Posted by Ed on November 28, 2007, 12:55 am, in reply to "Pt 1 Battle lines drawn sharply: Sunday Lowell Sun 11/25/07"
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Safety
. Camplese said the plant will not be staffed, which is dangerous. About 500,000 gal¬lons of diesel fuel will be stored in single-walled tanks 750 feet from the Concord River, as well as two 24,000 gallon tanks of aqueous ammonia. The group says the tanks could spill or leak their contents into the ground water and town's drinking supply.
"We have said that the plant can run unattended because technically it can be," said Fitzpatrick. He added that three employees will be working full-time at the L'En¬ergia power plant on Tanner Street in Lowell, 10 minutes from the BEC.
"They can monitor the Bil¬lerica plant from there," he added. "During the summer and winter months when the plant is most likely to run, someone will be there every day regardless of whether it is running and whenever any deliveries are made."
Fitzpatrick also said the developer will work closely with local police and fire departments to ensure safety plans meet their standards.
“We have asked for a full time employee there, seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” said Camplese. “The toxic-end point, the amount of time it takes to incapacitate a person from toxic chemicals is 15-30 minutes. They have to take into consideration the amount of time to get from Lowell to Billerica, especially with traffic. If this person can¬not respond in time, what happens to the residents?"
Air quality
Opponents say that emissions from the plant's six 80-foot high stacks, including nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, I carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter will increase respiratory and heart" disease rates in the region. .
A study, released by Envi¬ronmental Health and Engi¬neering Inc., the town's con¬sultant, led by Dr. John' Spengler of the Harvard School of Public Health, states that although the plant will emit pollutants, the emis¬sions will not significantly lower the town's air quality.
The study said nitrogen¬ dioxide levels coming from the plant are anticipated to be 400 times lower than current concentrations in Billerica.
Additionally, the level of particulate matter less than 10 microns in size is expected to be 200 times less than that currently in Billerica.
Camplese said Spengler's study does not consider Mont¬gomery's plans to eventually expand Lowell's L'Energia power plant, which will add pollutants.
Fitzpatrick said his team included the Lowell plant in modeling used for the draft EIR.
"Our modeling was so con¬servative that we used the old emission numbers from the Lowell plant, even though we are replacing the turbine to reduce emissions," he said. Fitz¬patrick said the combined mod¬eling meets existing standards for both particulate matter less than 10 microns in size and less than 2.5 microns in size.
The Watchers have asked that the developer use a dif¬ferent air-quality dispersion model, which Camplese said works better for more complicated terrain.
"They (Billerica Watchers) do not like these standards," Fitzpatrick said. "If we used their model and ran the plant for 24 hours a day on oil, using their standards there might be a violation.”
In a letter to Ian Bowles, Camplese raised concern that there are “no rules or restrictions regarding the number of hours in a day, or consecutive days the plant can run. Even at minimum, 2,300 hours equals nine hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year.”
Fitzpatrick said 2,300 hours that water used in the pollution is the maximum. A more likely figure is 1,100 hours per year, at daytime, he said.
"The plant's air permit will dictate that we can only run on oil if cut off from gas, and even then we will be limited to 200 day hours per year," he added.
Power market consultant Bob Stein told Fitzpatrick that the plant will only be called upon to run at night once every 10 years, ''when the grid is under such stress that it is dropping load."
Water
It is expected that the water used for the plant's pollution control will come from "gray water," treated effluent from Billerica's nearby waste-water treatment plant. Municipal water, when needed, will only be taken at night, during off-peak hours. Extensive water will be stored on site.
The plant requires no water for cooling.
Opponents are concerned that water used in the pollution control process will be heated as it is returned to the wastewater treatment plant tanks and then released into the Concord River. If so, it will alter the rivers ecological balance they said.
Ed Liston, a partner in DG Clean Power, disputes that. He said, 18,000 gallons of water per day during plant operations will be returned to the wastewater treatment plant tanks, which have a daily flow of 3.8 million gallons. The waters temperature will be 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit above intake temperature, increasing tank temperatures .01 degree.
“The increase/decrease in temperature of the Concord River (average daily flow of 17.1 million gallons per day) is 0.002 degrees as a result of BEC operation,” Liston said. “The BEC adds no heat to the wastewater treatment plant or the river.”
In his ruling on the draft EIR, Bowles noted: “Mass DEP did not cite any significant concerns with the proponent's proposed reuse of treated water from the Billerica wastewater treatment plant."
But the Concord River is fed¬erally protected, said Camplese. "It cannot be altered, cannot accept discharge directly or indirectly without a permit from the DEP. Because the water is being discharged to the wastewater treatment plant then into the river, if something happens to the river will Biller¬ica be liable?"
Fitzpatrick said he expects a decision from the Energy Facilities Siting Board in February or March 2008.
The Billerica Watchers, including the transcripts of the EFSB hearings can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com /group / Billerica Watchers /.
For more information regarding the proposed power plant, visit www.dgclean¬power. com.
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