Orsted chief says 'contaminated soil' found at Sunrise Wind cable site

The developers of an offshore wind project slated for Long Island said they have discovered unspecified “soil contamination” on the project's route on land that could help it qualify for greater federal subsidies.

An Orsted spokesperson said environmental assessment of the site in Holtsville found “small amounts” of contaminants, but the site does not require remediation.

In an interview with Denmark-based news site Energy Watch, Orsted chief executive Mads Nipper was quoted this week as saying the company “discovered the soil was contaminated where we will land the export cable” for Sunrise Wind, the 924-megawatt offshore wind project that recently was awarded a more lucrative state contract.

The project, with turbines slated to be built in the waters off Massachusetts/Rhode Island in 2026, is scheduled to make landfall at Smith Point County Park, Newsday has reported, with a 17.5-mile cable connecting to the grid in Holtsville.

Meaghan Wims, a spokeswoman for Sunrise Wind, said Nipper was referring to the project's cable station in Holtsville, not the landing site in Smith Point. 

“This is the part of the project that could make Sunrise Wind eligible for the investment tax credit bonus, not the site at Smith Point County Park,” Wims wrote to Newsday in an email late Thursday.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, which negotiated a $169 million community benefits package with Sunrise Wind for the cable construction, said the town had not been told about the contamination. 

“This is the first I've heard of it,” he said of a reporter's call, adding the town is seeking a full report from Orsted of “what was found, how much, and what steps, if any, are needed” for remediation. 

“Any time you hear of contamination you're concerned,” Panico said.

A Department of Environmental Conservation database that tracks spill incidents and remediation at locations across the state has several incidents listed for the Sunrise Wind cable site at 608 Union Ave., including a June 2015 one involving 155 pounds of nitric oxide. The spill name is affiliated with a power plant across the street owned by the New York Power Authority. There was also an unknown amount of motor oil spilled at the “Guy Pratt” facility in August 2016, according to the database, and another in December 1990 involving unknown amounts of diesel and gasoline, according to the DEC.

The Sunrise power location is surrounded by industrial sites, including the NYPA power plant, a National Grid liquefied natural gas plant, and Northville Industries fuel-oil facility.

Spokespersons for the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Suffolk County didn't respond to requests for comment.

Nipper, according to the report, said the findings allow the company to “define this area as a brownfield site,” a designation that he told Energy Watch would allow Sunrise Wind to qualify for an additional 10% federal tax credit of the project’s cost, over and above a 30% federal investment tax credit already available to the project.

“This is the first time in the history of the world that I have been happy about soil contamination,” Nipper is quoted by Energy Watch as saying. 

Wims said Orsted's environmental assessment “investigated potential impacts to on-site soil, groundwater and site soil vapors,” and confirmed the presence of “small amounts of contaminants, which was an unsurprising finding given the site’s prior industrial use.” 

She said the company “shared our site assessment with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation,” as required under state regulations that granted an approval for the site's construction plan.

“The project is complying with applicable regulations concerning the disposal of excavated soil,” Wims said. “The disposal of soils is covered under a DEC-approved plan,” adding the site “does not require remediation.”   

   DEC spokesman John Salka said the agency conducted a "preliminary review of records and cannot confirm receipt of the referenced site assessment (by Orsted) at this time."

The site in Holtsville is "not currently in a DEC brownfield or other cleanup program," he said in an email.

With a project cost above $4 billion, as Newsday has reported, the additional 10% would amount to more than $400 million, depending on how much the cost of the project has increased since the company’s recent award of a higher energy price to reflect the cost of inflation and higher interest rates. New York State awarded Sunrise the new contract last month.

The additional tax credit would be a benefit for Sunrise and Orsted, which has taken more than $4 billion in impairment charges to reflect the lower book value of its U.S. offshore wind assets, after canceling two projects for New Jersey and withdrawing two others in Maryland over the past few months. Even with the new state contract, Nipper told Energy Watch, the project is “still not up to our return [on investment] requirements.”

The landing route for the Sunrise Wind cable will travel 17.5 miles from Smith Point County Park, under a section of bay and up William Floyd Parkway, and Horse Block Road before following the Long Island Expressway to a landing site already under construction in Holtsville.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.