Committee Reverses Ruling, Approves Gas Generator [VIDEO]

In a reversal from a prior tally, the Chatham Township Committee voted 5-0 Thursday to authorize the purchase of a natural gas generator to service a sewage treatment plant near the Chatham Glen.

The reversal came after the committee received several letters and comments from residents of the area, who will pay for the new generator through their sewage fees, asking the committee to consider a gas generator because of its decreased impact on air quality compared to the diesel.

Wendy B. Graham, president of the Heritage Greene Condominium Association (WGCA), wrote in a letter of "our concerns about storing a hazardous material on common property, the ptotential release of toxic contaminants close to residential families, maintenance requirements and the impact on the environment."

Graham wrote the association recently approved a natural gas generator for one of the condo buildings. "While it was an added expense, natural gas will not omit an odor and will be unobtrusive to run."

Committee Member Katherine Abbott pointed out to the committee the additional cost of a natural gas generator, compared to diesel, was $16,625. Split between the 900 households in the area, the ultimate increase per household would be under $20. She also said the cost of gas vs. diesel would pay for the increase in short order, and while the up-front cost of the natural gas generator was more, the cost over the estimated 30-year life of the gas generator would be less than the diesel.

Elin Krhoun, the secretary of the WGCA, also spoke before the committee favoring the gas generator. In the valley where the condos sit between the hills along Fairmount Avenue and Summit, "the air kind of settles there," she said. 

Frank Esposito, a member of the Chatham Township Environmental Commission and a resident of the area, also told the committee he favored a gas generator. He, too, wrote a letter to the committee in which he stated "natural gas generators pollute the air far less than diesel generators."

The committee said the new generator would be approximately twice the size of the previous, now defunct-diesel generator, partly because the sewage treatment plant may soon be altered into  a pumping station instead.

Abbott also raised the point that there is currently a national and state campaign to minimize diesel emissions. She quoted from a letter from Esposito, which cites the state Department of Environmental Protection as stating "diesel emissions pose a greater cancer risk than any other air pollutant in the state."

Committee Member Kevin Tubbs said while he was inclined to prefer a diesel generator, he was satisfied residents of the area understood the greater cost of the natural gas generator and were willing to take on the expense. He cautioned "the environmental benefits are there, but they are quite low."

However, he said, the discussion in December "took a lot of things into account," from the environmental benefits to safety to cost to the ease of each generator for maintenance and supplies by the Department of Public Works. If residents still favored the natural gas generator, Tubbs said he would vote in favor of it.

Committee Member Bailey Brower, Jr., who , said he was glad to hear Tubbs "has come around." He also said he was in favor of " nything we can do to encourage the use of natural gas" and the residents of Chatham Glen were "putting their money where their mouth is."

Mayor Nicole Hagner said she was "struggling" with whether to approve the gas generator, and cited the December meeting when Chief John Paton of the said the insurance company for the Southern Boulevard Fire Station had expressed a preference for diesel generators.

However, when the time came to vote, Hagner cast the last vote favoring the natural gas generator 5-0.

According to Township Administrator Tom Ciccarone, the cost of the natural gas generator is $72,276. The bond ordinance previously approved by the committee allowed the township to bond up to $75,000 to purchase the generator.

Krhoun said she was "glad" of the township's decision, and the cost would be increased incrementally for residents of the area over a number of years. "Even though it's not a big generator and doesn't run that much, it's positive to have the gas generator. I feel positive about it. It's nice to win," she said.