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Dear 'Links,
Neighbors of the Salem Harbor Station please call the DEP hotline number, 1-888-VIOLATE, and report all unusual incidents that you hear, see or smell at the power plant.
These calls are logged and counted, providing valuable data. The volume of calls about real incidents is a critical measure for our government officials telling them that people are aware, concerned and demanding of investigation.
We understand that the many calls that went out regarding the startling sound on Tuesday night will bring the Department of Public Safety out to the plant on Monday to investigate the incident.
Investigations by OSHA and the Department of Public Safety show the fatal explosion at the plant a year ago was caused by lack of basic maintenance and disregard for safety.
All of Dominion's actions confirm that they are running this plant into the ground. It's time for them to be honest with the public about their plans so that employees, taxpayers and the greater community can plan for the future.
Two articles from yesterday's newspapers follow.
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Salem News
Startling sound was power plant letting off steam By Tom Dalton, Staff writer - November 6, 2008 SALEM - A loud noise that lasted several minutes woke up residents early Wednesday morning all the way from the downtown to Salem Willows. "I thought it was a plane landing on my house," said Gina Atwood, who lives near Derby Street. "It went on for at least five minutes," said Pat Gozemba, an environmental activist who lives in the Willows. "It sounded like a huge roar, like a locomotive coming at you." On Boardman Street, several people walked out into the street to see what was happening, according to an e-mail from a resident on that street. Read more...
Boston Globe
Environmental groups lobby to close Salem Harbor plant, but mayor stresses the need for $4.75m in taxes, revenue
By Steven Rosenberg, Globe Staff | November 6, 2008
Nov. 6, 2007, seemed like any other work day at the Salem Harbor Power Station. After an 8 a.m. meeting, workers dispersed - with three, Matthew Indeglia, Philip Robinson, and Mark Mansfield - scheduled to work on a 130-foot boiler. Forty-six minutes later, the three were covered with ash, steam, and 600-degree water when the boiler's pipes ruptured, burning and killing them.
After the accident, the state ordered the plant closed for several months, and in the spring the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported 10 safety violations at the plant - including its failure to inspect the area where the explosion occurred for at least nine years. At that time, OSHA announced that Dominion, the Salem power plant owner, would be fined $46,800. Dominion is now appealing that fine.
Now, a year after the accident, Dominion says the plant is safe and will continue to run on the 65-acre site until at least the summer of 2012. "It is absolutely safe now," said Dominion spokeswoman Diane Leopold, who added that the company had no plans to sell the plant. Leopold declined to say how much Dominion spent to repair the plant after last year's accident.
But even with Dominion's public declarations about keeping the plant open, environmental advocates are pushing harder than ever to have the plant closed.
For more than a decade, the environmental group HealthLink fought successfully to have the plant reduce its emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Read more... | 
