The Beaver Wood Energy plant in Livermore Falls, Maine
Editor’s note: Susan Bush is a freelance reporter who lives in Pownal.
By Susan Bush
POWNAL — Officials of a nearby Massachusetts community are taking aim at proposed biomass facility here.
The Williamstown Selectmen voted to send letters to state officials spelling out their concerns after they heard from local residents who oppose the project.
Williams College, located in the town center of Williamstown, Mass., is located about 10 miles from Green Mountain Energy Park, the site of the proposed biomass plant.
Members of the Concerned Citizens of Williamstown, including regional botanist Pamela Weatherbee, resident Charles Stevenson and Williams College associate professor Layla Ali, voiced their opposition to the project Tuesday night during a Williamstown Selectmen’s meeting.
Ronald Turbin, chairman of the Williamstown Selectmen, said he personally objects to the project. The town is drafting a letter to express its opposition to the plant, he said, “until all issues on its effect on air quality, water usage, impact on road traffic and usage, etc. are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.”
Beaver Wood LLC plans to erect a $250 million biomass and wood pellet production site at the Route 7 Green Mountain Energy Park, formerly the Green Mountain Race Track. The facility would produce about 29 megawatts of base load power. Its operating efficiency would be boosted to about 40 percent because excess heat generated by the wood-burning facility would be harnessed to dry wood pellets, project officials have said.
Project opponents say that air, water and noise pollution issues, as well as declining property values, overshadow the economic benefits. Concerned Citizens of Pownal members are calling for the project to be abandoned.
Report shows plant would create 45 jobs
On Wednesday, Beaver Wood officials released a report that estimated the plant would provide millions of dollars in economic benefits. The report is part of the firm’s application for a Vermont Public Service Board Certificate of Public Good.
The corporation is expected to apply for the certificate on Oct. 25. The PSB will hold public hearings prior to granting or denying the certificate.
The Vermont-based Northern Economic Consulting Inc. firm prepared the economic report. According to the analysis written by Richard Heaps, 45 jobs will be created at the biomass/pellet facilities. The annual payroll is expected to be $3.4 million, with an additional $9.9 million expected to go to offsite contractors, the report states.
Local loggers would receive about $18.2 million in payments for waste wood burned at the facility, according to the report.
Construction of the plant is expected to generate more than 770 jobs within Bennington and a total 960 jobs statewide, according to the report. The proposal calls for construction to begin in 2012 and conclude during 2013. The facilities are expected to begin production during 2014.
“Operation of the [two facilities] will lead to the creation of over 120 jobs in Bennington County and a total of more than 140 jobs in all of Vermont from 2014 forward,” the report states. “Payrolls across the state will increase by over $8 million annually with the operation of the Beaver Wood facility.”
The report focuses on Pownal; Beaver Wood is proposing a similar facility in Fair Haven.
The town of Pownal would receive more than $500,000 in property tax revenues, and the enterprise would place little demand on municipal services, the report states.
Residential taxpayers will likely notice a property tax decrease, should the proposal move forward, according to Pownal Selectman Nelson Brownell. “What it looks like to us is a drop of around $190, $200 in taxes per $100,000 in home value, according to the information provided,” Brownell said.
The report cites a significantly higher rate of job loss for the town and the county when compared with the statewide average. Heaps wrote that Pownal lost 47 jobs, or 19.5 percent of its positions from 2000 to 2009. Bennington County lost 2,149 jobs, or 11.2 percent of its total. Statewide employment fell 1.4 percent, or by 4,089 jobs, during the same period. The report cited the Vermont Department of Labor as the source of its information.
The jobs offered by the proposed Beaver Wood facilities are “sorely needed” in the region, according to the report.
Tourism impacts are predicted to be few, if any, the report states, in large part because the town isn’t a tourist destination. According to U.S. Census Bureau information, the town hosts one motel and three food service businesses.
“The extensive grounds will allow the facility to be hidden from tourists traveling Route 7, except for the estimated 180 to 230 foot stack,” Heaps writes. “Even the largest structure of [the two proposed facilities] is smaller than the enclosed grandstand building currently on the property.”
Property value impacts are estimated to be minimal, according to the report. Few studies exist about impacts caused by projects producing less than 325 megawatts of power, the report concedes. Report investigators cited a 2008 report by Lucas W. Davis of the University of Michigan, which examined the impacts of power plants producing more than 100 megawatts of power on property values within a two-mile facility radius.
“[Davis] found housing property values near smaller [less than 325 megawatt], as opposed to larger power plants fell on the order of just 1.2 %,” the report said. “Given that the Beaver Wood plant is rated at just 29.5 [megawatts], this suggests the impact on nearby housing values is likely less than 1 percent.”
State Rep. William Botzow, D-Pownal, said the report appears to ignore the fact that many Pownal residents commute to work to Bennington, Williamstown, Mass., and other nearby towns. The largest regional employers are Williams College, Southwest Vermont Medical Center, in Bennington, the North Adams Regional Hospital and the Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass.
In an interview, Botzow reiterated his belief that all issues should be thoroughly examined prior to facility construction.
“You always ask yourself who wrote the report and what the purpose is,” Botzow said. “We have big job issues, as does the state and the nation.”
Brownell said the town plan calls for development of power sources that combat dependence on foreign oil, and wood is named as one of those sources.
“Overall, I think this is good for Pownal,” Brownell said. “I know others don’t think so, but one business attracts another. This is like creating an industrial park, and it will decrease taxes.”
Beaver Wood tests Hoosic River
Tom Emero, the project manager Beaver Wood, wrote an e-mail that recent testing conducted on the Hoosic River and an onsite well revealed no PCBs, cadmium, or other potentially harmful substances. The firm plans to use water from the river and the well for biomass facility operations.
Concerned Citizens of Pownal have questioned the environmental impacts of using water from the river to cool the power-generating facility.
“The issue was raised as to whether there were PCBs in the river and whether our use of the river water as process water would result in these PCBs being released into the air,” Emero said.
Tests done prior to the September public meeting showed no PCBs, he said, but residents questioned if the river was tested during a high water period when the waters were “stirred up.”
“We advised that some of the previously identified test were conducted during these high water times,” Emero said. “In order to confirm our previous test results we recently retested the water after some heavy fall rains and no PCBs were detected in the Hoosic River.”
The corporation also tested for cadmium. A Pownal tannery once operated upriver from the energy park and was shut down more than 20 years ago. The tannery was designated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site during the late 1990s. The EPA cleaned up the site.
“Cadmium also was not detected,” Emero said. “In regards to the well, we had already tested for all these substances and many others, due to the potable water testing requirements, and none were detected there either. The well water is also free of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Synthetic Organic Compounds (SOCs), PCB’s, heavy metals, and meets all drinking water requirements.”
Brownell said the additional testing demonstrates the company’s commitment to answering citizen concerns.
“It’s good to see that [Beaver Wood officials] are listening to what people are saying and did the additional tests,” he said in an interview.
The Vanassee, Hangen, and Brustlin Inc. environmental services firm conducted the tests. VHB is a national company with offices in several states, including Vermont.
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