The permit for a wood-fired biomass electric generating facility in North Springfield should be denied, according to a Public Service Board hearing officer.
John Cotter, hearing officer on the case, has recommended the board deny a certificate of public good for the 25-35 megawatt North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project proposed biomass plant.
Truck traffic hauling fuel to the plant would adversely impact Springfield and the neighboring communities, Cotter wrote in his proposed ruling. The order states that the project would require the delivery of about five truckloads of chips per hour on average and as many as 12 during peak delivery times.
“In this Proposal for Decision, I recommend that the Vermont Public Service Board (“Board”) deny the petition because the Project will unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region based on its trucking-related impacts to the local community,” Cotter wrote last week.
The project, first announced in 2009, is lead by Winstanley Enterprises LLC of Concord, Mass.
Geoff Commons, director of public advocacy for the Department of Public Service, said it is not likely the Public Service Board will break from the hearing officer’s suggested ruling to deny the plant’s permit.
“It’s relatively rare for the board to reverse a hearing officer’s proposal,” Commons said.
He said trucking-related environmental impacts are a common challenge for new biomass plants in the state. For example, the Joseph C. McNeil Generating Station, a biomass plant in Burlington, is required to import 75 percent of its wood fuel by rail.
If the board does not follow the proposed ruling, Cotter recommends that the board set several conditions for the permit, including requiring a systems impact study, a plan for harvesting fuel from suppliers, noise insulation measures, a regular meeting schedule with town officials to evaluate the impact of trucking fuel through the community, the development of a traffic monitoring plan, a decommission plan, and restricted fuel delivery hours.
The project is not expected to cause air pollution, amounting to about 448,714 tons of CO2e per year. Carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2e, is used to describe different greenhouse gases in a common unit to signify an equivalent amount of CO2.
The project has already received an air quality permit from the Agency of Natural Resources.
According to the proposed ruling, the project was estimated to provide about 600 jobs during its 18-month construction and add about 160 jobs during its operation.
Robert F. Kischko, chairman of the North Springfield Action Group, wrote in an email that the group has no additional comment on the issue at this time other than that they are pleased with the recommendation. The group has long opposed the project.
