The Kent Conservation Commission is working to raise awareness about a natural gas-fired electric generation facility just over the state line in Dover Plains, New York, which is slated to come online in 2020.  The Commission called the 1,100 megawatt facility a toxic neighbor that will negatively impact air quality.  Cricket Valley Energy Center will have three 282-foot high smoke stacks, which will emit spent gases.  While an improvement over older coal-fired electricity, the Commission says it is still fossil-fuel based. 

The Kent Conservation Commission is working with officials from Sherman, Gaylordsville, Sharon, Washington, Cornwall and Warren to call on the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Department of Public Health to provide oversight. Neither agency filed briefs with New York State during the application process, which started in 2009. 

The group says the 8 current air quality monitors in Connecticut aren't close enough and the monitors at the base of the smokestacks won't account for wind drift to accurately show ground level measurements in Kent. 

The Commission is looking into a legal basis to require changes in Cricket Valley's operation, including more advanced scrubbing technologies, temporary shutdowns during smog alerts, and other protective measures.