People who had felt frustrated by a feeling of inevitability began to feel hope. David Swords of CFFNH (Citizens for a Future New Hampshire) said "It's beginning to feel like a movement. That feels good."

There were television cameras and numerous news outlets reporting on the rally. Many representatives from the district were present, and Gubernatorial Candidate John Lynch spoke. Selectman Don Lane said "The town is working with you, and our goal is zero emissions from this plant."

Ron Lajoie of REACH (Resident Environmental Action Committee for Health) spoke to the crowd, "Look around you. The Coontoocook river is less than 200' from this smoke stack. A source of drinking water for Concord. Henniker is three miles to my right. Contoocook is four miles to my left. Hopkinton Village is four miles east. Maple Street School is two and a half miles away. John Stark High School is directly downwind from this plant. Elm Brook park and the people who live there are only two miles away. 10,000 people live within a five mile radius of this plant. Look at the cows, the corn fields and the school buses and we know this it not the place for such a company."

[Bio]Chemistry Professor Bob Vallari spoke privately about articles he would write on the unique dangers of lead. He said that because lead is not naturally present in the body it needs to find places for itself. It winds up substituting calcium in the body, and when a pregnant woman's fetus beings to draw calcium it gets lead. Lead in the blood leads to an array of developmental problems, and the Center for Disease Control says there is no safe level of lead, so efforts to establish guidelines for safe levels can only be arbitrary. While we spoke, children nearby played with some sand. Vallari said, "We should get this sand tested. I'm sure it would contain lots of lead."

The rally was originally organized to take place during a court viewing of Bio Energy, but the viewing was canceled and the hearing at New Hampshire Superior Court had ended before protestors arrived. At issue is whether Bio Energy needs to go through Hopkinton's zoning process. Bio Energy contends that the permits they have received from the state preempt any actions the town can take.

There has been a flurry of legal activity regarding this controversy in the past week. On Friday afternoon, CFFNH filed a lawsuit against New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and Bio Energy stating that the permits Bio Energy received are invalid. It states DES did not have authority to act on the permit applications because they were incomplete. They were incomplete because Bio Energy did not notify abutters, instead they surrounded the incinerator with other companies owned by themselves, and notified themselves. The suit also states that Bio Energy falsely claimed no person associated with them had been convicted of a felony in the past five years. CFFNH claims a variety of shell companies were created to "obscure the association of Anthony DiNapoli with Bio Energy. Mr. DiNapoli was convicted March 25, 2002, of witness tampering, and in fact is an owner of Bio Energy and its subsidiaries, including Petrofiber.

In a separate effort, a group called Concord Mothers has petitioned the DES to review the permit while recognizing that the Contoocook River has been authorized to be polluted even though it is a water source for Concord. REACH has requested a meeting with Concord City Council to discuss the impact on Concord's drinking water and encourage Concord to take action.

A small victory was handed to the town of Hopkinton last week when Judge Fitzgerald ruled the town was not responsible for Bio Energy's legal fees and loss of business while a case and desist order was in effect.