The proposals, both in the early stages of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permit process, are for projects at existing dams at Lake Paran and downstream on Paran Creek near the village firehouse on Prospect Street.
Scully, along with students at Bennington College and some local professionals, is volunteering time for the village-sponsored projects. Quite a bit of research has been done so far, he said, adding, “There is still a whole lot of work to do.”
North Bennington officials have approved applications to FERC for preliminary permits, which would grant the permit-holder priority to file federal hydro facility license applications, Scully said. Comments on the proposals are now being sought, along with applications from parties wishing to be designated as interveners through the permit process, which typically takes three to five years.
Scully, who is a member of the village board of trustees and a graduate of the college, has considerable experience in the application process. He’s been heavily involved in several hydropower initiatives over a number of years, having activated a restored 360-kilowatt power facility at the Vermont Tissue Mill dam on the Walloomsac River in North Bennington in 2015 and begun restoration of a former mill dam on the Hoosic River in North Pownal. That facility is scheduled to go online in May and have a generating capacity of 500 kilowatts.
The North Bennington proposals are for a 38-kilowatt hydropower facility at the Firehouse Dam and a 58-kilowatt facility at the Paran Lake Dam at the southern edge of Lake Paran, a village recreation area owned by the Lake Paran Association.
Each small hydro project involves construction of a powerhouse building for the turbine-generator unit, new structures at or near the dams, and transmission lines to connect to the electrical grid.
Scully said the intention is to apply for group net-metering licenses for the facilities, which would supply power to the grid and produce income for the village. Beyond that, he said, the overall goal is to focus on the entire lake watershed area and on environmental issues facing the town.
“While this may appear to be a hydro project,” Scully said, “it is part of a watershed management project.”
One goal, he said, is to have an employee who would manage the two hydro facilities but also focus on watershed issues, including aspects relating to water quality, wildlife, plant life and related subjects.
The idea for the projects grew from a Bennington College course taught last year by Susan Sgorbati, director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at the college, and Scully. The course was inspired in part by the discovery of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, contamination in wells surrounding the former Chemfab Corp. factory in North Bennington.
The course grew into the Paran Creek Watershed Project, developed by Sgorbati and Scully, in which several student task forces explored development of a feasibility study for hydro facilities at the two sites.
In December, the effort produced a detailed report for village trustees. Scully said the report is being used as a stepping off point for a formal feasibility study.
Scully said he’s now working with Bennington College senior Cleo Zars, other students and some local professionals, such as a surveyor, who are volunteering time to produce a feasibility study for a future license application. Scully said he and the students can do 80 to 90 percent of that work, although engineering and other professionals, including attorneys, will be required in some instances.
If the village hired someone to complete the entire permit process, Scully said, the cost could be at least $350,000 for each dam site.
One area in need of further legal research, he said, concerns ownership of the two dams. It is believed that the village owns the Firehouse Dam site. The Lake Paran Dam is state-owned, Scully said, because it was built during the 1800s to control water in a wet area of the village and allow completion of a rail line, which passes below the lake dam site.
The planned facility at the 40-foot-long, 10-foot-high concrete Firehouse Dam would have an annual generating capacity of 171.58 megawatt-hours, according to the legal advertisement posting for the FERC process.
Included in the preliminary proposal are a new water intake structure; a new 20-foot-long, 15-foot-wide concrete and wood powerhouse containing a turbine-generator unit, and a 75-foot transmission line connecting to the grid.
The Lake Paran Dam proposal includes a 250-foot-long, 36-inch-wide penstock leading from the dam to a 20-by-10-foot powerhouse for the turbine-generator unit. The penstock would be buried under the raised railroad track, which passes just south of the dam.
According to the watershed project report, the Lake Paran Dam was built in 1840 by the local railroad company. Stark Paper Co. later acquired the water rights to Lake Paran and controlled the flow to downstream companies. At one time in the early 19th century there were up to 13 “privileges” granted for water use along the creek.
The first dam burst Feb. 11, 1852, according to the student report, and floodwaters destroyed all the factories and several residences along the creek. Afterward, the dam was rebuilt.
Around 1960, Lake Paran was developed as a recreation area. In 1978 it was drained after the dam started to leak and residents were concerned it would collapse again. A federal grant was obtained and the dam was rebuilt and reinforced with vertical sheets of steel.
The Firehouse Dam is estimated to have been built during the 1700s when the first mills were constructed along Paran Creek, the researchers found.
Anyone interested in commenting on the proposals during the 60-day comment period or being designated as an intervener can go to FERC’s eComment system at www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp, or mail comments to Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
More information about the projects, including a copy of the application, can be viewed through the eLibrary link of FERC’s website. The docket numbers for the projects are P-14839 and P-14840.
