http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120421/OPINION02/704219955/
Published April 21, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
Biomass plant bad for Springfield
Let the facts be seen for what they are.
The real issue around the biomass proposal and the Winstanley developers is not free heat or stoves or even the free candy that the Winstanley group gave to local the fifth graders at a talk this week in the local schools that encouraged the use of biomass and showcased their proposed biomass plant. The real issue is that the Winstanley crew is trying to buy our citizens into accepting their plans with these gifts. How old is that ploy?
It is ironic that Winstanley would offer these incentive programs of free heat to 100 homes next to the plant and free wood stove (and that anyone including Springfield town fathers would buy into this plan) then turn around and fill our air with the very same thing the state creates programs to abate: Lead, asbestos — and don’t eat fish in our lakes due to mercury, but put it in our air in our residential neighborhood for our kids to breath. What is up with that? This does not even include the additional pollution from the trucks in our residential community that will also affect our citizens’ health. Their free efficient wood stoves can not negate the damage this highly polluting plant will cause in our community. The traffic and subsequent upkeep of the roads will be our issue, not theirs.
I beseech every citizen to stand up and say no and to see the facts for what they are. Read Winstanley permit applications. Inform yourself through independent research. You may not live in North Springfield but do realize this polluted air will not stay in North Springfield, and it is every citizen in Springfield proper who will pay to maintain these roads and all for the end result of 30 jobs while chemicals spew into our air daily and we maintain the roads, clean up pollution, and this does not even touch the fact that it is every citizens who pays for the incentives given to these type of projects via state government programs. The affect of this plant would be visibly far-reaching and invisibly far-reaching — right into every citizens own pocketbook.
MAGGIE KELLY
North Springfield
Well said, Ms. Kelly! Makes me sick that they are going to the schools to bribe the students. And who the heck, at the school, is letting these people in? Did they invite someone from the American Lung Association to talk about the other side of the picture? If you can tell me what school Winstanley went to, I will definitely make a call to that school!
ReplyDeleteActually they did, they invited the nay-sayers to the school first
DeletePure hyperbole! Typical of the naysayers. Facts are immaterial to them. They prefer to wrap themselves in the delusional rants about "ploys" and conspiracies that will harm their little slice of utopia. To them, responsible economic progress is not to be pursued and they don't care if Springfield has to languish another 3-4 decades in recession/depresssion. They've got theirs and the rest of us be damned.
ReplyDeleteJust listen to yourself for once.
DeleteThe prison was supposed to be the catalyst for the "economic progress" you are espousing. And we all no how that has gone. I don't think 30 new jobs will relieve Springfield of it's problems, or even go very far to improve the current recession. And regarding your claim that Maggie's opinion is pure hyperbole, you she better educate yourself. It is a fact that using biomass as a fuel produces air pollution in the form of carbon monoxide, NOx (nitrogen oxides), VOCs (volatile organic compounds), particulates and other pollutants, in some cases at levels above those from traditional fuel sources such as coal or natural gas. You should try to be less ignorant regarding the heath risks associated with this new biomass proposal.
DeleteLet's put a coal burning plant in N. Springfield instead of a wood burning plant since coal is so clean.
DeleteThere is nothing like the smell of burning wood chips in the morning!
ReplyDeleteYou mean the smell of wood stoves, I.e. rural Vermont. Cause there is no smell from the plant. Due to filters and scrubbers in place.
DeleteThe High School burns woodchips for heat without all this fuss. I guess this just proves the people of north springfield think they are above the rest of us. Winstanley run that heat loop to Springfield I'll gladly sign up for it and as far as I know you have more support for the biomass plant and just a few whiners who will never shut up. They should move to Chester and whine with them about Dollar General which is a great store with great prices. I've lived in this town 56 years and watched it die and it's about time it was brought back to life. Vote YES and support the Biomass plant.
DeleteI agree with Anonymous 7:01. The Biomass plant is a win win project for Springfield that should be getting our support instead of a spamming of articles by the NOSAG group. They take one order of the Public Service Board and turn into three or four negative articles.
DeleteTell me just how is this going to replace 3000 jobs that were lost, when the shops sold out. i have been here for 40 years.
DeleteIs that supposed to be an argument against creating any jobs, the fact that we are no longer a mill town?
DeleteI think he was trying to say: i have been for for 40 years and I have watched things go from bad to worse, but gosh darn it I absolutely refuse to support any thing positive in this town.
DeleteArticle 14th. Immunity for words spoken in legislative debate
DeleteThe freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate, in the Legislature, is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any accusation or prosecution, action or complaint, in any other court or place whatsoever.
Oh, Anonymous, you always make me laugh. I would love to know, specifically, what "economic progress" will be gained by installing the biomass plant.
ReplyDeleteReduction of property taxes and a huge influx of new business. Come out of your hole and think with your brain. Stop being one of the walking dead heads around here think positive grow and prosper not whine and snivel. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
DeleteAgree with Anonymous 11:46, the biomass plant will not only help hold down taxes and create an influx of new business, it will inject money into the local and regional economy by creating a local market for wood that would otherwise go to waste.
DeleteDream on I hope this goes in and then you all will see......O wait I forgot who I was talking to you will never SEE.
DeleteThe Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
DeleteChuse is spelled kinda weird. But otherwise, what a great comment! Keep em coming!
DeleteWhen vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, you wrote that you expected the biomass plant to bring, "Reduction of property taxes and a huge influx of new business." Do you really think the town of Springfield would ever, ever reduce your property taxes? That will never happen.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, what is this "huge influx of new business" to which you refer? The plant will ultimately employ about 25 people, most of whom will be from out of state (as has proved to be the case at most other biomass plants in New England). Do you really think those 25 people are going to pump so much money into Springfield's economy that it will inspire a huge influx of new business?
Oh...maybe you are referring to all the local workers who will be building the new $2 million bridge in North Springfield. OH, but WAIT! That work was contracted out to a company from Maine.
Do you know how valuable free heating and cooling is to a business? The thermal loop that will be created through this project will provide very low cost heating and cooling for any business located in a very empty industrial park. That will make that site very attractive to businesses, which in turn will create tax revenue. Now, maybe you are ok with paying the tax bill you are currently paying, but I sure would like to share that burden with businesses.
DeleteDo you think it was a coincidence that the Ben and Jerry's plant was purchased after this project was announced?
Two businesses are waiting for the thermal loop and they have expressed interest in building in the "industrial park". Notice industry in a park that was zoned for it. Also. 2 million in revenue may not reduce taxes. But sure could put a dent in road repair without tax rates needing to be increased to pay for it.
DeleteRoad repairs? If you think the roads are in need of repair now...just wait until 5-12 tractor trailers loaded PER HOUR/5 days per week...10 hours a day move across them....how far do you think taxes will go to keep them in repair for the next 50 years? And don't forget how many property values will fall (thus taxes lowered) due to placement of this oversized power plant...why does N. Springfield need to support 30-35,000 people with power...and just a few jobs to benefit? This is a hugh money maker for the developer...overall this will not benefit our communities....please get all the facts, don't just rely on the project spokespeople...they are here to sell you this monster..anyway they can! The developer DOES NOT LIVE HERE! They stand to gain everything and lose nothing. Whereas property owners, citizens of this area and tourists to Vermont will lose so much!Remember.. Vermont stands for Green Mountains! NOT Smoke stacks, pollution, leveled forests, truck traffic on village streets,and hugh industry in our villages! Please take time to look at the entire picture...Springfield has turned away many good businesses over the years...why would they even give this one a minutes thought?
DeleteDoes anybody know what the efficiency of the biomass plant would be? I have heard it is 20%, and that from an engineer. If that's the case and businesses are waiting to get on the thermal loop, they would find it cheaper to go to an in-house wood gasification boiler, which is two and a half to four times more efficient.
ReplyDeleteIf we really want to boost employment in the energy sector, maybe we should be looking at two German towns, Schongau and Feldheim, which now own their own grids. Feldheim is noted for its strong emphasis on wind; Schongau uses a mix, including in-home biomass (!). Both of them, like Ludlow, own the whole thing. Ludlow recently got praise from a local CVPS tech, who likes how they run it-- low cost to the residents and a good eye for maintaining the system.
The efficiency for the biomass project- just the electric is 28%, and for the heating side is another 10% to 20% depending on how many businesses sign up. So efficiency is anywhere from 38% to 48% for all BTU's.
ReplyDeleteBut remember that a BTU of electricity is much higher value than a BTU of thermal- you can run computers, MRI's and phones on electricity- but you would be hard pressed to run them on hot water.
The desperation that is evident in the pro biomass comments is sad. Many of the same people thought the prison was going to be a great gift to the town, and they badmouthed anyone who raised concerns about it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many pro biomass folks have actually taken the time to objectively educate themselves. Have you visited existing biomass plants? For the North Springfield plant the main issue for me is pollution. All the information is in Winstanley's own report on the amounts of pollutants that will be emitted. They had to get 4 or 5 special permits allowing higher than accepted emissions of certain substances. It is far from clean. This points to the biggest flaw with this plan: location.
The plant is to be located in a hollow. The stack height was lowered because of the airport. This means that the emissions will be coming straight at the hills downwind from the plant. This includes my neighborhood first, then the town of Springffield. The worst and heaviest of the pollutants will logically settle as they encounter the hillsides. The study that was done on the McNeil plant in Burlington looked at lessons learned. One of the biggesat lessons citewd is that biomass plants should not be put in residential areas. One of the complaintswas indeed odor.
Winstanley is now trying to buy people off. Who wouldn't want free heat, or a new wood stove? To think that exchanging a few wood stoves in the area with more efficient ones will affect the overall air qualit seems far fetched at best. The experts on Winstanley's team made a big deal about how dirty some wood stoves are. What they don't say is that wood stoves don't burn 24/7 like
the plant would. Similarly in terms of biomass at schools, they are smaller scale and likely more efficient. I don't know whether they burn all year.
Is it really okay to let greed blind otherwise well meaning people to the fact that people living close to the plant will be being slowly poisoned, lose their property values, and their quality of life?
The odor you mention was not from the stack but from unused wood chips decaying. This will not be the case in n. Springfield. Also the mcneil plant produces .09 pounds of particulate for every 1 million btu's produced. Well under the allowed .19 pounds allowed by the state.
DeleteIf you don't want this plant in the industrial park which happens to be in your neighborhood then pack your stuff and bail the hell out of Springfield move to Chester and whine about Dollar General. Your house will sell in a heartbeat because of the Biomass thousands would be happy to have it and Chester would be happy to have you. Bye-Bye.
ReplyDeleteit is not just a North Springfield problem. It is a Springfield, Chester and even state problem. Look at the number of Biomass plants in the North East--couple that with the proposal of many more and we have doomed our self to chronic illness--at least until everyone sees the health effects of this. and then Europe can sue us like VT sued the midwest for smoke stack emissions. How ironic is that?
Delete