" Estimation of Lagremgian Energy Spectra from Short Particle Trajectories," Conf. on Physical Processes in the Lower Atmosphere of Am. Met. Soc., March 1967, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
"An Estimate of the Air-Water Energy Balance 'Jear East Nine Mile Point, Lake Ontario,"
Proc. 13th Conf.'. Great Lakes Res., 1970, pp. 798-810, with Jon T. Scott and Ronald Stewart.
"The Development frcm Two-Dimensional to Three-Dimensional Turbulence Generated by Breaking Waves," Journ. of Geoph.
Res., Vol. 79, No. 24, pp. 3442-3448, with Ulrich Lemmin and Jon T.
Scott, 1974.
" Dissipation of Heat from a Thermal Effluent," Water Resources Res., Vol.
9, No. 6, pp. 1565-1578, 1973, with Warren A.
Mumford and Mark Fenton.
" Meteorological Effects of Spray Cooling," Proc. 16th Conf. o Great Lakes Res., 1973, pp. 603-614, with Ronald Stewart and Richard T. Nelson.
"The Heat Transfer from a Thermal Effluent," in print, preview for Symposium on Heat Transfer, A.S.M.E. Conf. San Francisco, s
Aug. 11-13, 197.5.
"The Development from Two-Dimensional to Three - Dimensional
?
Turbulence Generated by Braking Waves" with Ulrich Lemmin, Jon T.
Scott, Great Lakes Res., May 1977.
" Characteristics of Internal Oscillations in Lake Ontario" with S.T. Rao and Leon Sedefian, Journ. of Geoph. Res., Vol. 82, No. 12, April 20, 1977.
" Structure of Turbulence Generated by Flow Over a Major Highway" with S.T. Rao and Leon Sedefian, Fall Meeting of the A.G.U.,
1977.
San Francisco, Abstract in EOS, Dec. 1977.
RONALD STEWART R. D.
12, Fuller Road Glens Falls, New York 12801 518/792-3682 1953-1957 US Air Force Weather observer and instructor 1957-1960 Undergraduate-Long Island University-Math, Physics 1960-1961 Woodmere Academy (taught math) 1961-1964 Graduate-University of Wisconsin-Meteorology 1964-1966 State University College, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
(taught meteorology and astronomy) 1966-1967 Northern Illinois University (taught meteorology) 1968--
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center-Research Assoc.
Depar tment of Atmospheric Sciences-Lecturer 1969-1970 Department of Atmospheric Science-Assistant chairman 1973-present Atmospheric Sciences Research Center-Associate Director Graduate Studies Program - Research Professor Research Grants:
As Project Director: $1,000,000.
- Solar Energy; Spray Cooling Pond; Physical Limnology; Climatology As Co-Project Director:
$550,000 - Energy Conservation
& Reclamation; Physical Limnology; Climatology Professional Societies:
International Solar Energy Society American Meteorology Society International Association for Great Lakes Research American Society of Limnology & Oceanography Relevant Publications:
Solar Energy Atlas for New York State with J.
Healey.
Solar Energy Demonstration and Implementation.
WMO/ UNESCO Symposium on Solar Energy.
Geneva, Switzerland with V. A. Mohnen.
Solar Energy and Heat Pumps in a Northern Climate.
International Solar Energy Society /American Section, Orlando, Florida with J. Healey.,
Northern Climates and the Solar-Assisted Heat Pump.
AS!!RAE with J.
Healey.
The Solar Assisted Heat Pump in Northern Climates.
International Conference on Solar Building Technology, London, England with J. Healey.
e Publications cont.
Energy Conservation via Solar Energy Application to Multi-family and Commercial Structures:
Executive Summary with V. A. Rohnen.
Solar Energy Atlas for New York State:
Part II with B.
Bailey and J.
Healey.
Solar Energy and the Heat Pump.
Proc. of the Conf.
on the Application of Solar Energy Systems for New York State.
Public Service Commission, Albany, N.Y.
Lake Ontario Atlas with D. C. McNaught, Biology; E.
R. Allen, Chemistry; C. A. Grainger, B.
H. Bailey, Climatology; J. T.
Scott, Currents; D.
Landsberg, Internal Waves; E.
Chermack, Lake Temperatures; M. Dobson, F.
Henderson, Land Use; Glenn E. Myer, Surface Waves.
R.
Stewart, Editor.
Consultant to:
Institute of Man & Science - Energy Mechanical Technology, Inc. - Solar Energy New York State Legislature - Meteorology & Energy Rist-Frost Associates - Limnology & Solar Energy Energy Conservation and Sambo Restaurants, Inc.
Solar Energy William S. Pleming Associates - Energy & Economics Marriott Corporation - Energy Conservation and Solar Energy e
a w
e
Report on the Meterological Impact of the Proposed Greene County Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower.
Ulrich H.
Czapski, Ph.D.
Ronald Stewart, M.S.
Submitted to Greene County and Columbia County Planning Commissions.
~
Part I This part of the report deals with the consultants analysis of PASNY's impact statement, regarding possible adverse effects of the cooling tower proposed, and with the adequacy of meteorological data used.
1.
Critique of meteorological data and their applicability.
Whereas a greater effort on meteorological data at the site cannot reasonably be expected, one has to keep in mind that the data gathered are only a small and probably biased sample of meteorological conditions possible at the site.
Therefore, in all probability, conclusions drawn do not refer to extreme conditions, and the confidence levels of statistical results are low.
This is particularly true, as one has to expect that downtime of all instruments used occurs more frequently under adverse weather conditions.
PASNY's impact statement makes extensive use of climatological data at Albany Airport.
As far as upper air soundings are concerned that may be an acceptable procedure; but not for cases where mountain and valley effects play a
- role, e.g., the windroses reproduced, probably do not portray the true conditions at either the Cementon or Athens site at lower levels, because the Mohawk valley stretching to the wast of Albany Airport has undoubtedly an affect of channeling westerly winds.
The Catskills, on the other hand, to the west of both alternate sites, will at times induce quite different phenomena, such as mountain and valley winds.
(Such effects have recently been studied in the Greater Frankfurt / Main region in Germany, which is not dissimilar to the Albany-Hudson Valley region.)
At the sites under discussion, e.g., we would expect a higher incidence of southerly winds with a high moisture content than at Albany Airport, and hence a higher frequency of long visible plumes
- to the N or UNW of the site, where they could impact the terrain, which is acme 300 to 400 feet higher at distances of one or a few miles.
2.
Critique of plume and plume interaction prediction.
Even though it is customary in engineering projects to-predict consequences of given projects by use of numerical mathematical models, this is not a very fruitful enterprise when the. underlying physical processes are neither well known nor easily put into an integrable set of equations.
The failure of reliable forecasts of precipitation from natural causes in spite of great efforts is a good example.
More than one-half mile and extending up to 20 miles.
2 The inadequacy of existing models describing plume rise and plume dispersion from natural draft cooling towers have been discussed recently in the literature in considerable detail (Kramer et al.,
1976; Brennan et al.,
1976a, 1976b; Huff et
.al.,
1971) (1, 2,
4, 5, 6).
Also most cooling tower models, '
such as PASNY's are designed to judge the development'of an isolated plume over homogeneous flat terrain, which is not Fae case at the Cementon or Athens site.
Furthermore, PASNY's codel, as most others, ignore the nonlinear interections he' ween cooling tower plumes and marginally stable weather situations, i.e., the triggering or initiation of convective clouds and/or thunderstorms and the longer lasting mesoscale interaction with the synoptic weather situation, leading to regional scale weather modification.
Landsberg (26, 27),
Changnon (25), Huff (7) and others have found up to 20%
rainfall increases downwind from major heat releases; Czapski summarized much of the earlier literature on this subject (28).
There are models in the design state (notably by Orville (31) and K.
S.
Rao (8)), to show the convection interaction type of effect.
It does not seem possible however to estimate numerically the frequency of occurrence and magnitude of such an effect, as it depends very largely on the competing natural sources, but there seems to be a growing awareness of this possibility (7, 8,
25, 26, 27, 28, 31).
PASNY's assessment of the interaction between cement dust and the cooling tower seems completely unaccept-able because simple superposition of independent plumes is not a realistic model.
It has been shcwn both by theoretical considerations (5, 8) and by observations (2, 4) that buoyant plumes in proximity of each other are not independent but tend to merge, i.e., the dynamical stronger plume will tend to incorporate the weaker plume.
The detailed observational program by the German federal research establishment for aerospace (DFVRL) on cocling towers, reported by Fortak (9) found stackplume gases (SO2) entrained into the cooling tower plumes-somettnes almost undiluted-up to 1 km height and several km hor zontal distance.
Similarly Kramer et al. (1) observed mercing of plumes in about 90% of their observations.
Of course the manmade heat source cannot be expected to have a larger effect than a small mountain range, but it might at times reinforce,at others suppress, natural updraft tendencies given by the topographic-and surface heating features of the region.
Therefore, it can lead to a redis-tribution of the rainfall pattern.
i 3
3.
Independent assessment of cooling tower impact on surrounding countryside.
There are potentially six different adverse effects cooling towers can cause:
a.
fogging and/or augmentation of naturally occurring fog.
b.
direct shading by the cooling tower plume.
c.
icing of roadways and structures.
d.
modification of the local precipitation pattern.
e.
interaction of cooling tower plume with cement dust.
f.
plume interaction with SO2 emissions.
effects are mutually exclusive.
Some of tht e a.
The lower in the terrain a given amount of moisture is released, and the faster it is dispersed hcrizontally, the greater will be the danger of fog.
Therefore we observe natural fog mostly at the bottom of valleys.
Natural draft cooling towers are designed to minimize this effect by their height and by the updraft induced by the buoyancy of the warm moist air.
Although effects of fog are not expected in the immediate vicinity of the cooling tower, they are on nearby hillsides, to the east and west, where ground elevations are on the same order as the tower elevation above valley level.
Impaction of a saturated, or visible, plume is not necessary for fog development over land.
An increase of as little as a few percent in relative humidity can initiate fog development where humidities are already near saduration.
Therefore, the extent of the invisible plume is just as, if not more, important as the extent of the visible one.
Hosler (1971) substantiates this statement with actual observations and photographs of natural draft cooling tower related fog conditions.
These conditions occurred in the presence of strong elevated inver-sions which limited plume rise, and when near-surface ambient air was near saturation and near O*C.in dry bulb temperature.
Hosler's study emphasizes the need for particular consideration of plume-trapping conditions which occur on occasion over the Hudson River Valley region.
The existin~g 400 ft. met towers in Cementon and Athens are insufficient in height to detect elevated inversions above 400 ft., or to evaluate their intensity, or to identify their frequency.
Therefore, insufficient data was available to the Environ-mental Repcrt to properly evaluate plume behavior and effects under all meteorological conditions at either Cementon or
4 Athens.
However, fifteen years of records of nighttime sound-ings at Albany, N. Y.
indicate an annual frequency of elevated inversions at 36 percent, with a maximum 44 percent seasonal frequency in winter.
One anticipated plume-induced fog situation can be illustrated in detail as follows.
Given early morning condi-tions with surface air temperature near O* C. and relative humidity at 95 percent.
A strong elevated inversion exists and limits the plume rise of a cooling tower plume to 1500 feet above the ground, of which the final 600 feet of rise was due solely to upward momentum (a situation likened to one of Hosler's observations '.n western Pennsylvania).
A downward oscillation of approximately 600 feet to a region of neutral buoyancy, together with further downward diffusion due to environmental turbulence, carries moisture to elevated ground less than one mile distant from the tower, resulting in satur-ation of the surface air and fog development.
Icing is also a potential for subfreezing temperatures.
The frequency of fog inducement or augmentation by the cooling tower plume cannot be quantified without further analysis of plume-trapping data and consideration of the effects of the unsaturated plume on raising elevated or flat ground-level air humidity.
A recent study by Dames and Moore (1975) for the N. Y. State Atomic and Space Development Authority at a nearby site also concedes that cooling tower plumes can intercept adjacent higher terrain and cause fog conditions.
PASNY should also evaluate the confidence levels which are placed on the results of the models used to determine plume behavior under all possible atmospheric conditions and over heterogeneous terrain.
b.
Brennan et al (2), Kramer et al (1), Hosler (16) have documented observations of visible plumes at four different sites in the northeastern United States, frequently exceeding a few miles and more rarely extending to 20 miles and more.
Also the vertical extent of plumes as reported in (1) and (2) was much larger than predicted by theoretical models.
Many reports (e. g., Aynsley, 20) mention Stratus form clouds either created or augmented by cooling tower effluents.
The diminuition of solar radiation by these phenomena has not yet been quantitatively studied to this author's knowledge.
With future emphasis on solar energy use however, this may not be an altogether negligible effect (compare Sorge, et al, 21).
In fact, a substantital augmentation of cloud cover in the cold season would render many solar heating devices useless.
5 c.
The circumsta.aes described under (a) are generally also conducive to icing if temperatures ar' below freezing.
Some form of icing may, of course, also occur if the plume does not cause visible fog, by direct deposition of ice from the vapor phase.
d.
Precipitation can be caused by cooling towers through the following processes.
The relatively warm and moist cooling tower effluent acts similar to a small mountain (see section 2) in the atmosphere's lower boundary by creating an area of uplifting.
In this sense, the tower's impact on local precip-itation modification should be no greater nor smaller than local effects produced by hills.
However, the augmentation of local instability by the continuous release of large amounts of sensible and latent heat, particularly during conditionally unstable ambient conditions, may initiate or trigger local convective activity and consequently produce precipitation modifications unlike those possible by an actual hill.
This is because a cooling tower's heat and buoyancy source does not become exhausted at night, or when clouds shade the hill range's sunny side.
Huff et al. (1971) have discussed the fact that a cooling tower plume could sufficiently interact with existing clouds to trigger extensive convective activity.
Huff (1972),
in a later paper, studied in detail the possible impacts of cooling tower effluent on precipitation augmentation.
Natural topographic features may overshadow this effect, but they may also, under favorable conditions, rein-force the tower plume influences.
As in the case of cloud seeding, it is extremely difficult and will take many years to prove or disprove statistically significant effects of cooling towers.
However, our knowledge of natural rainproducing processes leads us to believe that large cooling tower installa-tions can produce significant effects.
In winter, the impact on precipitation will be more apparent if and when snowfalls from the plume are witnessed.
The presence of sufficient freezing nuclei (cement dust in particular) will occasionally trigger very light snowfalls originating directly out of the plume.
At other times, snow initiation or augmentation can be expected from an existing cloud deck into which the tower plume penetrates.
Snowfalls from tower plumes have been reported by Agee (1971), Kramer et al. (1976), and Brennan et al. (1976).
The accumulations resulting from these snowfalls were all on the order of 1" or less.
Similar infrequent accumulations directly from the tower plume are anticipated for the case in study.
6 e.
Cement dust in the Cementon area nay play a role in affecting cloud physics and plume moisture behavior when the ambient air temperature is below freezing.
It is well known that for water droplets to freeze at temperatures warmer than about -40*
C.,
a foreign object is required to initiate droplet crystallization.
There is normally not an abundance of ice crystal nuclei in the atmosphere, and consequently, the air temperature must drop well below freezing before water droplets will freeze.
Because the vapor pressure over ice is less than that over water, an ice crystal in a supersaturated environment will grow at the expense of the supercooled water droplets.
Ice crystal growth reduces the available water vapor in the surrounding air, and the water droplets will evaporate to compensate this loss.
This process will continue until the ice crystal becomes sufficiently large to fall out of the super-saturated environment, or until all the water droplets evaporate.
Weather modifiers, with the use of seeding agents such as silver iodide (AgI), have attempted to alter natural clouds and related precipitation processes by altering their contained concentrations of ice crystal nuclei.
Cooling tower plumes are very much like clouds in that they consist of a suspension of water droplets.
Droplets at subfreezing temperatures are subject to effect by ice nuclei, and therefore, the character-istics of a tower plume are sencitive to the presence of these nuclei.
Cement dust have been shown to be an effective ice nucleus.
Fukuta (1958) observed that Al 03, a constituent of 2
cement, was an effective ice nucleus at
-6.5' C.
More recently, Ramachandra Murty and Pamana Murty (1972; 1972) have found that cements in general are very effective freezing nuclei having a threshold nucleating temperature of about -5 C.
This ranks cements as nucleating agents only slightly less effective than AgI, and more effective than commonly used 2 AgI.NaI or PbI 2-In fact, Portland cement has been used as a seeding agent in weather modification experiments in the USSR (Battan, 1969; 1970).
In addition, the ability of Portland cement to dissipate clouds has been reported by Gaivoronski et al. (1968) to be twice as fast as those seeded with crystal-producing materials.
It is now obvious that cenent dust as a cloud seeding agent could play a role in local meteorology.
The involvement of the dust with the cooling tower plume could have specific implications.
For one, ambient cement dust could act to initiate snowfall from the tower plume in winter under certain conditions when the ambient air temperature is -5 C.
or colder.
Secondly, the buoyancy of the plume could act to transport the dust into an existing cloud layer, and thus seed it.
And thirdly, the mass loading of the plume by cement particles could act to reduce plume buoyancy.
1 7
f.
Not considered by the Environmental Report but undoubtedly relevant is the possible result of moist plume and SOg interaction--namely, acid mist.
This would bear a significant and detrimental impact on certain living organisms and objects which come into prolonged contact with the acidic plume.
In the present case, the hills in the vicinity of the Cementon and Athens sites are candidates for such a predicament where acidic plume impactions would occur under favorable atmospheric conditions given a local source of SO2 In addition, fallout or rainout of acidic moisture from the plume onto the land surfaces below is a noteworthy possibility.
There are two major sources of SO2 near the Cementon station (Alpha Portland Cement Co. and Marquette Cement Co.)
which emit this constituent at a rate of greater than 1100 lb./hr.
Under D and E atmospheric stability and light wind (4 mph)
Plume centerline conditions, this presents one-hour S02 concentrations of 11.7 ppm and 22.4 ppm, respectively, at a distance of 0.3 mi. from the Alpha Portland Cement Company facility (which is the distance between this facility and the proposed Cementon cooling tower).
(At design conditions, the 5
cooling tower emits via evaporation 7.87 x 10 grams of water per second, producing a mist plume with a liquid water content on the same order as is found in natural cumulus clouds.
Several papers presented at the recent (October 19-22, 1976) 3rd Symposium on Atmospheric Turbulence, Diffusion and Air Quality' deal with the problem of plume impaction on mountain slopes.
Judging from the findings of Williams and Cudney (23),
cooling tower plumes, laden with stack plume pollutants can impact mountain sides at distances of up to 55 km with centerline concentrations barely less than at 7 or 8 km.
Also cooling tower plumes frequently were shown to intersect stack plumes at these locations.
The elevation of the mountain slopes over the cooling tower base was about 750 m ( 2500 ' ), i.e., less than the height of the Catskill mountains at less than 10 km from the proposed PASNY sites.
Also Start et al. (24) show that under conditions of a stable layer aloft, stagnant air pockets can develop that con-tain the elevated plume layer.
This study, undertaken by NOAA concludes:
" atmospheric dilution of airborne material' may be significantly influenced by several special aspects of windflows, vertical stability, atmospheric turbulence, and the emission height of the effluent.
The relative importance of each factor may be dependent upon subtle influence of the topography or physical setting of the particular site, therefore the diffusion characteristics may also differ from site to site in subtle ways.
Consequently, the estimation of the concentrations in rough terrain settings should be undertaken with caution."
8 On the strength of this statement, we believe that forecasts of the cooling tower plumes impact and entrapping of SO2 and cement compounds, much less the chemical alterations and cloud-physical consequences, cannot be made with any degree of confidence.
The dangers we enumerate may not be great, but PASNY's impact statement, based on inadequate models and insufficient data,does nothing to alleviate fears that significant damage can result from cooling towers at the proposed sites, particularly the one at Cementon, in such close proximity to a large source of pollutants.
4.
The Mitigation of adverse effects.
Of the six possible meteorological relevant impacts of tne cooling towerr on the atmospheric environment, two are specific for cooling towers in close proximity to cement and SO2 sources, their consequences would not appear or would be imperceptible at the alternate site.
The four first mentioned impacts are unavoidable if cooling towers are being used, and will appear also, if other cooling devices are being used.
With forced draft cooling towers, and more even with direct discharge of warm water into the river, the fogging potential would be greatly increased, th6 ugh at,different places, i.e.,
at the lower elevations, apart from the ecological damage which is outside our area of expertise.
Even beneficial uses of the heated discharge, which at a more suitable site than Cementon may make the power plant more acceptable to the local population, will not alleviate all of the meteorological problems.
But some potentially damaging effects could be alleviated if a substantial amount of the effluent could be used in agricultural projects.
O
c 9
References 1.
Kramer, M.
L.,
Smith, M.
E.,
- Butler, M.
J.,
Seymour, D.
E.,
& Frankenberg, T. T.
" Cooling Towers and the Environment,"
APCA Journal, Vol. 26, No. 8, Aug. 1976, 582-584.
2.
Brennan, P.
T.,
Smith. M.
E., Kramer, M. 7,., & Reeves, R.
" Behavior of Visible Plumes from Hyperbolic Cooling Towers,"
38th Annual Meeting, American Power Conference, Chicago, Ill., April 22, 1976.
3.
Kramer, M.
L.,
Smith, M.
E., Martin, J.
R.,
& Frankenberg, T. T.
" Calculated and Monitored SO2 Concentrations Near the John E. Amos Plant of the AEP System."
Ibid.
4.
- Brennan, P.
T.,
Seymour, D.
E.,
Butler, M.
J.,
Kramer, M.
L.,
Smith, M.
E.,
& Frankenberg, T. T.
"The Observed Rise of Visible Plumes from Hyperbolic Natural Draft Cooling Towers,"
Atmospheric Environment, 10, 1976, 425-431.
5.
- Huff, F.
A.,
- Beebe, R.
C.,
- Jones, L. M. A.,
Morgan, G. M. Jr.,
& Semonin, R. G.
"Ef fect of Cooling Tower Effluents on Atmospheric Canditions in Northeastern Illinois."
Circular 100, State of Illinois, Department of Registration & Education Illinois State Water Survey, Urbana 1971.
6.
Carson, J.
E.
" Meteorology, Cooling Towers and Environ-mental Impact Statements,"
Symposium on Atmospheric Diffusion and Air Pollution, AMS, Sept. 9-13, 1974, Santa Barbara, Calif.
7.
- Huff, F. A.
" Potential Augmentation of Precipitation from Cooling Tower Effluents,"
Bulletin AMS, Vol. 53, 7, July 1972.
8.
Rao, K.
S. et al.
"A dynamic plume model for the pradiction of atmospheric effects associated with cooling tower operation," 68th Annual Meeting, APCA, Boston, Mass., 1975, Paper No.75-045.
9.
- Fortak, H.
"Draidimensionale Meteorologische Vermessung von KGhlturmfahnen" Report on Research in 1974 on NDCT's at Neurath (near Cologne) by DFVLR, Fuvliters Physik d,Atmosphire 10.
Dames & Moore, " Cooling Tower Report," Lloyd, N.
Y.
for N.
Y. State Atomic Space Development Authority (NASDA),
September 1975.
11.
- McVehil, G.
F.
" Evaluation of Cooling Tower Effects at Zron Nuclear Generating Station," Final Report, Sierra Research Corp. for Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago, Ill. 1970.
a 10 12.
Ramachandra Murty, A. S. and Bh. V.
Ramana Murty,1974 :
Cements--a special category of ice nucleants.
J. Meteor.
Soc. Japan, 52, 230-237.
13.
Battan, L. J.
" Weather modification in the USSR 1969,"
Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1969, 50, 924-925.
14.
Battan, L. J.
" Summary of Soviet publications on weather modification," Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1970, 51, 1030-1041.
15.
Gaivoronski, I.
I.,
Seregin, A. Jr., Zatsepina, L.
P.,
Zimin, B.
I.
" Modification experiments on thunderstorms,"
Proc. Inter. Conf. on Cloud Physics, August 26-30, 1968, Toronto,' Canada, 815-817.
16.
Hosler, C. L.
" Wet cooling tower plume behavior."
Presented at the Amer. Inst. of Chem. Engineers, 68th Nat.
Meeting, Houston, Texas, March 2, 1971, 17 ogs.
17.
- Agee, E. M.
"An artificially induced local snowfall,"
Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1971, 52, 557-560.
18.
Fukuta, Norihiko.
" Experimental investigations on the ice-forming ability of various chemical substances.
J. Meteorology, 1958, 15, 17-26.
19.
Ramachandra Murty, A. S.
and Bh. V.
Ramana Murty, 1972:
Ice nucleation by ordinary Portland cement, Tellus, XXIV, 581-584.
20.
- Aynsley, E.
" Cooling tower effects--studies abound,"
Electrical World, May 1970.
21.
- Sorge, J., Mohuen, V.
A.,
- Chylek, P.
" Solar Attenuation Model for an Urban Area," (Albany, New York), ASRC-SUNY Publication No. 354, Feb. 1975.
22.
Kramer, M.
L.,
Seymour, D.
E.,
Smith, M.
E.,
Reeves, R.
W.,
& Frankenberg, T. T.
" Snowfall observations from natural-draft cooling tower plumes," Science, 1976, 193, 1239-1241.
23.
Williams, M.
D.,
& Cudney, R.
" Predictions and Measurements of Power Plant Plume Visibility Reductiuns and Terrain Interactions."
3rd AMS Symposium on Atmospheric Turbulence Diffusion and Air Quality, Paleigh, N.
C.,
Oct., 1976.
24.
Start, A.
E.,
- Richs, N. R.
& Dickson, C.
R.
" Effluent Dilutions over Mountainous Terrain," Ibid.
e.
11 25.
- Changnon, S. A. Jr., "A Climatological evaluation of precipitation patterns over an urban area," Symposium
" Air over Cities," SEC Technical Report A62-5.
Public Health Service, Robert A. Taft, Sanitary Eng. Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 1961.
26.
Landsberg, H.
E.
"The Climate of Towns," Man's Role in Changing the Face of Earth.
Chicago, Ill.:
University of Chicago Press, 1956, 584-603.
27.
Landsberg, H. E.
" City Air--Better or Worse," Symposium
" Air over Cities," SEC Technical Report A62-5.
Public Health Service, Robert A. Taft Sanitary Eng. Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 1961.
28.
- Czapski, U.
"Possible Effects of Thermal Discharges to the Atmosphere," Proceedings:
Fifth Annual Environmental Health Research Symposium, Albany, N. Y.:
New York State Department of Health, May 16, 1968.
29.
Dessens, H.
& Vaillant, J.
Mecanique Atmospherique, Comptes Rendu de l'Academie de Sciences, Vol. 256, 1818-1820.
- 1963, 30.
- Stout, G.
"Some Observations of Cloud Initiation in Industrial Areas," Symposium " Air over Cities" SEC Techni-cal Report A62-5, 1961.
31.
- Orville, H.
D.
"A Numerical Modeling Study of Waste Heat Effects on Severe Weather," Waste Heat Management and Utili-zation Conference, Miami Beach, May, 1977.
-