A Message from the President:
Hello and welcome to our new website. We hope your visit proves to be informative, inspiring and encouraging. We want you to get involved in restoring healthy government in Russell and beyond, building up healthy industry, and protecting our region from any and all industries with unacceptable impacts. We have some terrific people working on this and together we can accomplish great things!
It was just about a year ago now that we began hearing about a wonderful new industry coming to town. Russell Biomass publications told us that their new power plant would burn "clean scrap lumber," would "have no adverse effect on local air quality," and would bring much-needed jobs and taxes. We knew that most town officials were strongly supportive of the project.
For about six months, we voiced some mild concerns but, believing the developers when they said things like "Our emissions will be cleaner than your average home chimney," we basically continued to snooze right along. Then Toxics Action Center sent us some very alarming information about "biomass", and we saw in this power plant a profound threat to our health, our quality of life, and our beautiful region. We became very highly motivated when we saw that this project could threaten innocent children at our elementary school and vulnerable residents with respiratory problems.
Now, about six months later, we have done extensive research which has repeatedly confirmed that our serious concerns with Russell Biomass are indeed well-founded, solid, and verifiable. This plant brings unacceptable impacts in a number of areas--no matter what kind of wood they burn, and no matter what the trucking route will be.
Here are a few little tiny problems with this wonderful plan . . .
- 1) Unlawful Activity. Town officials spurned the will of the vast majority who attended the public hearings as well as those who petitioned them not to approve the plant. We hold that they violated good faith, violated our right to democratic representation, and violated our Zoning By-Laws when they voted to grant a Special Permit to Russell Biomass LLC. Only Planning Board Chair Alice Taverna had the courage and wisdom to vote NO on the Special Permit.
- 2) It's Not Right for the Site. What a truly terrible site choice. If you absolutely had to build a massive incinerator burning 500,000 tons of wood annually and releasing over 1,600 tons of air pollutants daily, why would you choose a spot where 840 times a week a semi-tractor-trailer diesel truck will rumble down the narrow Main Street of a densely settled historical village (or other residential roads), at the bottom of a deep and narrow river valley with stagnant weather inversions, on a site within a few hundred feet of homes, 1,000 feet from a daycare center, and 1,600 feet from an elementary school, taking 800,000 gallons of clean river water every day from a beautiful river that has been experiencing historically unprecedented drought conditions? You wouldn't, would you? "Trucks, River, Inversion, Pollution-Russell Biomass Is Just Not Right for the Site!" See (T.R.I.P.) - Russell Biomass Basics to learn more.
- 3) Waste Management Crisis in Massachusetts. The original Russell Biomass proposal was to burn up to 40% construction and demolition debris (C&D), which can produce 87 separate hazardous air pollutants causing cancer, asthma, fetal brain damage, and even death according to the federal EPA. We got them to "promise" not to burn C&D, and we got C&D written out of the Special Permit, but to this date there are no legal guarantees against its eventual inclusion in the fuel mix. Consider the realities behind this push to burn C&D: by law, Massachusetts cannot build any more municipal incinerators and they cannot landfill construction and demolition debris after July 1 2006. This massive contaminated waste stream has to go somewhere, and it is flowing into "biomass" power plants. Anything that the state designates as "clean renewable fuel for energy production" waltzes through a brand-new, wide-open waste disposal door called "Biomass fuel." And how about this one: A recent advertisement from a biomass fuel manufacturer reads, "Do not sign a new waste service contract! Have some or all of your waste/trash manufactured into a renewable fuel product!" Are these trash cubes "clean?" Does anyone even know what is in them? Or should we just burn them and hope for the best? We must recognize that waste management realities, NOT justice, rights, or the safety of residents, may well dictate what is burned in Russell. Based on the experience of other towns that have gone down this road, we believe that Russell Biomass will burn whatever the state says they can burn--IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TO BUILD.
- 4) The "Greenwashing" Is Unconvincing. This project has been sold as environmentally friendly renewable energy. We do not believe that large-scale biomass facilities are environmentally-friendly energy solutions. They are certainly not green for the surrounding neighborhood, but may pose a deadly threat to neighbors. See T.R.I.P: Russell Biomess Basics to learn about the potentially deadly ozone produced by these large wood-burning facilities. We do not believe that they reduce dependence on foreign oil or domestic coal. We do not believe that they sequester carbon or provide any other REAL environmental benefits. All of the "green" arguments fall apart when you take the time to examine them. These large facilities are only 20-25% efficient according to the U.S. Department of Energy. This means that 75% of the fuel produces nothing but pollution-and that pollution can be deadly even if the wood is uncontaminated.
What are we doing about it? With your help, we are going to protect and preserve Russell and our regions from this threat, and here is how:
- We support the PERMIT APPEAL alleging that the granting of the permit by town officials was arbitrary and capricious and violated the By-Laws of the Town of Russell on a number of counts. We have helped to raise over $16,000 for the Permit Appeal so far, and ask you to also consider giving. See "Permit Appeal" for more information.
- We recently presented a PETITION to the Planning Board to REVOKE THE SPECIAL PERMIT based on numerous significant and troubling project changes proposed by Russell Biomass that would violate our Zoning By-Law and would alter the conditions of the Special Permit, in addition to a possible conflict of interest with a member of the Planning Board.
- We have conducted extensive RESEARCH and continually provide INFORMATION to citizens, decision-makers, and the media.
- Most importantly, we are working to help YOU to become INFORMED and ACTIVE in protecting our region from this ill-advised scheme.
EVERY SINGLE PERSON who gets involved is vitally important to the future of our region. Your voice, your help, your contribution is much needed and enormously APPRECIATED. See our Local Heroes Section to find out how one single person's actions can make a big difference. The work that people have done is very inspiring and encouraging, and we are thankful for each and every one who steps up and makes a difference.
We invite you to share your questions and comments with us. If you believe that the biomass facility (a.k.a. incinerator) is not the right fit for Russell and our region, please do three things:
- 1) Give to the Permit Appeal Legal Fund
- 2) Tell others about the website, our work, and the need for funds
- 3) Write and call every decision-maker on our "Decision-Makers" list
- 4) Let us know how we can improve this site, our message, and our service to the community.
Thanks for visiting!
Sincerely,
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