Dunkirk and northern Chautauqua County residents may have recently seen in the Buffalo media that NRG Energy Inc. has reached a deal to sell its Tonawanda facility. In a report earlier this week in The Buffalo News, the buyer of the site was identified as WarrenBrook Redevelopment, which has experience in reviving brownfields.

“This is an important step in the sales process,” NRG Energy said in the News. “Closing is contingent upon satisfactory due diligence and other matters.”

That step is just as important to the city, which has a larger albatross on its hands on the shores of Lake Erie that has not been running for almost five years. NRG, in OBSERVER articles in recent years, has said it is open to selling the site here as well.

It’s a great location, but it comes with a lot of baggage.