Hearing to focus on biomass plant

Impacts from invasive bugs, depletion of groundwater, air pollution and forest health are some of the concerns that will be aired in upcoming hearings on the proposed 25 to 35 megawatt woodchip-fired power plant in North Springfield.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120201/NEWS02/702019899

Published February 1, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
Hearing to focus on biomass plant

By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer

MONTPELIER — Impacts from invasive bugs, depletion of groundwater, air pollution and forest health are some of the concerns that will be aired in upcoming hearings on the proposed 25 to 35 megawatt woodchip-fired power plant in North Springfield.

The first step in the state approval process unfolded Tuesday in Montpelier, before a hearing officer for the Public Service Board, which will review the proposed project under the state’s certificate of public good process.

Hearing Officer Edward McNamara said a site visit and a public hearing for the project would be held Feb. 28 in Springfield, with formal technical hearings held later.

McNamara urged concerned residents or organizations to file for intervenor status as soon as possible and to get educated about the process for reviewing the joint project by Winstanley Enterprises LLC and Weston Solutions Inc.

Winstanley and Weston Solutions of Concord, N.H., want to build the woodchip plant on a flat 22-acre field next to the former Fellows Corp. building, which is now owned by Winstanley and has been turned into a business incubator building.

The power plant would be built in a field immediately adjacent to the Winstanley building, and would also produce steam for heating at companies in the North Springfield Industrial Park.

Attending the session were three residents of North Springfield, who said they were a part of a group of North Springfield residents concerned about the size of the project.

Attending the meeting were representatives from organizations or state agencies such as the Agency of Agriculture and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Diane Zamos, staff attorney for the Agency of Agriculture, said the woodchip plant was not on prime agriculture soils, but that the agency was concerned about invasive insects coming to Vermont from fuel for the plant.

In particular, she said, the state is worried about two insects that are highly destructive — the wooly hemlock adelgid, which is already in Windham County, and the emerald ash borer, which last year was seen on Vermont’s borders.

“It’s all about bugs,” Zamos said.

Jamey Fidel, general counsel and forest program director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, said his organization was concerned about the impacts on forest health from such a plant, as well as water quality issues.

“It’s the first large-scale biomass plant in 20 years,“ Fidel said. He said that the VNRC had not taken a stand on the North Springfield project as yet.

He said that the two existing woodchip plants had procurement practices that protected rare species and wetlands, among other considerations.

Currently there are two biomass generating stations in the state: the McNeil woodchip plant in Burlington, which started operating in 1984 and produces 50 megawatts, and the Ryegate plant, which started operating in 1992 and generates 22 megawatts. The North Springfield plant would be between 25 to 35 megawatts.

Beaver Wood Energy has proposed a 29 megawatt plant for Fair Haven, and they sent a representative to sit in on the Winstanley hearing.

Robert Kischko, Fredda Kischko and Richard Hunter said the project would have a dramatic effect on their homes on Baker Road. They said they had a meeting with neighbors earlier in the week who were all concerned about the project.

Robert Kischko, an engineer, and his wife, Fredda, said the Winstanley project would use an enormous amount of water — 500 gallons a minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The water would either come from drilled wells on the Winstanley land or from the Springfield municipal system.

Fredda Kischko said after the hearing that either way, the project “would tap into the aquifer, big time” and that many people were worried about the effect on their own wells.

Many people’s first impulse is to support the project because it will bring jobs to Springfield, she said, as well as tax revenue.

But people need to see the long-term effects of the project, she said.

Robert Kischko said he was not opposed to biomass, but that it was a matter of scale. The Winstanley project, whose exact size hasn’t been settled yet, is too big, he said.

The Kischkos and Hunter both said they had a “high level of confidence” in the Public Service Board process to review the proposal and raise important questions.

“We have to use it, too,” Hunter said.

All three said Winstanley’s reputation was good in the community, which may be lulling people into not looking into the details of the project.

Ed McNamara, the PSB hearing officer, set the public site visit and hearing for Feb. 28, with the site visit slated to begin at 1 p.m., and the public hearing slated for 7 p.m. The location will be announced later.