http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120229/NEWS02/704139955
Published February 29, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
Dana Smith, the designer for the biomass plant, describes the plant with his hand on a blueprint during a site visit on Tuesday.
Photo: Vyto Starinskas / Staff Photo
Residents press concerns about woodchip plant
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
NORTH SPRINGFIELD — Residents voiced elemental concerns Tuesday night about the impact of the proposed 35 megawatt wood-fired power plant, saying it would affect water, air, aesthetics and traffic.
At a public hearing at Springfield High School, more than 250 people packed the cafeteria to listen and tell staff from the Public Service Board that the wood chip plant was not “green energy.”
Concerns about the massive amount of water the plant would use seemed to top the concerns of most residents: The wood chip plant would use 500 gallons a minute, and get most of the water either from the town or from new private wells.
Jean Willard, whose father farmed the land proposed for the wood chip plant more than 50 years ago, said that either way, Springfield’s water supply would be under a great strain from the Winstanley Enterprises and Weston Solutions joint project.
If the water comes from the town, or from private wells drilled in the North Springfield aquifer, it would have a tremendous impact, she said.
Currently, the entire town uses about 800,000 gallons a day; the wood-fired power plant would use between 500,000 to 750,000 gallons a day.
“Is it in the public interest? Is it a wise use of water?” Willard asked, one of dozens of residents wearing stickers that said “No Stacks.”
Judy Jones of North Springfield, who lives at the intersection of County Road and Main Street, said that truck traffic from the plant would mean a large tractor trailer every 2 1/2 minutes past her home.
Roads are already too narrow to handle existing truck traffic, Jones said, to sustained applause.
Rep. Cynthia Martin, D-North Springfield, said not enough concern was being paid to the aesthetics of the plant, which would be 10 stories tall, the largest building in Springfield.
Martin urged the developers to build a plant that would “not be an ever-present eyesore,” and she said statements by Winstanley consultants that the landscape was “already compromised” was just plain wrong.
The plant, which would cost about $100 million to build, would employ about 600 people during construction, and provide about 30 full-time jobs during operation, and several dozen more from forestry workers. It is also proposing a thermal loop around the industrial park, providing low-cost heat to industrial customers.
The plant would burn 600 cords of wood daily, according to Chad Morgan of Winstanley. That wood, which would come from a 30- to 50-mile radius, would be chipped off-site, according to H. Dana Smith of Waldron Engineering and Construction of Roanoke, Va., the firm that is designing the plant.
Winstanley owns the 215-acre parcel where the plant would be located, it is adjacent to its 26 Precision Drive, the former Fellows Corp., headquarters, which Winstanley has refurbished to house three industrial firms several years ago.
During a site visit Tuesday afternoon, conditions were too windy for the giant red balloons to be floated to mark the height of the proposed 140-foot stack from the power plant, which some residents claim would be an ugly intrusion into their neighborhood.
While proposed for industrial land, the park is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, and many residents said the plant and the stack would add air pollution, noise and heavy truck traffic.
Access to the industrial park is through several residential neighborhoods.
Smith outlined the layout of the project to the PSB staff. The plant would be built on a flat field immediately adjacent to the former Fellows building. The 22-acre field is part of the former Follett Farm, said longtime resident Donald Gurney of North Springfield, whose firm owns an active gravel pit immediately adjacent to the proposed power plant.
Gurney said he fully supported the project, even though it was close to his home as well.
“It would be good for Springfield,” Gurney said.
Adam Winstanley told PSB hearing officer Ed McNamara that a key asset of the site is a high-voltage substation owned by Central Vermont Public Service, which brought in power to the former machine tool manufacturer. Winstanley said building a new substation would have cost between $5 million and $6 million, but refurbishing the existing one would only cost about $700,000.
Winstanley said that the plant’s water — it needs about 500 gallons of water a minute — would come from the eight-acre roof of the Fellows plant, it’s own wells, and the town of Springfield.
Winstanley said he plans on buying the town’s now mothballed Davidson Hill water storage tank, and storing water there during off-peak times.
The actual mix of town/private water is still being determined, Winstanley said.
McNamara, who was accompanied by more than a dozen state environmental officials and lawyers, repeatedly asked residents attending the site visit to focus their questions on the site itself.
Smith said that the wood ashes from the plant would likely be used for agricultural purposes, since wood ashes are a substitute for lime.
Smith, a former on-site engineer for the McNeil wood-fired plant in Burlington, said the Fellows site was “a nice site” for a power plant.
It has a good driveway, good drainage, it’s flat, and it’s far away from neighbors, Smith said.
“It’s a beautiful site for what we’re doing,” Smith said.
All of the choices... Hmmmm, which ones do I want? Ahhh. Yes.
ReplyDeleteHow about THOSE tomatoes !!!