The South Huntington Alliance for Responsible Energy Development (SHARED) and Long Island Voters for Environmental Safety (LIVES) held a joint press conference on April 16, prior to the Huntington Town Board Hearing, to voice their concerns over KeySpan's proposed Power Plant and to show board members that there is opposition.

LIVES collected more than 1,100 signatures against the construction of a power plant on Spagnoli Road in Melville and delivered the petitions to Huntington Town Hall during Tuesday's meeting. Although the Spagnoli Road issue was not part of the regular agenda, over 40 people spoke during the later part of the meeting voicing their opinions and concerns over the proposed plant.

The site for the proposed facility is located on Spagnoli Road in the Town of Huntington, a property owned by KeySpan. The proposed facility would occupy approximately four acres of the 31-acre site located on the south side of Spagnoli Road, approximately one-half mile west of Route 110. This area borders nearby Town of Oyster Bay residents.

According to members of SHARED, an alliance of businesses that proposed the power plant, these petitions add to the existing opposition. "The response LIVES has received is very substantial," said Mark Schwartz, executive director and general council to SHARED. "SHARED already has more than 500 residents on our supporter list and a petition objecting to Spagnoli Road that is signed by over 100 pilots who use Republic Airport."

The proposed 250-megawatt, gas-fired power plant violates Huntington Town Zoning and noise ordinances and KeySpan filed an application asking the state to overturn local zoning laws. The site is currently zoned I-2, light industrial and it needs a I-6, heavy industrial zoning in order to be built. Local laws require that there be 50 acres of land and this site only has 29 acres. KeySpan is also asking the state to overturn height restrictions as the height restriction is 45 feet in that area and the building will be 110 feet with a 200 foot smokestack. "We would like to see the town of Huntington tell the state that they want their zoning laws upheld," said Schwartz. "I hope they now see that there is a lot of opposition."

The initial application from KeySpan was to have a 250-foot smokestack. A federal law deems anything within three miles of an airport that is over 200 feet to be an obstruction. "KeySpan was unable to obtain a waiver from the FAA so they dropped the height to 195 feet. We believe it is still an obstruction. It is 1.7 miles from the end of the runway to the smokestack," said Schwartz.

The main goal of both SHARED and LIVES currently is to show, through petitions and public speaking, that people do care and there is opposition. Also, members of the groups opposed to this plant would like to see this issue included on the agenda for a town meeting.

"The purpose of our group going to the board meeting was to try and get members of the Huntington Town Board to stand up for their zoning laws that go against every single thing that this Spagnoli Road Power Plant would bring to Spagnoli Road," said Lisa Shrank, LIVES Public Information Officer.

Many residents of neighboring Town of Oyster Bay communities signed the petition and are attending meetings in the Town of Huntington. The main concerns voiced by residents at the meeting were pollution, the need for the power plant and location. "Many of the residents in attendance live less than a mile away from the site," said Patricia Hsu-Park, director of communications and administration for SHARED.

"I think the town board was surprised to see so many people speaking their minds," said Schwartz. "Citizens organized this group and we have over 1,700 total names from people saying don't do this."

Residents in the Town of Oyster Bay are encouraged to write to Town of Huntington officials and voice their opinions and to of Oyster Bay officials and encourage them to write and talk to Huntington officials.

Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone was unavailable for comment on this issue.