Developers looking to create a truly mixed-use project involving office or residential space on the site of Salem’s soon-to-be-closed harborside power plant could have their plans vetoed before they even get to the drawing board.
The coal-burning power plant is slated to be shuttered June 1, 2014. While ideas have surfaced for ways to reuse the 62 acres occupied by the facility, the already-crowded residential area where it is located is less than ideal for a high-density project bringing additional traffic to the neighborhood, according to Salem officials.
The city has commissioned a study to help determine the best future uses for the 60-year-old Salem Harbor Power Station. The full report is expected to be completed by September, but some preliminary findings were not encouraging, according to Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll.
The plant abuts a densely populated residential area that includes the historic House of the Seven Gables, made famous in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name and as his birthplace, and only narrow roads now lead to the site. So the thought of even more cars and pedestrian activity is daunting to city leaders.
However, the city is eager to activate the site once the plant is decommissioned – within reason.
“High densities have high impacts that we might not be able to accommodate in that neighborhood, like a hotel or business park,” Driscoll told Banker & Tradesman.
Cruise Control
While office space and apartments might be too ambitious for the location, the city is advocating bringing cruise ships into what is one of the state’s few deepwater ports to compliment the city’s already booming tourism industry. The port facilities are located adjacent to the harborside plant.
Given that the Salem power plant site is in a Designated Port Area, residential or office use would already be restricted, since it is meant to be a working waterfront. So relating future reuse to an adjacent city-owned lot and creating a cohesive waterfront plan would be encouraged, Driscoll said.
“It’s still early and we certainly don’t want to foreclose on any ideas for redevelopment yet,” Driscoll said. “But tourism and hospitality are such a part of Salem’s economy, if we can make it more of a port-of-call, we would look favorably upon that.”
Preliminary findings show a full site cleanup would require disposing of asbestos and lead paint, and the nearest landfill that takes those materials is 50 miles away. All told, it would cost about $20 million for the site cleanup alone, and another $150 million to demolish the plant. That could discourage some commercial developers considering developing the site, like Texas-based Cherokee Development, which sources familiar with the Salem situation say has looked hard at purchasing and redeveloping the site in the last few years.
But the site, or at least a portion of it, is ideal for another type of power generation, especially natural gas, since there is a gas pipeline not far out to sea and power transmission lines are already on site, said state Rep. John Keenan, D-Salem. A plant with that kind of use would likely only occupy seven to 10 acres, leaving ample room for the kind of waterfront development the city encourages, according to Driscoll. Keenan said he would like to see that excess space used for some green energy generation, like wind or solar power.
Additionally, National Grid has an easement for energy transmission on the Salem Harbor Station site, another reason to consider alternative power generation since the grid is already connected on-site, Driscoll said.
No Plans
Another stakeholder in the area is national environmental advocacy group the Sierra Club, which has advocated strongly for the plant’s shutdown. Drew Grande, organizer of the Massachusetts “Beyond Coal” campaign, said the existing power lines offer great potential for the state’s green energy economy, especially clean wind energy, something Gov. Deval Patrick staunchly supports.
The power lines could receive energy directly from an offshore wind farm, and the nearby deepwater channel would allow access as a service station, especially since there is talk bubbling about a wind farm somewhere off Massachusetts’ North Shore, Grande said. He cited a recent Environmental Protection Agency report that shows for every dollar invested in clean air, the return is $33 in savings on healthcare, insurance and other costs.
“Just about anything is better – for economic development, the air and the water – than coal,” Grande said. “If anyone tries to recommend another fossil fuel project there, we wouldn’t be in favor of that.”
The mayor said the city has performed studies for wind turbines on multiple parcels and is finalizing plans for a wind-power facility on Winter Island, just across Salem’s Cat Cove from the power plant. There is also potential for wind turbines at the adjacent North Shore sewage treatment facility, Driscoll said, “So there is a real possibility for something like that to occur as well.”
But any future reuses hinge on what Dominion, the Virginia-based company that owns the plant and land, plans to do with the site in 2014.
Dan Genest, spokesperson for Dominion, said the company has no plan for what to do with the site, but will work on developing one in the next several years. While he is not aware of any offers for the land, Genest said, “If someone was interested in buying the facility we’d certainly like to talk to them.”
Driscoll said she is unsure if the land will need to be treated as a polluted brownfield site after being used for 60 years as a coal-burning power plant. Tests have not been done yet, so the city needs help from Dominion to understand the current conditions.
“We’ve been led to believe that it’s not as bad as one might think,” Driscoll offered.
