Posted by Ed on November 28, 2007, 1:05 am
24.34.144.49
Billerica rep not sold on power plant
By Jennifer Amy Myers, jmyers@lowellsun.com
Article Last Updated: 11/27/2007 11:37:30 AM EST
BILLERICA -- Rep. Bill Greene says there are "too many unanswered questions" for him to stand behind the proposal to bring a $200 million, 348 mega-watt power plant to North Billerica and he does not want anyone to misinterpret his stance.
In a recent letter to the state's Energy Facilities Siting Board, the Billerica Democrat said he strongly disagrees with testimony made by DG Clean Power CEO Joseph Fitzpatrick, a partner in the development of the Billerica Energy Center, at a Nov. 2 EFSB hearing.
During the hearing, Fitzpatrick recounted two meetings with Greene, one in October 2006 and a second in April of this year, stating that Greene and other officials were "positive" during meetings and "encouraged" the proposal.
"I strongly disagree with Mr. Fitzpatrick's description that I was "positive" or "encouraged" the project in any way." Greene wrote. "I think that Mr. Fitzpatrick may have misinterpreted my cordiality for support."
"Let me be clear in stating that at no time did I signal any approval for or encouragement of this proposal," Greene continued. "I would not have submitted multiple letters to Secretary (of Energy) Ian Bowles questioning this project if I was in favor of it. Quite frankly I think it is irresponsible of Mr. Fitzpatrick to testify to the thoughts of others and question what ability he has to determine support or opposition level of myself or other town officials he met with, especially when public statements to the contrary exist."
Reached last night, Fitzpatrick said he stands by his testimony.
"We had a couple of meeting with Rep. Greene and also Sen. (Robert) Havern," he said. "They had no objections to the project, they thought the site made sense."
The proposed power plant is designed to be a "peaking" facility, running only during time of heavy demand, such as through heat waves or extreme cold snaps, to avoid an overburden on the electrical grid that would result in regional brownouts or blackouts.
It is expected to be permitted to run a maximum of 2,300 hours a year, though Fitzpatrick said he expects it to run about 1,100 hours a year and only during daytime hours when demand is at its peak. The plant will run on natural gas, but is designed to burn ultra low sulfur diesel fuel during times when gas is unavailable or the transmission line is interrupted.
Last night Greene said he remains concerned that the plant will be unmanned, be storing diesel fuel and other chemicals close to the Concord River, and run more hours than proponents are saying.
"It is an unmanned facility and when you worry about homeland security it is a little bit scary," Greene said.
Fitzpatrick has said that, the way the plant is designed, it is not economical to run it for long periods of time and that although there will not be staff at the plant 24 hours a day, it will be monitored by three full-time employees working a few miles away at the Lowell L'Energia plant on Tanner Street. Additionally, staff will visit the site daily during peak times and will be on-site to receive deliveries.
"I would like to see some independent testing done, there has been no testing of the current air quality of Billerica," Greene said, referring to air-modeling done by the proponent's engineers that used Lawrence, Haverhill and Lowell as base points because those are the closest Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection air monitors to Billerica. "And the wind direction testing was done at Lawrence Airport, too far away."
Fitzpatrick said he is comfortable with the modeling conducted by the project's engineers, adding that in addition to the original modeling performed, they also ran another model, called the CALPUFF test, as requested by members of the Billerica Watchers, a group of residents who have formed against the plant, and found in both cases that the plant will not add any significant pollution.
"We are at the point now where people just do not want to hear the information they are given," Fitzpatrick said. "I am confident in the testimony we made at the EFSB and in the end, it is up to the Siting Board, not the Billerica Watchers."
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