9 12 24 West Orange BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG Full size Transcript

Page 101 1 hands raised at this time. 2 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Malanga, 3 would you like -- I will give you another three 4 minutes if you wish. 5 MR. MALANGA: Yes. Thank you, 6 Mr. Schwarzbaum. 7 CONTINUED EXAMINATION 8 BY MR. MALANGA: 9 Q. Now, let's talk about the bioretention 10 basins for a minute. You stated earlier in your 11 testimony that they are only there to treat 12 quantities, correct? 13 A. Yeah. I mean, the bioretention basins 14 handle quantity and quality. They are addressing 15 both of those. We weren't required to provide 16 quality. 17 Q. Exactly. So you don't have to address 18 quality. 19 So in terms of the underground storage 20 tanks, underground storage tanks do not 21 independently of other devices treat quality. Is 22 that right? 23 A. They can. It depends on how they're 24 set up. But in the State of New Jersey, 25 underground detention basins are not one of the

Page 102 1 preferred BMPs. 2 Q. But they can be used. Am I right? 3 A. With a variance, yes. 4 Q. Can you please explain the drainage flow 5 on the site showing which direction the drainage 6 flows? Because you mentioned a change in the 7 grading in the northeast corner where the contour 8 lines are close together. 9 A. So in the northeast corner, which is on 10 the site plan Sheet 2 of 3, the grading that drains 11 from Prospect Avenue down the hillside and across 12 the pad is what it currently does. All we did was 13 adjust the grading where we could in this area to 14 help it flow a little bit better towards the 15 existing storm inlets. 16 There were some dead spots in here from 17 the original station. And after they tear out the 18 equipment on this north side and remove some of the 19 foundations, they will do some minor regrading in 20 here to help that drainage flow a little better 21 versus ponding on the pad. 22 As you get -- 23 Q. May I stop you there? 24 Did you do any calculations as to whether 25 this change in flow -- this is just pure sheet flow.

Page 103 1 Am I right? 2 A. Correct. 3 Q. Whether this change in flow from east to 4 west can be accommodated by the existing system? 5 A. Yes, because we actually reduced the 6 amount of flow that was going to the existing system 7 and routed some of it to the bioretention so that we 8 would not affect any of the current drainage system 9 in place. 10 Q. And you routed it to the basins by virtue 11 of regrading? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. All right. And can you please continue 14 with regard to the stormwater flows on the site? 15 A. Once you get to the southern portion of 16 the pad, this site -- once you get past the existing 17 foundations, this area is -- there's going to be no 18 change. These foundations and this equipment is 19 staying intact and operational during construction. 20 But south of that this area will drain back towards 21 these various bioretentions. There's smaller 22 drainage areas that drain to each individual 23 basin. And then, once you get about halfway down 24 the switchgear, this portion of the pad starts to 25 shift and drain towards the southern basins.

Page 104 1 Q. Are you bringing in fill in order to 2 accommodate that flow? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. How many cubic yards of fill will be 5 brought in? 6 A. I do not have that calculation in front of 7 me. I don't know it off the top of my head. It's 8 something I'd have to go look up. 9 Q. Can you provide it to the Board at the 10 next hearing? 11 A. Yes. We can provide an estimate. 12 MR. MALANGA: I have no other questions. 13 Thank you, Mr. Blake. 14 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. Any 16 other residents' questions, Megan? 17 MEETING MODERATOR: I'm not seeing any 18 hands. Hang on. I'll check. Yeah, no other 19 members of the public. 20 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Ms. Porter, 21 next witness. 22 MS. PORTER: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Blake. 23 Next, I would like to call our next 24 witness, which is Mr. Jon Copa. 25 MR. COPA: Thank you, all.

Page 105 1 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: And due to -- 2 we normally end the meetings at 11 o'clock, but due 3 to the additional ten minutes, we'll go to 11:10. 4 Go. Proceed. 5 MR. FISHER: If the witness would raise 6 his right hand. 7 J O N A T H A N C O P A, having been 8 duly sworn, was examined and testified as 9 follows: 10 THE WITNESS: I do. 11 MR. FISHER: Okay. You are sworn. 12 DIRECT-EXAMINATION 13 BY MS. PORTER: 14 Q. Mr. Copa, could you please give your 15 full name and spell your last name and provide 16 the company that you work for and its business 17 address? 18 A. Yes. I'm Jonathan Copa, C-O-P-A. I work 19 at Burns & McDonnell located at 8201 Norman Center 20 Drive, Suite 500, in Bloomington, Minnesota 55437. 21 Q. Thank you. 22 And could you specifically state your 23 educational background for the benefit of the 24 Board? 25 A. Yes. Yes. I obtained my bachelor's of

Page 106 1 science in electrical engineering in 2015 from the 2 University of Minnesota Twin Cities. 3 Q. Thank you. 4 And could you please state your 5 professional background? 6 A. Yes. I currently am the substation 7 department manager for Burns & McDonnell's upper 8 midwest region and have over nine years of 9 experience working on transmission and distribution 10 projects ranging from 4 kV to 500 kV facilities. 11 And I am a licensed professional engineer in the 12 State of New Jersey and my license is current. 13 Q. Great. Thank you. 14 And have you previously testified before 15 land use boards? 16 A. I have not. 17 Q. Thank you. 18 But you are fully familiar with the facts 19 of this application? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. And you specifically were involved in the 22 preparation of the plans associated with this 23 application? 24 A. Yes. I specifically oversaw the 25 development of the plans and am the engineer of

Page 107 1 record for the electrical plan drawings. 2 Q. Okay. Thank you. 3 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Any members of 4 the Board have questions in regard to 5 qualifications? 6 Mike, you have any? You're good? 7 Okay. We'll admit Mr. Copa as an expert 8 in electrical engineering. Proceed. 9 THE WITNESS: All right. 10 BY MS. PORTER: 11 Q. Mr. Copa, can you please begin by 12 describing the new construction and layout? 13 A. Yes. So, yes, I will begin by sharing my 14 screen here. I will start out by sharing page 15 number 1 of the M-3 development plans, the civil 16 plans. It is the 230/26 to 4kV outdoor substation 17 key plan dated 4/22/2024. And this was submitted as 18 part of the initial application. 19 So as stated previously by Mr. Briones and 20 Mr. Blake, the existing 26 kV equipment at West 21 Orange will be demolished and replaced with a new 26 22 kV 24-circuit shelter aisle switchgear. The West 23 Orange substation is an existing 230/26 to 4 kV 24 substation. The project will not modify any of the 25 230 or 4 kV equipment. It will only be upgrading

Page 108 1 the existing 26 kV equipment. 2 The 26 kV shelter aisle switchgear will be 3 connected to the existing 230 to 26 kV power 4 transformers via overhead bus. 5 The switchgear unit was placed on-site to 6 allow for a sequence of construction that supports 7 the station while remaining fully in service during 8 the entirety of construction. And while this 9 particular site is not within a flood zone, the new 10 equipment is a new, modern sheltered equipment 11 making it hardened against severe weather. 12 In addition, the 26 kV circuits to the new 13 switchgear will remain as underground circuits. The 14 majority of the new equipment is installed within 15 the switchgear that is approximately 14 feet in 16 height. 17 I will now move forward to page number 2 18 of the same M-3 development plan exhibits. This 19 file is the 26 kV outdoor substation sections, Sheet 20 Number 1 dated 4/22/2024. 21 So as stated, the new switchgear is 22 approximately 14 feet in elevation, and the majority 23 of the new equipment that is connecting the new 24 equipment to our existing equipment is less than 30 25 feet in height.

Page 109 1 The exception to this is the upgrades to 2 the lightning protection system for the site. As 3 part of this, we will be removing two existing 4 70-foot-tall lightening masts and replacing them 5 with six new lightening masts that are the same 70 6 foot in height for a net increase of four lightening 7 masts. 8 The remainder of the lightning protection 9 system is comprised of shorter masts of an 10 approximate height of 45 feet. And this upgrade is 11 to support protecting the critical electrical 12 equipment from lightning strikes. 13 Also within this section, I have provided 14 an elevation view going up to Prospect. This would 15 be Prospect Ave. on this side. As you can see, the 16 station does elevate as it approaches the roadway, 17 thereby giving the appearance a lot of this 18 lightning protection is lower from where the public 19 would be on roadways, et cetera. 20 The next item I'll be discussing is the 21 lighting within the station. So I will move ahead 22 to page 15 of the same M-3 development plans. This 23 drawing is titled -- as it's loading here. 24 So this drawing is the ultimate lighting 25 distribution plan, the outdoor substation lighting

Page 110 1 plan, also dated April 22nd, 2024. This shows the 2 illumination levels of the proposed lighting for the 3 site. So outdoor lighting is provided on the 4 interior of the substation and this is provided to 5 allow substation operators visual indication of the 6 status of the substation before they enter for 7 safety and security concerns. 8 Light fixtures are both mounted on the 9 exterior of the switchgear, and these will be LED 10 type controlled by built-in dusk-to-dawn photocells. 11 There are other light fixtures within the substation 12 that are part of equipment, and these are also to 13 provide general illumination and will be controlled 14 as well by dusk-to-dawn photocells and motion 15 censors with automatic dimming control. 16 There are uplights present at these 17 locations, but these are switch controlled only for 18 use during any emergency nighttime operations within 19 the station to provide additional task lighting as 20 required for the safe operation of station equipment 21 in the event of an emergency during nighttime 22 hours. 23 Lighting is fully designed with full 24 cutoff fixtures and the lighting levels do not spill 25 outside of the property line. And cut sheets for