Agency wants more details on woodchips

The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets wants to know more about the woodchips that would fire the proposed 35-megawatt electric plant in North Springfield.

Published July 12, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Agency wants more details on woodchips By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer NORTH SPRINGFIELD — The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets wants to know more about the woodchips that would fire the proposed 35-megawatt electric plant in North Springfield. In a series of questions submitted to the Public Service Board, the state agriculture agency said it was concerned about the import of invasive bugs on the woodchips. The three insects of highest concern is the Asian long-horned beetle, the hemlock wooly adelgid and the emerald ash borer, which if found in Vermont, could have a devastating effect on the state’s forest. The agency said the 50-mile radius or 60-minute drive time, proposed by the developers of the North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project includes a portion of Massachusetts, and it noted that there are plant and wood quarantines in that state for such serious bugs as the Asian long-horned beetle, as well as the hemlock wooly adelgid. Winstanley Enterprises LLC, which owns the former Fellows Corp., industrial plant in North Springfield, and Weston Solutions of Pennsylvania, have proposed to build the $120 million plant. It is seeking a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board. Windham County, which is immediately south of Windsor County in southeastern Vermont, already has a quarantine involving wood or wood products that could harbor the hemlock wooly adelgid. That bug was first discovered in Vermont in Rockingham about five years ago, and since that time has been found in Brattleboro and surrounding communities. The state agriculture agency said several counties in New Hampshire are also subject to a quarantine because of the hemlock wooly adelgid. The agriculture agency also raised questions about whether “roundwood” would be stockpiled at the North Springfield plant site, asking for a promise from the developers that it wouldn’t. “Confirm that the proposed facility will not store roundwood on site in North Springfield,” the agency’s questions or “interrogatories” said. Roundwood, which are logs, can be stored for long periods of time before being used in a biomass plant, and beyond allowed holding dates for emerald ash borer host material, another invasive insect that is of concern to the state. The state is concerned the roundwood would be stored someplace else, and then chipped before being sold to North Springfield Sustainable Energy. The state noted that woodchips start to ferment and degrade if stockpiled for more than 30 to 45 days. The agency said that filings from the developer noted that not many local loggers currently own chipping equipment and would need to be “built with some level of assistance.” The agency said that because of the lack of net available — low-grade wood in Windsor County in particular — the developers will be forced to go further afield to find adequate woodchip supplies. The state pointed to testimony from Eric Kingsley, an expert working for the North Springfield Sustained Energy Project, about the lack of low-quality wood to produce the chips. Kingsley, the state noted, in his pre-filed testimony said “surprisingly little NALG wood remains in Windsor County given the large forested land area.” The state also questioned the claim by Richard Heaps, an economist working for the project, that the project would purchase $15 million annually in woodchips and that two-thirds would come from Vermont sources.