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

Page 81 1 Q. No. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going 2 north. 3 A. Oh, this right here? 4 Q. Yes. 5 A. The reason for that is because it's in the 6 middle of the station. Although there's no 7 equipment, this whole area is part of the station 8 and this will be utilized for, you know, temporary 9 parking if needed. Additionally, this area is all 10 going to be gravel. And so the vegetation 11 requirements from PSE&G's standard veg management 12 doesn't allow trees to be located inside the 13 station. 14 Q. Station proper? 15 A. Station proper, I guess, yes. 16 Q. How many feet from the equipment that's 17 being installed is that tree? 18 A. This is going to be an estimate. What's 19 the scale on this? Thirty scale. So from the 20 switchgear, it's roughly 80 feet. 21 Q. So how is that tree interfering with the 22 switchgear? 23 A. It's not. It's because we're regrading 24 this pad and filling this area. And so not only 25 would the tree be in the way, but this whole area is

Page 82 1 the station. And so it's -- 2 Q. What do you mean, "it is the station"? 3 A. It's part of -- 4 Q. It's empty space, right? 5 A. No. There will be gravel there and it's 6 within the station. It will be utilized for 7 equipment laydown during construction. It will be 8 utilized for maintenance reasons if they ever had to 9 do any work either by this transformer or by the 10 switchgear. 11 I mean, I can't predict everything, but, 12 in general, it is part of the station. It is within 13 the station loop of the dry path. There's grounding 14 grid put everywhere underground. There's existing 15 utilities. So it's not an ideal location for the 16 tree within the station as part of these 17 improvements. 18 Q. Do you know the diameter of that tree? 19 A. It says 42 inch. 20 Q. All right. Do you know where that stands 21 in terms of the size of Little-Leaf Linden trees? 22 A. I do not. 23 Q. Are you aware of the obligation of someone 24 performing construction to preserve trees to the 25 greatest extent possible?

Page 83 1 A. I mean, I'm aware of preserving trees 2 where you can, yes. 3 Q. And has PSE&G preserved this tree to the 4 greatest extent possible? 5 A. It's not a preservable tree. And that's 6 an opinion, not a direct answer. 7 Q. All right. So that is your opinion? 8 A. I didn't say that. 9 Q. So whose opinion is it? 10 A. I don't know. I don't understand. How is 11 that a question? 12 MS. PORTER: So, Mr. Malanga, in terms of 13 the actual decision with regard to tree removal, you 14 heard from the witness that there's specific 15 requirements in connection with trees located within 16 the workable area of the station yard. And so you 17 heard in further detail what constitutes the station 18 yard and PSE&G's policy specifically related to that 19 as it relates to tree removal. 20 Beyond that our tree expert, who is our 21 landscape architect, can further advise in terms of 22 what went into the decision. But ultimately you've 23 heard from the civil engineer to the extent of their 24 ability as to why that tree is being removed, 25 because it cannot be located in the station yard.

Page 84 1 And that area is being utilized for a variety of 2 purposes to further serve the future needs in 3 connection with not only this equipment, but the 4 surrounding existing equipment. 5 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. All 6 right. So, Mr. Malanga, I'll give you another two 7 minutes. I -- 8 MR. MALANGA: Well, Mr. Schwarzbaum, I 9 have a lot more. 10 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. Well, 11 you get two minutes and then -- 12 MR. MALANGA: I'm sorry -- 13 (Unintelligible cross talk; reporter 14 requests one speaker.) 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Malanga, 16 you'll take it up on appeal. 17 Okay. Mr. Scott -- 18 MR. MALANGA: I can't -- 19 Mr. Malanga, you have a choice. You want 20 two minutes or I cut you off now? 21 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, this is 22 Mr. Scott speaking. I move that Mr. Malanga be 23 given more time. I do believe -- 24 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. But we 25 have rules. The rules are --

Page 85 1 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: I understand. I. 2 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So we -- 3 (Unintelligible cross talk; reporter 4 requests one speaker.) 5 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: All right. What I 6 want to say is I believe he was promoted to the 7 panel for a reason. And as there are already no 8 more public speakers, we've gone through that, I 9 don't believe he's holding anyone up. So I would 10 move that he be given additional time. 11 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Let's -- let's 12 take it -- Mr. Malanga, would you like to continue? 13 Yes or no. 14 MEETING MODERATOR: I want to continue, 15 but I need more time because -- 16 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. 17 MR. MALANGA: -- the witness. 18 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. We 19 have -- let's see how -- if you want to take two 20 minutes or we can sit here -- Mr. Malanga, what we 21 can do is we can sit and debate whether you get the 22 two minutes or not, whatever you wish. My 23 suggestion is ask questions in the next two minutes, 24 let's see who else is up, and then we'll make a 25 decision. Okay? Your decision which way you would

Page 86 1 like to go. 2 MR. MALANGA: Of course I'm going to ask 3 the questions, but if you -- 4 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So proceed. 5 MR. MALANGA: -- preclude my further 6 questioning -- 7 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Proceed. 8 Proceed. 9 BY MR. MALANGA: 10 Q. Mr. Blake, tree number 4102, do you see 11 where that's located? It is located to the 12 southeast of 4078. 13 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Blake, can 14 you put up the diagram? 15 MEETING MODERATOR: I'm sorry. I took 16 that down. 17 THE WITNESS: Am I not sharing my screen 18 anymore? 19 MEETING MODERATOR: No, I took it down. 20 I'm sorry. 21 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry. I didn't realize 22 that. My apologies. 23 A. Okay. You said it's just -- what was the 24 number again? 25 Q. 40 -- 4102. It's located to the southeast

Page 87 1 of the -- 2 A. This one right here? 3 Q. Yes. 4 A. That's right in the center of a drive 5 path. 6 Q. Okay. Is that a new drive path or an 7 existing one? 8 A. That is a new drive path. 9 Q. And what is the purpose of that drive 10 path? 11 A. Access to the station. 12 Q. So you're saying you need access to the 13 station all the way around the devices that are 14 being installed? Is that what you're saying? 15 A. Correct. You have to provide multiple 16 access points to get equipment in and out. You also 17 have to provide reliable means to replace equipment 18 if something were to happen. 19 Q. And how often is access required? 20 A. It's not like a regular -- I mean, they 21 access the site every week for routine checkups and 22 regular maintenance. There's no exact number on 23 equipment replacement. It's not something that I'm 24 aware of. 25 Q. How do you know that they access the site

Page 88 1 every week? 2 A. Because the client has told me that. 3 MS. PORTER: Mr. Briones testified to 4 that, specifically in terms of the number of trips 5 per week. 6 Q. Now, the report -- 7 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Malanga, 8 are you questioning -- I have to ask this question. 9 Are you -- are you an expert in substations? 10 MR. MALANGA: I'm going to refer to the 11 report submitted by PSE&G, Mr. Schwarzbaum. 12 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Got you. 13 BY MR. MALANGA: 14 Q. In PSE&G's report it refers to maintenance 15 vehicles biweekly. 16 A. That's pretty -- 17 MS. PORTER: I believe it's once or 18 twice on a biweekly basis which could be once per 19 week. 20 MR. MALANGA: Biweekly means every two 21 weeks. 22 MS. PORTER: Correct. But if it says more 23 than once, it could be ultimately once per week 24 depending upon the inspection schedule. And as you 25 just heard in the testimony, that does not include

Page 89 1 additional maintenance in connection with repairs or 2 replacement. 3 BY MR. MALANGA: 4 Q. What is the principal access of this site? 5 A. It will be this new access drive off of 6 Mount Pleasant. 7 Q. So you referred to the other driveway as 8 the main access drive. So that's no longer going to 9 be the main access drive? 10 A. There's three main access drives. It 11 depends which part of the station you're trying to 12 get to. There's three different voltage classes. 13 Q. All right. "Main" seems to mean the one 14 that's going to be used the most. Which -- 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Thirty seconds. 16 Q. -- one will be used the most? 17 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Thirty seconds. 18 A. Mr. Malanga, I cannot answer that question 19 because I am not a PSE&G employee nor do I do 20 maintenance on these substations. I would say that 21 all three access drives will be utilized. They're 22 currently utilized and if this site is constructed, 23 all three will still be utilized. 24 Q. Who decided where the -- 25 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. Hold up.

Page 90 1 Your time is up. Are there any other questions -- 2 any other people -- 3 MR. MALANGA: I'd like for the record to 4 indicate that Mr. Schwarzbaum is precluding me from 5 continuing with my case. 6 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: I would like to 7 state for the record that we have -- we give three 8 minutes and I've given you seven minutes of your 9 questioning. So you can proceed. Okay. 10 MR. FISHER: There's also a difference 11 between proceeding with your case and 12 cross-examination. You'll have essentially 13 unlimited time to proceed with your objector's 14 case. 15 MS. PORTER: Correct. 16 MEETING MODERATOR: Okay. So we do have 17 other members of the public that are ready to speak. 18 Joyce, please state your name and address 19 for the record. 20 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Pardon? 21 MEETING MODERATOR: I'm bringing in Joyce 22 Rudin. 23 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Go ahead. 24 MS. RUDIN: Good evening. This is Joyce 25 Rudin. I would like to -- if you could pull us up a