Wood chip developer answers criticism

The developers of the proposed North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project, a 37-megawatt biomass plant, took issue with statements by a group critical of biomass plants that the project was “neither clean nor green.”
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120925/NEWS02/709259914

Published September 25, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Wood chip developer answers criticism By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer NORTH SPRINGFIELD — The developers of the proposed North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project, a 37-megawatt biomass plant, took issue with statements by a group critical of biomass plants that the project was “neither clean nor green.” Dan Ingold, senior technical manager for Weston Solutions Inc., one of the two partners behind the woodchip plant along with Winstanley Enterprises, said the project was not dirtier than the Mount Tom coal-fired plant in Holyoke, Mass., nor would it have an adverse effect on the state’s forests. “That is so untrue,” said Ingold, taking issue with a report by Mary Booth, director of the Partnership for Policy Integrity, a Massachusetts-based group that is critical of biomass plants. Ingold said Booth’s filing with state regulators was “just plain dishonest.” “I am disappointed that NoSAG has embraced and endorsed a Massachusetts anti-biomass group that has not done their homework, bases their comments in half-truths and spouts dishonest sound bites,” Ingold said during a recent interview. Ingold said that NoSAG, the local group of people concerned about the safety and health effects of the plant, had recently hired a Montpelier attorney, Gerry Tarrant, and that Tarrant had filed the report by Booth and the Partnership for Policy Integrity with the Public Service Board. Steve Snook, an environmental engineer with the Agency of Natural Resources, said the state was looking into emissions from the proposed North Springfield plant and looking at the emissions from the Mount Tom coal-fired plant. Snook said that it was hard to make a quick comparison, but he said that a wood-fired plant, using green chips, would have relatively high carbon dioxide emissions. On paper, Snook said, the North Springfield plant’s draft air pollution permit would have slightly lower emissions than the Mount Tom plant’s permit. But he said emissions routinely are below their permit limits. Snook said the Mount Tom plant was much bigger than the North Springfield project at 147 megawatts and had undergone serious pollution upgrades in 2009. In an effort to keep the woodchips drier, Ingold said, the project is proposing to build four sheds, covering more than an acre. Each shed would contain a week’s worth of fuel, he said. The sheds will be positioned to take advantage of prevailing winds, he said. In an analysis provided by Ingold comparing the Mount Tom plant with North Springfield, on virtually all emissions besides carbon dioxide, North Springfield was less per megawatt hour than Mount Tom. Snook said the state was still in the process of evaluating the two plants. There are no coal-fired power plants in Vermont, he said. Booth claimed, in filings with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, that the North Springfield biomass project was “hanging by a thread” because it was dependent on federal tax credits and ratepayer subsidized alternative energy projects. Ingold said that was categorically untrue, and that other energy industries receive very heavy taxpayer subsidies, including the coal, oil and nuclear industries, while alternative energy, such as biomass, receives only a small amount of federal help. Ingold said Vermont’s forest and the surrounding area would not be adversely affected by the demand for green woodchips. Ingold said that one-third of Vermont was in the state’s current use tax program, and of that, 1.6 million acres was forestland. And the current use program requires regular forestry harvest, he said. The state’s two wood-fired power plants, the McNeil plant in Burlington and a similar plant in Ryegate, have not had a negative effect on the availability and price of firewood. The proposed North Springfield plant would buy $14 million worth of wood chips a year, he said, at about $30 a ton, far below the cost of a cord of firewood. He said 2 tons of wood typically make up a cord of firewood. And Ingold said that Booth’s claim that the height of the proposed smoke stack at 140 feet was well below established clean air standards. The stack’s height is affected by the nearby Hartness State Airport, and the weather data collected at the airport has helped the project “reliable model the emission effects,” Ingold said. Snook said it would likely be several months before a final air quality permit is issued for the North Springfield plant. The state could issue a permit with so many changes it would be considered a new permit and trigger another round of reviews.