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Although the meeting went well and many vulnerabilities were exposed, the contract for water should be a concern for us all. Everyone needs to alert as many people in the town of Billerica that the Department of Public Works is about to have Town Counsel draft up a contract to give 40 MILLION Gallons to DG Power! We are already on a water ban aren’t we? This is being done without comprehensive studies of the low flow period of the Concord River and by using the numbers, averaged out to mitigate the adverse conditions on the river. Additionally, 40 million gallons, “represents 29% of the available amount of water. In turn this means, no possible future development to stabilize our tax base or Union construction jobs in the future for the people who are coming out in favor of this project! This proposed albatross will be putting all our eggs in one basket and leaving ourselves open to financial control by an industry who does not, I repeat, does not have a very reputable reputation. Most Importantly, this will have to go to the Board of Selectman for Approval because they are the Water Commissioners. This will have a future impact on all surrounding communities. The plant will be operating when the River is at low flow conditions. This is clearly stated in a letter sent to Abdul Alkhatib DPW dated December 24, 2007. Read Closely: An excerpt from the letter: 1. Maximum operating hours per year=2,300 hours (mostly summer hours) 2. Average operating hours per day 6 hours 3. Water Supply Requirements=180,00 GPD from June through October 4. Annual Water Requirements=60,000,000 Gallons 5. Waste Water Discharge= 20,000 to 30,000 GPD Do the math, look at the time when this water will be displaced and then look at how much more water will need to be trucked on site. (20,000 million gallons) on Lowell and Tewksbury roads! This means, added pollution from trucks and more safety factor issues! In the summer when most enjoy the outdoors. The additional study states that “Billerica will exceed the existing permit withdrawal limits by 2011 without [Emphasis Added] the additional demand of BEC. Also stated in the additional study is how, “If BEC proposes that 40 million gallons will be sufficient for their needs based on predicted [Emphasis Added] operations,” then it goes on to talk about how the citizens of Billerica can go into conservations efforts! Letter from DG states 60 million is required in the WWTP discharge study and the water allowance study is based on 40 million and the citizens go into conservation efforts, to allow a fossil fueled pollution plant in our Valley! My opinion is we are being sold out! Question: Who is selling us out and why? Has this been done to any other Valley’s or areas and were any of the same people involved? BTW the 2007 data was not referenced in this study. I will post the low flow river data on a later post of the 2007 data. Concord River is 303d and is Federally protected! With DG using our permits we will be held liable. When asking EH&E about the river they quoted from the DEIR, which earlier in the evening they had found some air quality discrepancies contained in it, EH&E did nothing! Selectman Rosa requested that EH&E at their previous presentation, to look into how DG could possibly obtain their own permits, to save the Town possible future liability. Again EH&E did nothing! To add insult to injury, No cumulative health studies! No realistic air modeling preformed! 20 million gallons of water will be ship the plant to satisfy the permitted hrs. Why wasn’t an Independent Study conducted by EH&E to address these issues? All citizens from all over the Valley not just Billerica need to ask, just who is benefiting? Like I have been saying all along, this will need to go into a court of law! If any contracts are issued or permits, court injunctions and investigations will be required. Think About when you look at your children, grandchildren, or an elderly loved one. |
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