IMPACTS / ISSUES
As with all other renewable energy projects in the Commonwealth, Russell Biomass has attracted opposition from a small but active and highly vocal group of Russell residents. Most issues raised by this group have been demonstrated to be unfounded by health and environmental impact studies required as part of the permitting process for the project, the results of which are summarized on our main impacts page. These studies have been reviewed by state regulatory agencies and by an independent, third-party environmental consulting firm hired by the Town of Russell without any Russell Biomass involvement.
One of the claims constantly repeated by our opponents is that Russell Biomass will burn construction and demolition waste wood (C&D). They have further asserted that we will someday burn tires, industrial waste and other types of municipal solid waste. These claims have no basis in reality and are patently and demonstrably false.
The biomass plant is designed to use clean wood fuel only. It would degrade the operating performance and economics of the plant to burn contaminated (C&D) wood. Further, our permits are tied to fuel conditions that specifically exclude C&D wood. And our wood suppliers are not legally permitted to supply C&D wood. Any move to add C&D wood to our fuel would require not only expensive retrofitting of the plant but would also require a new permitting process.
Beyond these constraints we have executed an agreement with the Town of Russell that legally prohibits the burning of C&D wood for the life of the plant.
Copies of our plans, including the conditions regarding fuel, are on file with the Russell Planning Committee and Zoning Board of Appeals. These are open, public records, available for your inspection upon request.