The Bow Times September 4, 2003
Hopkinton
Power plant may emit lead
 |
By RUSS CHOMA Staff Writer rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
The dormant wood-burning power plant on Route 127 may soon
reopen, and the plant's proposed lead emissions has alarmed
neighbors and town officials. |
School buses carrying Hopkinton students are stored at the empty Bio Energy wood-burning plant on Route 127. Bio Energy recently received state permission to emit up to 2.63 tons of lead into the air annually. Hopkinton Superintendent Dr. Richard Ayers said a subcontractor is in charge of storing the buses, and although they are only temporarily stored at the site, the permanent storage is about a mile away. Students' safety is being looked into. (Russ Choma Photo) |
The DES disputes the previous levels of lead emissions in the state and
maintains that the amount of lead emitted is perfectly safe and well
within state and federal limits.
The plant had burned virgin woodchips chips made from wood that has
not been painted, treated or otherwise exposed to chemicals for more
than 20 years. The electricity generated was sold to Public Service New
Hampshire until last year, when Bio Energy shut down after PSNH bought
out its contract to provide power.
Under the new permit, Bio Energy would be able to burn virgin wood
chips, but would also be permitted to incinerate chips made from
construction debris, which often contains treated wood and wood with
lead paint.
Hopkinton Selectman Don Lane said the issue was fairly new and there
were a number of citizens who are concerned.
Selectmen will be discussing whether the plant needed to apply to the
town to change its site use, he said.
Initially, town officials thought Bio Energy would simply restart the
same operation it had always done. But, burning construction debris
instead of virgin wood chips could make a difference in terms of site
use.
Lane said the town has not ignored the possibility of the plant
reopening because an estimated $300,000 is received in tax revenue
annually when the plant is generating electricity.
"We're used to not getting extra revenue from them since they've been
shut down," he said.
There has been some concern that when greenhouse gases are emitted,
prevailing winds pick up toxins, which travel hundreds of miles before
coming down. However, emitted lead would fall in the immediate area.
A DES map pinpointing the maximum impact for the emissions focused on an
area south of the plant, on Route 202 near Elm Brook Park.
Mike Close, who raises bison and rainbow trout on his property across
the river from Bio Energy, said there were stringent regulations
regarding how he was allowed to handle lead paint chips on his job
sites. He is disturbed at the possibility of lead being put into the air
over his property.
In response to Close's complaints, DES permit engineer Doug Laughton
said this was not an amount of lead that should be considered
particularly large or harmful. He also said the state actually has very
tight environmental standards when it comes to lead.
The number listed on the permit is a maximum amount of lead emissions
possible, and the plant would have to run at full speed 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year to emit that much lead. Based on numbers from a
test-burn that occured last year, he said the actual amount of annual
emissions would likely be 1.92 tons of lead.
"There are national ambient air quality standards which are put out by
the feds, and their primary standards of lead permittable in the air are
1.5 micrograms per cubic meter, on a three month average. When you look
at the state of New Hampshire's air toxic program, we have a much
tighter limit," Laughton said.
Laughton also said tests on the construction debris that was burned in
the test-burn last year indicated that the type of fuel Bio Energy would
be burning was within state limits.
"The lead content of those chips was in the 3 to 25 milligrams per
kilogram, which is much less than the limit of 100 milligrams per
kilogram," he said.
Bio Energy would not be allowed to use chips made from pressure-treated
wood and would be able to turn away any load of wood chips they believed
was too highly contaminated, said Laughton.
Despite these assurances, Lajoie and Close remain incredulous that
everything is as safe as believed or that the plant would open with this
type of operation.
"I understand that (Bio Energy plant manager Harry) Smith believes he
doesn't have to do anything more before reopening, but it will be
challenged," Lajoie said.
Both Lajoie and Close said they had spoken to dozens of neighbors who
were alarmed and said they would be contacting town officials.
Close said he didn't have a particular problem with the reopening of
Bio Energy, he was just concerned about the amount of lead.
"I can be a happy neighbor," he said, "I'm just not in for contamination
of my land."
Standing on his property, peering throught the trees at the plant's
smokestack, he said Bio Energy had never been a terribly bad neighbor,
but if he couldn't get more information and assurance that the plant
really wouldn't be having an adverse affect on his property or his
neighbors, he was in no rush to see it reopen.
"They sure can take a blue day and turn it into a gray day in a hurry,"
he said grimly at the thought of the 157-foot smoke stack once agian
spewing an endless stream of white smoke.
Bio Energy officials were unavailable to explain emission reduction
controls, but these devices are the same as those used when they burned
virgin wood chips.