A recent Salem News editorial ("Hold the cheers — or tears — for power plant's closing," Friday, Nov. 26) begins on an unfortunate, non-attributed note, stating, "Someone who's followed the story for a long time insists reports of Salem Harbor Station's demise are greatly exaggerated."
In the next paragraph, the paper writes, without substantiation, that the plant is to be shuttered in seven years.
A closer look at the transcript of a Nov. 2 Edison Electric Institute conference in California, previously covered by The Salem News, reveals something quite different. At this conference, Dominion's CFO, Mark McGettrick, said, "In the near future, certainly in this five-year horizon, we would expect Salem Harbor plant to shut down. We will not invest any capital for environmental improvements at Salem Harbor."
Besides the sloppy nature of the Salem News editorial, this double slip of time and details lays bare the usual attachment to the status quo that has kept the region and ratepayers shackled to a deadly and obsolete old coal plant. By denying the maximum five-year timeline, Dominion's unequivocal statement of closure, and the fact that the company will not be investing any capital to help the plant comply with state and federal regulation, doubt is cast on need for transitional planning. By doing so, the paper is shamefully out of sync with the plant owners and city elected officials who have begun to take important steps to accept and plan for the inevitable.
Editors again diminish the 60 years that the region has waited for relief from the daily assault of pollution from burning coal in our harbor. Consider, too, that it was a half-century of denial that kept coal waste at the bottom of Wenham Lake, the main source of drinking water for 80,000 residents of Salem, Beverly and parts of Wenham. Denial didn't drive a six-year, $10-million cleanup of that problem.
Sixty years is too late for some things, and for some of us, but the time has come for transition.
The ratepayer deserves better than the false choice of "plant or no plant." Ratepayers have borne the burden of keeping this plant afloat for years and now are paying above-market rates to the tune of $20 million for the next two years to import and burn cheap coal here.
Dominion's CFO made clear in his remarks at the Edison Electric Institute gathering that the company will not invest its dollars in this plant. Why should we invest ours? With a just transition, local businesses and tourism can be bolstered without ruining our health, killing workers and destroying our natural resources.
Private citizens and several brownfield developers are coming forward with creative and potentially lucrative development ideas. Any development will also enjoy the benefit of a 2002 $6-million cleanup of on-site contamination from unlined impoundment ponds. With a federally designated deepwater port, it's not a stretch to imagine this 65-acre property hosting cruise ships or other types of maritime commerce.
There will no doubt be unique challenges transitioning this property. But it's not the only coal plant in the country going by the wayside, just the oldest.
The Salem News and those naysayers who spend so much time and energy pointing out what cannot be done, need to change their tune and join Dominion, city and state leadership, and the air-breathing public, in imagining other possibilities.
• • •
Lori A. Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, was recently elected to her third term as state representative for the 8th Essex District, which includes the towns of Marblehead and Swampscott and part of Lynn.
Father Accused of Using Leash on 11 Year Old
Obama Helps Break Ground on Black History Museum
Raw Video: Dozens Dead in Argentina Train Crash
Megaupload's Kim Dotcom Released on Bail
Two Western Journalists Killed in Syria
Wounded Vets Regain Some Camaraderie in Kitchen
Man Accused of Repeatedly Running Over Lover
Ga. Authorities Say 5 Dead in Spa Shooting
Raw Video: Obama Belts Out Blues
FDA: New Suppliers to Ease 2 Drug Shortages
Doctor Details Cancer Drug Needs and Shortage
Raw Video: New Orleans Revels in Mardi Gras
'Super PACs' Overtaking Campaigns' Fundraising
Raw Video: Mardi Gras Underway in New Orleans
Mild Weather Could Affect Syrup Production
Ex-IMF's Strauss-Kahn Questioned on Prostitution
Raw Video: Iran Sailors Saved From Burning Ship
Firm Suing Apple in China Open to Talks
