OPEN LETTER
TO THE HOPKINTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN 2/5/08
Hopkinton
Board of Selectmen
Hopkinton, New
Hampshire 03229
Gentlemen:
On behalf of
the REACH board, we thank you for inviting
representatives of our group to participate
in your discussions with Bio Energy
regarding the future of the West Hopkinton
facility. As you know, the 2,000 members of
REACH have been concerned about the health
and safety of our citizens and community
related to the operation of the West
Hopkinton facility and, in particular, with
Bio Energy’s expressed intent to burn wood
chips derived from construction and
demolition debris (C&D). Now that the
incineration of C&D has been banned by the
State Legislature effective January 1, 2008,
the representatives of Bio Energy have
approached the Town with a proposal to build
a 32 megawatt power facility, nearly
three times that of the present plant.
We were
pleased that William Dell’Orfano, the
President of Bio Energy, is willing to
consider alternative uses for the property,
including an assisted care facility or a
refrigeration warehouse for McLane Trucking,
a corporate member of our community. The
REACH board has voted unanimously to assist
and cooperate with the Board of Selectmen
and the owners of Bio Energy with plans to
develop an alternative use of the West
Hopkinton facility. The Board, however,
also voted unanimously to oppose the
development of any facility at the West
Hopkinton site that emits hazardous air
toxins. This is based on substantial health
and safety concerns that remain about the
operation of such a facility at this
particular location.
I. I.
BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY
The
representatives of Bio Energy estimated that
a 32 megawatt facility would have a value of
approximately 65 to 70 million dollars.
This should result in a potential tax
benefit to the community of approximately
1.3 million dollars. While this may seem
appealing to some at first glance, it should
be noted that, in order to be financially
viable, Bio Energy will be seeking a
“payment in lieu of taxes” (PILOT) agreement
to pay only $300,000 a year in taxes. This
translates into a tax savings of $.07 per
$1,000 evaluation, or a mere $14.00 tax
reduction for a $200,000 residence in
Hopkinton.
Unfortunately,
the negative net financial effect to the
community would be significant. The taxes
in this town are high, particularly high for
those who own land with a view. If the
proposed 32 megawatt facility were to go on
line with its smokestack pumping out visible
plumes of emissions, each of the property
owners with a view will demand a tax
abatement and suffer a significant
reduction in their property values. In
addition, the value of any property in close
proximity to the facility undoubtedly will
be substantially decreased. It is also
expected that the presence and operation of
such a facility would have a negative effect
on the retention of current residents as
well as the attraction of new ones to our
community. The net effect for the town will
be an overall reduction in the tax
base and lower property values. Supporting
the proposal to expand the operations at the
Bio Energy site is short-sighted even based
on a purely financial analysis.
II. II.
HARMFUL EMISSIONS
The question
remains whether such a facility would emit
toxins harmful to the environment and the
10,000 residents who live in a five mile
radius of the proposed facility. This is
particularly concerning because Maple Street
School is only three miles from the facility
and some five other schools are located
within a five mile radius.
Unfortunately,
even if the facility were to employ Best
Available Control Technology (BACT), the
increase to a 32 megawatt facility would
demand larger amounts of combustible
materials. The net effect would be the
emission of substantial greenhouse gases
such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) at levels
comparable to the present facility
(approximately 125 tons per year) when in
operation. While particulate matter would
be less, the emissions would still be
substantial at 33.16 tons per year. We are
particularly concerned about the effects on
community health from the 87 other toxins
emitted into our air that will not be
monitored.
All wood
burning power plants emit approximately 87
hazardous air toxins through the combustion
process. While REACH acknowledges that it
is possible to reduce certain limited
emissions (such as the amount of
particulates, some heavy metals that are
bound to the particulates, volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), NOx and SOx,
given the state of current emission control
technology, the majority of the 87 hazardous
air toxins will flow right out the
smokestack and into Hopkinton’s air and the
environment.
Further, when
REACH and the Selectmen asked Bio Energy to
provide it with the estimated emission
profile for the proposed 32 megawatt
facility, Bio Energy stated that such a
profile would not be available until such
time as the plant is designed and in
operation. At that time, tests of the
emissions coming from the smokestack (stack
tests) could be taken and the emission
profile would finally be known. If the 32
megawatt facility is up and running, there
will be little our community could do to
prevent plant from going on line no matter
what is being emitted from the stack.
Even assuming
that Bio Energy would do everything it could
to reduce the emission 87 hazardous air
toxins that would be generated by the
combustion process and to keep all regulated
emissions within lawful limits, it is
undisputed that the majority of the 87
hazardous air toxins would be emitted into
the air we breathe and our environment.
This can only have a negative impact on the
health of our community. The technology
simply does not exist to make this a healthy
operation. This is of particular concern
given that this site is located in a valley,
in close proximity to residences and
schools, on the banks of the protected and
fragile Contoocook River and in the midst of
a federally-designated natural and
recreational refuge.
III.
TRANSPORTATION INCREASES ON 202 & 9.
Known as
“Death Alley,” the junction of US Route
202&9 located by the Golden Pineapple store
has been the scene of numerous motor vehicle
collisions resulting in fatalities. The
increase to a 32 megawatt facility will
require an overall increase of wood chips
being transported by heavy truck to the
facility. The projected increase will
exacerbate an already unacceptable traffic
problem in the vicinity of the plant. Wood
consumption would increase from 232,000 tons
per year to approximately 360,000 tons per
year resulting in 40-50 truck deliveries per
day. This is a substantial increase over the
30-35 truck deliveries prior to the plant’s
closure several years ago.
IV.
NOISE AND ODOR NUISANCES
No information
has been presented regarding the potential
noise and odor issues presented by the
development of a 32 megawatt facility. As
we know from litigation between Bio Energy
and town residents in the past, noise from
the Bio Energy facility has been a major
problem for many residents in our community.
V.
VIOLATIONS OF ZONING ORDINANCE
In order to
construct a 32 megawatt facility, Bio Energy
will increase:
--- stack size
(from 157’ to as much as 190’);
--- boiler
building height, to a height almost equal to
the present stack height (from 60’ to as
much as 120’);
--- the
overall footprint of the facility; and
---a towering
pile of wood chips to fuel the facility.
All of these
increases are violations of the Hopkinton
Zoning Ordinance, and would, therefore,
require a variance. The Hopkinton Zoning
Ordinance, in part, was created to
facilitate the most effective use of land
and to avoid indiscriminant construction in
areas that would adversely affect the rights
of other landowners in the community and/or
the community’s health, safety and welfare.
Towering smokestacks and boilers and
billowing plumes of emissions are not
consistent with the nature and character of
our community and implicate serious issues
associated with landowners’ right, health,
safety and welfare.
VI.
ALTERNATIVE USES FOR THE WEST HOPKINTON
SITE
The bottom
line is that the REACH membership is willing
to support Bio Energy’s development of their
West Hopkinton property in a way that would
be both productive for the owners and
beneficial to the residents of the
community. Achieving this goal would not,
in our estimation, be served by a building a
larger plant on the banks of the fragile
Contoocook River and in the midst of a
federally-designated natural and
recreational refuge, thereby emitting tons
of toxins into the air we breathe and
obscuring the valley we love with
emissions. Below are some suggested uses
for the property in West Hopkinton.
In light of
Bio Energy's stated willingness to consider
providing capital to a knowledgeable partner
in the development of a profitable
alternative use for the site it owns in West
Hopkinton, we offer the following possible
projects for the company’s consideration,
recognizing that the list of possible,
non-emitting uses is virtually endless:
-- Assisted
Living Facility. Given current
demographic trends which reflect the
"graying" of the baby boom generation, there
is an accelerating need for assisted living
facilities. Bio Energy, in partnership with
Eco-Logic, a Keene-based firm with special
expertise in "green" construction, or a
similar joint venture partner, could
establish an assisted living or similar
senior housing facility on its site. This
facility would address a demonstrated
housing need while effecting significant
operational cost savings by
incorporating geothermal, solar and other
energy-saving technology in its
construction. The Hopkinton facility could
serve as a model, both within our state and
beyond, on how to address the needs of our
aging national population in an
environmentally sensitive and cost-effective
manner.
-- Refrigeration and Storage Plant.
McLane Trucking, already a member of
Hopkinton's business community, is
interested in building a refrigeration
and/or storage plant. The location of the
site owned by Bio Energy would serve this
purpose well, assuming truck access issue
could be resolved in a manner that does not
increase truck traffic to and from the
direction of the intersection with Routes
202&9.
-- Manufacturing Facility. A golf
cart manufacturer in Contoocook is seeking a
new site and may be interested in locating a
plant on Bio Energy site.
-- Indoor Sports Facility. Hopkinton
is a sports-oriented community. An indoor
soccer and/or recreational facility similar
to that in Bow, NH would be an excellent
addition to the town's outdoor fields.
VII.
CONCLUSION
We are
grateful for the opportunity to explore
alternative uses of Bio Energy’s West
Hopkinton facility and welcome the
opportunity to work with the company to
develop a business that will both benefit
the community and be profitable to the
Dell’Orfanos and their partners. We hope
this spirit of cooperation will end an era
of costly and disruptive litigation and mean
that Hopkinton residents no longer need to
be concerned about a business in our
community that is focused exclusively on a
business model involving emissions of
pollutants, given that this use of the site
implicates so many issues and concerns
related to health, safety and welfare within
our community and related to the
environment.
We look
forward to hearing from you and working
collaboratively to explore alternative uses
for the site in question.
Very
truly yours,
|
Ronald
J. Lajoie, Esq.
President of REACH
|
John
E. Friberg, Jr., Esq.
Vice
President of REACH
|
|
Susan
Covert
Vice
President of REACH |
Janet
Ward
Vice
President of REACH |
