Cortlandt to Oppose High Voltage Station in Verplanck
Cortlandt officials and a task force of residents are planning to strongly oppose a proposed high voltage converter station in Verplanck at a public hearing Wednesday before the New York State Public Service Commission.
The Public Service Commission will be holding an informational and public hearing on West Point Partners’ project on April 30 from 2:30 to 3:30 and 6 to 7 p.m. at the Muriel Morabito Community Center on Westbrook Drive.
West Point Partners LLC is looking to construct a 1,000 megawatt high voltage converter station with buried high voltage cables behind Letteri Field on Broadway and 11th Street. The building for the station would be 49 feet high, equal to the size of two Best Buy stores at the Cortlandt Town Center, with lightning rods almost 80 feet high.
The facility, which would only employ four to six workers, also generates a constant buzzing sound that can be heard over railroad and airplane noise, as some Cortlandt employees experienced during a tour of a similar station in Hicksville, Long Island.
“Why should the Town of Cortlandt be the energy capital for all of New York State, especially when new energy proposals are being considered?” Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi remarked. “We have had to fight the Millennium Pipeline and Riverbank, USA, which wanted to drill for hydropower in Verplanck. We were successful in stopping these two dangerous impacts for our community and we will continue to fight the West Point Partners, LLC project, as well.”
The same 100-acre former quarry site in Verplanck is also being considered for a gas transmission line, which the town also opposes.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
