Our View: Plan for power-plant site deserves encouragement

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February 3, 2012

The Salem News Fri Feb 03, 2012, 05:00 AM EST

There's reason for optimism in Salem where a New Jersey-based company has expressed interest in acquiring Dominion's waterfront property for power generation and other industrial uses.

While nothing has been finalized, the company, Footprint Power, has filed papers with ISO New England to become part of the regional power grid in 2016 and has discussed its plans with city officials and the union representing Salem Harbor Station's workers. The firm envisions retrofitting the existing plant to burn natural gas in place of the coal and oil that have historically powered its giant turbines.

In fact, the proposals put forward by some for a bucolic seaside village on the 62-acre site were little more than pipe dreams given the property's history and location.

Besides the contaminants that lie beneath the surface, the fact that the site sits next to a large transmission yard and the regional sewage plant, neither of which are going anywhere, made it an unlikely site for the townhouses and quaint shops depicted in some artists' renderings.

And then there was the question of how people would get there given the limitations of the ancient roadways leading to Fort Avenue.

On the other hand, the site is served by a deep-water channel and has a large natural-gas pipeline running through it, both of which make it attractive for industrial uses, including large-scale power production. There are few details available at this point regarding the Footprint proposal, but stakeholders, including Mayor Kim Driscoll and state Rep. John Keenan, are definitely encouraged.

Just as significant is the fact that Dominion's longtime foe HealthLink seems to be having trouble finding a reason to oppose it.

It's important to keep in mind that nothing has been signed yet, but a development combining industrial and some limited commercial uses, along with cleaner-burning power production, seems ideal for this property.

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