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Environmental Benefits of the Project Section 8 Environmental Benefits of the Project General Statement of the Project’s Environmental Benefits Discussion of How the Project is Consistent with the Energy Highway Blueprint Clean Energy Goals Environmental Benefits of the Project General Statement Connect New York will utilize a combination of primarily existing public and some small areas of private right-of-ways, which have been previously disturbed and will significantly minimize, if not entirely eliminate, impacts to visual, historic, archaeological and other important environmental resources. By proposing efficient, buried transmission lines, Connect New York will also address many of the concerns associated with aerial transmission lines and towers, such as their visual impacts and aesthetics, electromagnetic radiation effects, and impacts on property value. Connect New York will, at full buildout, also allow for the transmission of energy from wind farms and other clean upstate generating facilities that produce less greenhouse gas emissions than the traditional generating technologies used at downstate facilities. By utilizing the New York State Thruway corridor for 42 of the 53 miles between tie in points at New Scotland and Hurley, and the existing water-crossing structures in the corridor, impacts to creeks, streams, rivers and wetlands will be avoided. Using the Thruway corridor will make it unnecessary to establish a new route through naturally vegetated areas. In this manner, the project will not conflict with historical and archeological resources, will not disturb wildlife habitat, and will not require construction or operational activity in areas used by species sensitive to (or not acclimated to) human activity. The tie-in at the south end of the Thruway segment will follow New York State Route 299 to reach the Hurley substation. The tie in at the north end of the Thruway segment will connect to the New Scotland substation via an existing power transmission line corridor. These design choices further minimize the potential for impacts to historical, archeological, sensitive species and habitat resources. The most frequent objection to transmission projects is the visual impact caused by towers and overhead lines. This is a particularly critical issue because the project is Connect New York Contingency Procurement of Generation and Transmission RFP #Q13-5441LW located in the historic and scenic Hudson River Valley. In addition to the direct visual impact, there is often concern for potential socio-economic impacts (impacts to property values), and environmental justice concerns. The Connect New York project completely eliminates visual issues by selecting buried HVDC cable technology. Using the New York State Thruway corridor as the primary route, there is no risk of a disproportional impact to economically disadvantaged communities. Using buried cable technology, the segments at the north and south ends of the project that are off the Thruway right-of-way cannot have a disproportional visual or socio-economic impact on economically disadvantaged communities. Besides avoiding these potential impacts, the project benefits from creating less controversy and less local opposition, making the environmental review and application process smoother and faster than can be expected for projects utilizing traditional transmission technology or routes that follow or cross geographical features with obvious environmental and ecological value, such as rivers and wetlands. This is a critical consideration for a project that must meet the aggressive schedule that is specified in the scope of work. By comparison to overhead wire and marine cable, buried cable is green technology. The construction methods used to install HVDC cable also have significant environmental advantages compared to methods of installation for overhead transmission or marine cable projects. Buried cable technology places less demand on natural resources than other technologies. Buried cable projects do not require mill steel for towers, or the large quantity of concrete needed to erect transmission towers. This translates directly to less impact related to raw material extraction and processing, as well as eliminating the considerable greenhouse gas emissions associated with cement manufacturing. There is also vehicle traffic and wear on primary and secondary roads resulting from transporting tower structural materials and concrete to the individual tower construction sites, and the need to blaze temporary construction roads through previously undisturbed areas to reach these sites. Installing marine cable has several environmental consequences that can be avoided by a buried cable in a land route. Marine cable permitting requires intensive habitat Connect New York Contingency Procurement of Generation and Transmission RFP #Q13-5441LW investigation, coastal zone consistency assessment and the involvement of more state and federal agencies for the review and approval process. The installation of marine cable may require localized or continuous riverbed trenching, with consequent impacts to habitat. In locations with historic sediment contamination, marine cable trenching re- mobilizes contaminants creating temporary (at minimum) water quality impacts. Where contaminated sediments have been capped in place, trenching may have long term impacts on water quality as a result of disturbing the capping material, and exposing the capped sediments. The Connect New York project does not propose using any marine cables for the route New Scotland to Hurley, and thus the permitting phase will be expedited because the impact on habitats and coastal zones are minimized or null. Utilizing buried HVDC cable in the Thruway right of way ensures minimal impact to historic and archeological resources. Such resources within the right of way, as well as in lands adjacent to the Thruway have been extensively studied and documented as a result of the requirements of the New York State SEQR Act, which requires assessment of these resources as part of any proposed improvement activity. For this reason, the potential for accidental damage to previously undocumented resources in the right of way are extremely remote. On the other hand, water bodies that would be disturbed by marine cable construction, such as Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, are an often overlooked source of historic and archeological resources. Lake Champlain is home to more than 300 shipwrecks. There are extremely significant shipwrecks left over from major naval battles of the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. New discoveries of previously unknown vessels occur frequently. Seventeen previously unknown wreck sites were discovered in 2003 alone. Beside the potential for accidental damage to undiscovered resources during construction, the need to conduct adequate pre-construction research and surveys has the potential to cause considerable delays in the permitting process of such proposed projects, and will be a source of considerable public interest and concern. Furthermore, the current state of knowledge about EMFs emitted by submerged power cables is too variable and inconclusive to make an informed assessment of the effects on aquatic organisms. This will be an additional Connect New York Contingency Procurement of Generation and Transmission RFP #Q13-5441LW source of public concern and longer environmental review process for marine cable proposals (which this is not one). Most underground AC lines carrying 230 kV or more have used fluids to dissipate the heat produced by the transmission cables, raising concerns about possible leaks and damage to aquifers. In contrast, most DC cables have used non-draining paper for insulation. Voltage Source Converter (VSC-) HVDC technology is also compatible with Extruded DC Cables, for DC power transmission, which are much cheaper than Mass Impregnated DC Cables, the ones only acceptable for the line commutated converter (LCC-) HVDC technology. On the decommissioning end of the project lifecycle, buried cable technology again has quantifiable environmental advantages over competing technologies. Assuming the requirement to return all affected lands to original conditions, decommissioning towers used in overhead wire infrastructure generates scrap metal, and waste concrete. Demolition of the concrete tower piers and footers is a very intrusive process, with consequent noise and dust impacts. In the event that concrete and reinforcement cannot be recycled, it creates a burden on available landfill space. In the case of marine cable, extraction causes the same disturbance of marine habitat and water quality that the installation process causes. The DC magnetic field from the proposed circuits is too weak to produce any environmental or health effect and would not cause any health-based exposure limit to be exceeded. The DC magnetic field from the proposed circuits will be less than the earth’s ambient magnetic field (530 mG), will perturb the ambient field for only a short distance from the conductors, and will be less than published guidance criteria by several orders of magnitude. Connect New York Contingency Procurement of Generation and Transmission RFP #Q13-5441LW Discussion of How the Project is Consistent with the Energy Highway Blueprint and Clean Energy Goals Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s New York Energy Highway Blueprint identifies transmission and distribution of power as a key item of concern. More specifically, the Blueprint sites the need to reduce bottlenecks
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