The Middletown Town Council appears to be the first town or city council in Rhode Island to take up the Burrillville Town Council’s call for solidarity in the face of Invenergy’s planned $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant. As part of the vote to oppose the power plant, the Burrillville Town Council also voted to ask every city and town in Rhode Island to support them in their opposition.

At Monday’s town council meeting Claudia Gorman spoke about the issues surrounding the approval process and the wide ranging opposition to Invenergy’s plans both locally and statewide.

“Advisory opinions submitted during the ongoing permitting process have expressed reservations regarding the vagueness of Invenergy’s application, negative environmental impacts, incomplete or unsatisfactory mitigating practices, and a glaring lack of a source for the thousands and thousands of water needed to cool this operation,” said Gorman, “I hope my town council will support Burrillville, Rhode Island in their opposition to this major, industrial project called the Clear River Energy Center.”

After Gorman finished her statement Councillor Henry Lombardi Jr said that he has been following this because of issues Middletown is facing with “another energy issue.”

“Burrillville already has a power plant in their town, it is going to affect their water supply,” said Lombardi, “I watched some of the public comment and they are just vehemently opposed to this. Enough is enough. I would suggest that we strongly support this resolution.”

“I have already directed the town clerk to draw up the resolution to oppose it,” said Council President Robert Sylvia, “which will be on the next docket.”

Lauren Niedel, a 22 year resident of Glocester has officially declared her candidacy for her Town Council. Motivated by the Council’s dismissive response to her call to action against the proposed Burrillville fracked gas power plant Lauren decided that the only way to make change is to become the change.

The Glocester Town Council is made up of 5 men, no democrats, and does not reflect the makeup of the people in town or their vision. Her main platform items will be to stop the Clear River Energy Center, create a NW RI Renewable Energy task force, Open up communication channels for residents and make the Town Council much more transparent. Lauren also wants to create two intern positions for Ponaganset High School Seniors to update the town’s archaic website and a to have a student ambassador as a liaison.

“Our town functions as if it is 1990,” says Lauren, “it is time to bring it into the 21st century and that cannot be done with our existing Town Council members. Our rural way of life has to be preserved but we don’t live in a bubble and it is time we govern that way.”

Lauren is a sales professional with 2 grown children and has been married for over 30 years. Her children Joel and Hannah both graduated from Ponaganset High School school system. Joel is entering his 4th year at New England College – majoring in Environmental Science and Hannah works for the Federal Government in Maryland. Her Husband David has been employed by the Foster/Glocester school system for over 15 years.

This past year Lauren was one of the leading organizers for RI Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign. She is also a delegate for Sanders and will be taking part in the July DNC Convention. Since 2013 she has been the Deputy State Coordinator of the RI Progressive Democrats. She is also a contributing writer for RI Future.

[From a press release]

WHEREAS, the Burrillville Democratic Town Committee has deep reservations and concerns about the safety and quality of life for local residents if the Clear River Energy Center comes to fruition, and;

WHEREAS, the Burrillville Democratic Town Committee has historically and proudly striven to protect the rural character of Burrillville and Northern Rhode Island through legislative means and does now believe that the town’s infrastructure will be tested beyond limits to support the proposed power plant, and;

WHEREAS, the Burrillville Democratic Town Committee has been and will always continue to be a strong supporter of our environment and protector of our piece of a rural, tranquil corner of the state, which has already seen the ill effects of severe water contamination and the trickledown effect of the same.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Burrillville Democratic Town Committee, as tireless advocate of the core principles of the Democratic Party, in protecting the interests of working families, protecting our children and elders and those most vulnerable and fighting for sensible comprehensive planning, that it OPPOSES the construction of Invenergy’s Clear River Energy Center within the borders of Burrillville, Providence County or the State of Rhode Island and hereby goes on record of its decision to encourage the Energy Facility Siting Board to deny Invenergy’s request to locate its proposed construction in Burrillville, Rhode Island.

Passed as a Resolution of the Burrillville Democratic Town Committee this 7th day of June, 2016

John Niland, Invenergy’s director of development, gave a short presentation and answered eight questions at the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues Breakfast  Thursday morning. The questions were submitted in writing and carefully vetted before being read to Niland. The event was sponsored by the Clear River Energy Center, so there was little expectation of any kind of robust give and take. Held at the exclusive Kirkbrae Country Club, it wasn’t the venue for tough questions.

In attendance at this breakfast was Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, and state representatives Michael Marcello and Brian Newberry.

Niland has been Invenergy’s front man for a proposed fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant in Burrillville. His messaging is always very careful and measured. Still, over the course of his short talk, he did reveal some interesting nuggets of information.

The proposed power plant is dual fuel, so it can burn either gas or oil. Though gas is not a clean energy source, it is better than burning oil for the environment directly surrounding the plant. The circumstances under which oil will be burned, then, is of some importance. Niland said, “some people are saying we will be making an economic choice” as to which fuel to burn when. [In fact, I was the first to suggest this, back in January.]

Niland did not dispute this analysis, per se, but said instead that the last time oil and gas were at price parity was in 2014, and indicated that it would therefor not be a problem.

He seems to think that oil’s current price of around three and four times that of gas is a permanent condition, ignoring the possibility of the gas bubble bursting (as I pointed out here) or that oil will collapse in price due to competition from renewables.

Niland also said that entering the ISO Forward Capacity Auction “was a risk for [Invenergy].” As I pointed out here, Invenergy’s proposed plant’s performance in the Forward capacity Market demonstrates that the plant is not needed. The ISO, a market that determines future energy prices here in New England, bought some power from Invenergy, but all the power it bought is surplus.

Niland completely reverses this analysis. Committing to purchasing some of the power from the proposed plant, he says, is the ISO’s “way of saying,’we need this power.’”

Not quite.

As for the water that Invenergy hopes to draw from a MTBE contaminated well and clean before dumping it as wast water in the Clear River, Niland admits that his company can “probably” clean the water and that they are “currently working up a detailed design” for the water treatment. MTBE is responsible for the closing of wells in Burrillville and has been linked to a terrible cancer cluster.

During the question and answer period Niland seemed pleased that Rhode Island has an Energy Facility Siting Board. Many states lack such a board, and he seemed to like having to deal with a state level agency made to smooth the way for power plant projects.

As for noise levels for the standard operation of the plant, Niland called the 43 decibels currently on the books in Burrillville “somewhat restrictive” and said that his company will ask for a variance.

Some curious math was proposed by Niland, who said that the plant, if approved, will begin construction “around this time next year, (May 2017) and be completed in 30-36 months, opening in June 2019. Not to be a stickler, but that’s 25 months for construction. We know that rushing construction leads to problems, is that what we’re heading for here?

At the most recent Burrillville Town Council meeting, Council President John Pacheco said that “As a town council, we did not know this plant was actually going to happen until the Governor announced it.”

Pacheco was not quite telling the truth.

Videos from February and March 2015 town council meetings show that local elected officials – both the council and legislators – have been paving the way for the controversial Invenergy power plant for months before Governor Gina Raimondo officially announced the project, contrary to recent statements by the Council President.

Governor Gina Raimondo announced Invenergy’s plans to build another power plant in Burrillville on August 4, 2015. The town council met with local legislators Paul Fogarty, Cale Keable and Brian Newberry to discuss the idea seven months earlier.

On February 23, 2015 Burrillville Town Manager Michael C Wood, at a “special meeting” of the town council, said, “We’ve had some conversation. There’s the potential for a new power plant to come to Burrillville.” Present at this meeting was the entire Town Council except for Stephen Rawson and Donald Fox.

This special meeting was between the town council and state Senator Paul Fogarty, Representative Cale Keable, and Representative Brian Newberry. The meeting was held to discuss state level legislation of interest to the town council with their state representatives.

Wood told the council and legislators he wanted to “make sure that the existing [state level] legislation we have will allow for the siting and construction of the new power plant in the town.” The legislation concerns Burrillville’s ability to enter into tax agreements with power companies and can be seen here.

“It would be appreciated, Cale,” said Wood, talking to Rep Keable directly, “making sure that that legislation, as written, will allow the town to potentially entertain the possibility of a new power plant.”

“Okay,” said Keable, “We’ll look at that.”

As can be seen from this screen shot from earlier in the video, this meeting was poorly attended.

At another “special meeting” on March 18, 2015, Town Councilor Stephen Rawson talked about Burrillville water contaminated with MTBE. Several years ago some of the well water in Burrillville was contaminated with MTBE, a virulent carcinogen that some residents say sparked a cancer cluster in the town. The water that Invenergy wants to use for its cooling system will come from this MTBE contaminated well water.

Though Invenergy claims the water will be filtered and the water will be pure enough to dump in the Clear River when they are done, no one seems quite sure if the science adds up. Note also that as far as I have been able to tell, no one has attempted to use MTBE contaminated water to cool a power plant before.

In the clip below, Rawson says that, “Years ago Mike [Town Manager Michael Wood] had tried to make a proposal, and it was a good one, to run that water up to the [Ocean State] power plant as cooling water so the wells would be flushed and probably get rid of the MTBE that’s in the ground water.”

Rawson notes that Harrisville, which has authority over this situation, blocked this proposal.

Town Councillor David Place then says to Wood, “you and I had that discussion with that new power plant going in, of bringing back that idea of running a line to the new power plant and doing the exact same thing when that new power plant comes in. I think you said that that discussion had come up.”

“They have already reached out to Mike Kirkwood [General Manager of the Pascoag Utility District],” said Wood, “I don’t know about Harrisville…”

“They shouldn’t be involved at all,” said Place, because the wells and siting of the power plant will be entirely inside Burrillville, and Harrisville will have no control over the decision.

“To get to your point, Steve,” continued Wood, addressing Rawson, “that probably will happen, and that will help the well situation…”

Later in the same meeting Town Manager Wood says, “We need to set up something, maybe not right now, to deal with the new power plant… some professional help… to negotiate a deal with them.”

“How soon is that going to be done?” asks Council President John Pacheco.

“Not right away,” answers Wood, “But it should be on our radar screen. Probably within a year.”

“I’m sorry,” says a female town councilor (either Kimberly Brissette Brown or Michelle Bouchard), “What power plant are you talking about?”

“Invenergy,” answers Wood, spelling it out for clarification. “I-N-V-E-N-E-R-G-Y.”

The discussion then turns to the protesters who walked 28 miles, from Burrillville to Providence, in protest of the expansion of the compressor station in Burrillville. Wood laughs when he is asked, “Did those protesters ever make it to Providence?”

Contrary to Council President John Pacheco’s statement last week, the videos make clear that not only was the town council, as a whole, aware that Invenergy was planning to build a power plant in Burrillville, they have been actively involved with the project for months prior to its public announcement.

It also appears that Town Manager Michael Wood suggested the idea of using the MTBE contaminated water to cool the plant, one of the most controversial and potentially dangerous aspects of the plan. If the water isn’t filtered properly or cannot be filtered, dangerous levels of MTBE water will be dumped into the Clear River or released as airborne steam, potentially threatening the health and safety of thousands of Rhode Islanders.

At no time is the idea of not bringing the new power plant to Burrillville discussed by the Town Council. The idea of opposing the plant never seems to have occurred to them.

Many voters in Burrillville are aware of these videos and their faith in their Town Council and state representatives has been severely challenged or even shattered.

The revelation that the Burrillville Town Council, under the leadership of John Pacheco III, has been engaged in ongoing negotiations with Invenergy LLC over potential tax breaks for their Clear River Energy Center gas and oil burning power plant, came as a surprise to many Burrillville residents Wednesday evening. Burrillville Town Solicitor Oleg Nikolyszyn, in a comment on the piece that broke this story objected to the word “secret” saying that the negotiations he and Town Manager Michael Wood were engaged in were “due diligence” and “not behind anyone’s back, or in secret, but openly.” He also says that, “Until now, the Council has not been engaged or negotiating with Invenergy.”

Nikolyszyn feels that he and the Town Manager, “would be remiss if we did not take into consideration what financial benefit the Town would receive.” They are doing, “what professionals are expected to do in a business environment.” At the meeting Nikolyszyn said that the town had a “fiduciary duty” to enter into negotiations.

That’s not what the law says.

Conservation Law Foundation senior lawyer Jerry Elmer maintains that, “one of the most effective ways that the Town Council can seek to prevent the siting of the Invenergy plant is to deny Invenergy the tax treaty it seeks.”

Not entering into a tax treaty with Invenergy will not necessarily stop Invenergy in its tracks, the plant could still go forward and pay higher taxes to the town, taking a hit to their profitability in the process. Elmer reminded me that the profitability of the plant has already suffered two recent hits “when (a) Invenergy cleared only one of two turbines in the February 8 Forward Capacity Auction; and (b) the SENE zonal clearing price had zero premium over the clearing price in Rest of Pool, unlike the previous two auctions in which our zone cleared at a huge premium.”

How many more hits to the plant’s profitability can Invenergy afford?

At Wednesday evening’s Town Council meeting Nikolyszyn was correct when he said that Burrillville has no say in whether or not the plant gets approved for Burrillville. As Elmer helpfully explained,

The underlying reason that the General Assembly created the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) by enacting the Energy Facility Siting Act (EFSA), was that it was assumed that — whenever any major power generation facility is planned to be built anywhere — the local residents in the local town would oppose the plant because of local impacts.  The purpose of the EFSA is to take the power out of the hands of the local officials, who may be subject to constituent pressure to oppose the plant.  That is the reason that all the opinions that the EFSB gets under the EFSA (from DEM, OER, Town of Burrillvile, etc.) are advisory opinions only.  The final decision to grant or deny a permit to build the plant rests solely with the EFSB.  This was the purpose of the law.”

However, “it is in the sole discretion of the Town Council whether or not to grant a beneficial tax treaty to Invenergy.  The Governor cannot force them to do that.  The EFSB cannot force them to do that.”

Pacheco and other Town Council members said over and over that they need to be neutral ahead of any reports that their boards are preparing for the EFSB, because it was the Town Council that nominated the members of these boards. This is of course nonsense. Governor Gina Raimondo, who nominated the members of the EFSB board, has been a major proponent of the plant. Where is her neutrality? Why is she not afraid that her support for the project will affect the people she’s nominated to board positions?

This pretension of neutrality merely shields the Town Council from their responsibility to their constituents, who overwhelmingly do not want this plant. Nikolyszyn might think this is all business as usual but he forgets: government is not business.

The Town Council would be completely in their power to pass a resolution declaring that they will not, under any circumstances, engage in a tax treaty with Invenergy. The company could then decide to go forward with the plant or not, but not only will their profitability suffer, so will their public image.

Reaching a deal with the Town will give Invenergy and Governor Raimondo political coverage. With a tax treaty in place it will be harder to say that the plant was forced on the Town against the will of the people since the company negotiated with the representatives of the people for an “equitable” deal.

Democracy will have worked, supposedly.

Not engaging with Invenergy sends a strong message that this plant is not wanted by the people of Burrillville. The plant can then only proceed against the will of the people, against the wishes of a democratically elected government. A Governor that blatantly disregards the will of the people in such a situation is a tyrant. A company that builds an unwanted facility against a community’s interests is not a community partner but a despoiler.

Now is not the time for wishy-washy politics, business as usual and secret (not secret) negotiations.

If the Burrillville Town Council can’t take a stand, it’s time for the citizens of Burrillville to find new Town Councillors.

I have deep reservations and concerns about the safety and quality of life for local residents should this power plant be allowed to be built. I am very concerned for the welfare of the people living and working in Pascoag The very rural character that Burrillville residents are proudest of and continuously fight to protect would be compromised.

In addition, the town infrastructure, including its roads, would be severely tested, and police, fire, and rescue services would be pushed beyond their capacity to respond adequately should a natural or man-made disaster occur at the plant.

As a Democrat, I believe strongly in protecting our environment. I’m greatly concerned that should this plant be constructed, our abundant, pristine water systems that surround the proposed site would be at risk for contamination and environmental disturbance. Noise pollution and light pollution are another concern. Our town has already suffered from a water contamination crisis. Do we really want to chance another crisis that could have been prevented?

I will remain a tireless advocate for the core principles of the Democratic Party: the interests of working families; protecting our children, elders, and most vulnerable; fighting for rigorous and comprehensive planning; and encouraging public participation in town governance.

I look forward to working with like-minded residents to prevent this plant from being built here in Burrillville.

Invenergy provided the usual dog and pony show. Too many slides full of words. The guy needed an energy boost and a much better power point. He pretended to address the issues, but did not. You could tell he really did not want to be there. He was introduced by the company’s local RI lawyer one of the usual faces I see at the State House. I do not think the lawyer was very happy to see the sea of humanity opposing the project either.

Testimony from the public was OVERWHELMINGLY against the plant. The two towns folk who spoke in favor had nothing to say and were roundly booed. The rank and file union guys were a mixed bag. Some spoke for jobs and some where incoherent. The union leaders were more articulate, but still stuck in the old paradigm. The opposition to the plant was lead by folks who live right in the neighborhood of the proposed plant. Noise, light pollution, toxics, odors, water and the destruction of their dreams and relatively pristine community were cited repeatedly. Many of the local residents also spoke passionately about climate, and the larger context, as did a few of us outsiders.

If public opinion matters, then the EFSB has an easy decision. NO. if the political fix is in and the powers demand that it get built, the EFSB will be shut down as useless. If they can not determine that the plant will prevent us from ever meeting our greenhouse gas emissions goals, pollute the local environment, and create all sorts of hazards and burdens for the community, the EFSB is hiding. If they want to drown Providence they are fools.

I think what I took away from the hearings the most is how out of touch the union leaders are with where the economy is going and where their future jobs are going to be. I worked in construction for many years. It is an honorable way to make a living. But the unions need to learn to stop building things that are bad for communities because that eventually undercuts prosperity and their support in the community. They need to say no to the corporate criminals and stand with communities against destruction. They need to stop being dependent upon corporate criminals for their work and start developing their own projects. They should act more like a cooperative rather than pick up the dregs from the rich and tell communities that this is the way to create jobs. It harms their workers to be seen as harming communities. And in a low growth environment, they need to be even more careful.

There is a lot that needs to be built right now. We need housing that people can actually afford to live in. We need non polluting energy sources, new storm water management systems, better roads, bike paths and rail corridors. But all the union executives seem to do (and maybe this is because the most visible private sector unions are in construction, and the only projects big enough are those that are based on the public’s money) is shill for the worst corporate criminals: in this case an industry that has lied about the harm it does for the last 50 years, that knew greenhouse gases were going to cause big problems, and hid the information.

You have to ask why the pipe-fitters and the steel workers, with their pension funds, do not invest directly in their own workers. Why are they not building their own wind farms or their own solar arrays? Have they bought into the ‘subservient to capital model’ that tells them to be shills for every stupid project that comes down the road so their members can get jobs?

Of course the politicians are also to blame. They refuse to understand the political and economic climate. They think they can muscle communities for corporations and base their careers on looting communities to benefit the rich. When will they get that taking care of communities, ecological healing and economic justice are the road to prosperity, not burning dinosaurs to make the climate as hot as when the dinosaurs lived? And how can anyone who lives in Rhode Island not realize that pretending real estate development is economic development is a scam. Even the World Bank, IMF and OECD tell us that subsidizing the rich works AGAINST community prosperity. But then again, an analysis I read of the World Economic Forum in Davos pointed out that the politicians and the corporate criminals they consort with are the only ones in the whole world who are not ready for a new economy based on justice and healing ecosystems.

I said one thing at the end of my three minutes that I think I will repeat here. If we stop this power plant, it will be a shot heard round the world. The fossil fuel industry must be stopped. Stop the coal mining, stop the pipelines, stop the fracking, stop the building of new infrastructure that ties us into the old system for the next 40 years. If we stop this plant it will be a beacon for people around the world that the empire can be stopped. That we can have a green future.

Little Rhody has a future as a leader, but the economy that gets us there is not the one that Governor Wall St is leading us towards. We have reminded her of this before, and I hope she gets a clue soon.

It has been a long wait, but the people of Burrillville finally got their chance to speak out on the Clear River Energy Center (CREC), Invenergy’s proposed $700 million gas and oil burning electrical plant last night. The Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) held the first public comment hearing in the Burrillville High School auditorium, which holds 600 people. More than 100 people were outside, unable to get in. Hundreds of people signed up to speak, only 48 people got to do so.

The EFSB board is made up of Margaret Curran, chair of the RI Public Utilities Commission and Janet Coit, director of the Department of Environmental Management. The third seat on the board has recently been filled, since Parag Agrawal has been hired as the associate director of the Rhode Island Division of Planning. He begins his new job on April 18, so should be at the next EFSB hearing.

Tensions were high in the auditorium. Michael Sabitoni, president of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council and over a hundred union members arrived early, and many Burrillville natives resented their presence. One speaker from Burrillville claimed that the union members were “intimidating.” A union speaker objected to this, calling the accusation of intimidation, “B.S.”

As near as I can tell, the eight speakers in favor of the power plant were all union members. They made their case based on the 300 construction and 24 permanent jobs that would be created. Sabitoni said that he’s run into meetings like this before, where a community shows up to complain about a large project to be built in their town. He dismissed the concerns of Burrillville citizens as NIMBYism.

Donna Woods was the first speaker, and she was set the tone for the evening. She said that there is a fear that the decision to approve the power plant has already been made, despite Curran and Coit’s insistence to the contrary. During Wood’s testimony, Curran broke protocol and addressed Wood directly, insisting that no decision has been made.

“Many of us feel that we’ve been screaming underwater,” said Woods, “This is real life stuff and we’re really afraid.”

Residents of Burrillville and the surrounding communities are worried about the noise, air pollution, water pollution, the destruction of a pristine environment to make room for the power plant and their property values, which are already dropping. But many speakers spoke of the environmental dangers of fracking, about helping to prevent global warming and sea level rise, and about our greater duty to future generations.

Burrillville has experienced environmental disaster first hand. Well water was contaminated years ago with MBTE from a leaking gas station gas tank. MBTE causes cancer, and many in the auditorium last night have friends and relatives who suffered and died. Between the gas pipeline compressor stations, the Ocean State Power Plant and the MBTE disaster, many residents feel, in the words of one speaker, that, “Burrillville has given enough.”

Invenergy began the public comment hearing with a presentation. I wrote about this 30-60 minute long presentation and questioned the need for it here. Curran introduced the presentation saying it would last 20 minutes, but in fact it lasted longer, much closer to the originally estimated 30 minutes. After cutting the presentation short for time, Curran said that the full report was on the EFSB website, which is a point I made in my piece. An additional six members of the public could have spoken had Invenergy not been needlessly granted that time.

The frustration that the citizens of Burrillville feel about the proposed Invenergy power plant and the EFSB process is only expected to magnify over the next weeks and months. Frustration with their elected leaders in the Town Council, General Assembly and state wide offices is widespread and no one should be surprised if Burrillville seeks change in the upcoming elections.

The next public comment meeting is scheduled for 6pm, Monday, May 23.

• Full video of the EFSB hearing can be seen here
• Burrillville Town Council claims to be powerless against Spectra, Invenergy
• Burrillville Town Council argues with, disappoints residents on gas expansion project
• Power plant already adversely affecting Burrillville property values say realtors
• Burrillville state reps in the hot seat over Invenergy power plant

Sixty people quickly filled the small meeting room, and when the librarian stopped letting in, between two and three times that number were forced to idle in in the parking lot, listen in through the window screens, or leave in frustration.

Kathy Martley of BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion) had invited Representative Cale Keable and State Senator Paul Fogarty to meet with their constituents at the Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library in Harrisville to discuss what can be done about Invenergy’s Clear River Energy Center, a new gas and oil burning energy plant currently planned for the Town of Burrillville. The turnout exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Senator Fogarty set the tone early on, saying that there’s “not a lot the General Assembly can do about [the power plant].” Claiming that he hasn’t yet made up his mind, Fogarty said, “I’m not here to stop the power plant, but I’m not here to put  a shovel in the ground [either].”

Rep Keable agreed, saying that the General Assembly has no control over the EFSB (Energy Facilities Siting Board), the political body tasked with determining the fate of the planned power plant, while acknowledging that “There’a a lot of anger out there.”

In many ways I was reminded of the first Burrillville Town Council meeting I attended back in October, when council members claimed to be powerless against the power plant.

The Town Council recommended contacting Governor Gina Raimondo or State Representative Cale Keable. Now here was Rep Keable and Senator Fogarty, telling residents that, “It comes down to a local issue.” Keable and Fogarty recommend taking it up with the Town Council.

A man stands and tells his state representatives that this isn’t good enough. “The answer is ’no.’ We don’t want the power plant,” he says, “We want you,” said the man, pointing to Keable and Fogarty, “to help us do this. We want you to talk to the Town Council. When there are meetings we want you to be our advocate there…

“There’s going to be a block of people, believe me, standing against this power plant. It’s going to be a movement.”

Burrillville has a history with large corporate projects like this ruining their town. Some well water in town is poisoned with MBTE from an Exxon gas station leak. One woman stood and said that three members of her family contracted cancer during that time. Her property abutted the land used to build the Ocean State Power Plant. She sold her home and moved, only to find that Invenergy wants to build its power plant in her front yard. She wonders about the toxins the plants pollution will rain on her property and into her air and water. “Our property values are already going down. What help are we going to have?

“Am I going to have to wait until my grand kids come down with cancer? Or my busband or my children still living at home? Because that’s what happened to my niece, her husband and her daughter.”

The new power plant will have little to no effect on Burrillville’s electric rates. There are few positives on offer: Some jobs, some tax relief, and a plan to clean the water contaminated with MBTE. The negatives are declining property values, pollution in both air and water, and a degradation of Burrillville’s pristine natural environment.

On Thursday night the people of Burrillville will have their first chance to bring their concerns to the EFSB. If tonight’s informal meeting is any indication, that meeting ought to be very interesting.

Full video of the meeting can be viewed here:

• Burrillville Town Council claims to be powerless against Spectra, Invenergy
• Burrillville Town Council argues with, disappoints residents on gas expansion project
• Power plant already adversely affecting Burrillville property values say realtors