By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writer
EVERETT — A decision Friday clears the way for construction of a natural gas-fired power plant in Everett’s northwest industrial zone near the Snohomish River.
It appears Everett’s Delta I power plant project will go forward, despite a recent drop in the number of power plants planned for the Northwest that follows a drop in the wholesale price of electricity.
So far, about 33 plants of 94 proposed in the region have been delayed or canceled and requests withdrawn for connection to the Bonneville Power Administration’s grid, The Associated Press reports.
The 33 plants include projects once planned for Paterson, Starbuck, Wenatchee, Creston, Longview, Mount Vernon and Vancouver, Wash.
In Everett on Friday, hearing examiner Jim Driscoll approved a variance for the Delta I plant that allows part of it to be built 32 feet taller than current height limits allow. That decision could be appealed to Snohomish County Superior Court.
Plant operators will have to abide by 23 conditions, including making air emissions comply with standards set by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.
Everett resident Anne Robison, who opposes the plant’s location, said Friday that she is concerned about particulate emissions from the plant.
"I know how far those particulates can go, according to the materials I’ve read," Robison said. "And I’m concerned about the Maulsby mud flats and the Snohomish River Delta. Those areas have statewide significance for shorebirds and other migrating waterfowl, and we cannot allow it to be degraded."
Another Everett opponent of the plant’s location, Howie Bargreen, said plant operators should have to do more than city and state regulations allow because of the plant’s downtown location.
"The most important thing is the noise," Bargreen said. "The law allows for 60 decibels, but I’d like to see them go a little bit further. It’s a high-density area, so let’s ask them to be good neighbors and do a little bit extra."
Northwest Power Co., represented by its owner, Florida Power &Light Co., plans on building part of its 248-megawatt plant 32 feet taller than it was approved for earlier. The change is to better accommodate the plant’s heat recovery steam generator, which needs to go from a height of 64 feet to 96 feet.
The company needed the variance because the height limit for buildings in the heavy industrial area along Marine View Drive is currently set at 80 feet.
The water-cooled power plant, called Everett Delta I, is being proposed at the site of the former Weyerhaeuser pulp mill near the Snohomish River. Florida Power has already received the necessary environmental permits to build the project.
Carpenters, pile drivers and electricians have previously testified in support of the project, which promises at least 400 construction jobs and 18 months of steady income, as well as jobs for about 20 full-time operators once the plant is complete.
Meanwhile, a nearly identical second 248-megawatt power plant has been proposed at the mill site east of the Delta I project. The New York investment-banking firm of Wasserstein Perella Co. Inc. bought the Everett Delta II Power Co. plant through foreclosure in June 2000. That plant has already passed an environmental review and was approved for construction in 1999.
You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097
or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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