Kathy Sherman – RI Future

May 26, 2016May 26, 2016

Sound and fury over power plant at the Burrillville Town Council

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Wednesday night’s Burrillville Town Council meeting began on a cautionary note as Council President John Pacheco warned those in attendance against outbursts, threats or cursing. These meetings are recorded, said Pacheco. The last meeting went too far, said Pacheco, and anyone acting that way tonight will be asked to leave. “Keep it civil, please,” said Pacheco.

Pacheco also acknowledged a change of policy regarding public comment under the Open Meetings Act. At previous meetings the town council maintained that they were not allowed to respond to comments and that only items on the agenda were allowed during public comment. Tonight Pacheco agreed that neither of these conditions are required under the law. This meant that tonight’s meeting was much more robust with the town council now having to say that they don’t want to answer certain questions, rather than saying that they are unable to answer.

Residents of Burrillville are up in arms about Invenergy‘s proposed fracked gas and diesel-oil burning power plant planned for the town. The plant’s owners promise lower taxes but residents say it will bring noise and pollution, as well as destroy precious wildlife habitats. The town council has been slow to respond to resident concerns about the power plant, and many feel that Town Manager Michael Wood has been actively working to bring the plant to town, rather than working in the best interests of residents.

Civility was maintained, but the anger of town residents was clearly on display. It was revealed at this meeting that on Saturday a group of anti-Power Plant protesters were asked to leave the Farmer’s Market because of their signs, petitions and tee shirts. This directive, say residents, came from Town Manager Wood. When asked about this at the meeting, Wood said that he only told the police and Burrillville Farmers’ Market Association Market Manager Deb Yablonski to not allow signs, not petitions and shirts. Wood said there is a long standing rule against “politicking” at the farmer’s market.

(When RI Future called Wood’s office earlier in the day to discuss this, Wood was out of the office and did not return our call)

Barry Craig, a lawyer, asked that the Town Council “provide guidance to the town manager” on the First Amendment, including the right to free speech and assembly. Lauren Niedel, a resident of nearby Glocester, rose to object to the word “politicking” saying that opposition to the power plant is not a political campaign.

Burrillville resident Jan Luby rose to express her distrust of Town Manager Wood. “I don’t believe our Town Manager is with us on this,” said Luby, “You’ve lied to us and we’ve caught you in those lies.” Christopher Watson rose to say, “He does not like this town, he does not treat the people of this town with respect.”

It was Jeremy Bailey who brought the conversation about Michael Wood to a boil, calling the town manager “a cancerous tumor.” Noting that he has heard from many people that Town Manager Wood is a bully, Bailey told the people on the stage, which included the entire town council and legal counsel of the Burrillville, “I bet there are people on the stage right now who have been bullied by Wood.” Bailey asked that the town council pass a resolution removing Wood from power, buying out his contract if necessary.

The town council took no action on Wood’s contract.

Residents were also concerned that the evening’s “executive session” of the town council, where the public is not allowed to observe, was being called by Wood to fast track a tax agreement with Invenergy for the power plant, ahead of Representative Cale Keable‘s bill that would allow the voters of the town to approve or reject such a tax treaty. Though the executive meeting was called by Wood and did concern Invenergy, residents were assured that no such action would take place.

There were a multitude of interconnecting issues discussed at the town council meeting concerning both the power plant proposed by Invenergy and the LNG compressor station upgrade proposed by Spectra. The compressor station emits a constant noise, which occasionally becomes extremely loud. Loud enough that some residents receive notifications ahead of “blow offs.” Residents fear that the new power plant will add to the noise once constructed, never mind the noise from trucks delivering materials to the build site and the sounds of construction.

Kathy Sherman said that Spectra, in their own materials, acknowledges that they are above the town mandated limit of 55 decibels. During a blow off, where LNG is literally released into the atmosphere to relive pressure in the pipeline, the sound is great enough that Sherman feels it would have given her husband a heart attack if he wasn’t given ample warning. Blow off, said resident Stephanie Sloman, emits 45 thousand tons of LNG a year from that one compressor station in Burrillville.

Spectra plans to build a bigger (and presumably larger) compressor station there soon.

Nicholas Cook gave a demonstration of the noise levels heard by residents. The low tone generated by Cook is not heard well on the recording below, but the sound immediately annoyed town solicitor Oleg Nikolyszyn, who asked that the sound be turned off almost immediately. Imagine that sound lasting from 10pm to 4am, almost every night, said resident Kathy Sherman, who lives 2050 feet from the compressor station.

You can watch Nick Cook’s noise demonstration, and all the rest of the Burrillville Town Council meeting, at least those parts concerning the power plant, below.

December 29, 2015May 3, 2016

Invenergy attempts to sideline public input on proposed power plant in Burrillville

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Lawyers for Invenergy have filed documents with the court objecting to the Motions for Intervention filed by several local property owners, activist groups and individuals. At contention is the proposed “Clear River Energy Center” (CREC), a 850-1000 megawatt power plant fueled by imported methane gas, to be built in Burrillville.

The Rhode Island Energy Facilities Siting Board (RI EFSB) has scheduled a preliminary hearing to consider Invenergy’s application for January 12 at 9:30am. Public commentary will not be heard at this hearing, only those parties and participants granted intervenor status by the Siting Board will have a voice in the proceedings.

In their court filing, Invenergy objected to the following groups and individuals’ motion for intervenor status: property owners Dennis and Kathy Sherman and Paul and Mary Boldue; activist and political groups Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI, the Progressive Democrats of Rhode Island (RIPDA), Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG) and Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE); and Sister Mary Pendergast, as an individual.

Invenergy does not have “specific objections” to the intervention requests of the Town of Burrillville, the State of RI Office of Energy Resources, National Grid, the Burrillville Land Trust or the Conservation Law Foundation.

Invenergy contends that intervention should only be granted to “Parties that have either statutory rights to intervene, directly affected interests that will not be adequately represented by other parties, or special public interests that compel intervention as a Party.”

Invenergy also objects to a separate motion “to extend the intervention period and to postpone the Preliminary Hearing” submitted by FANG and BASE.

In their motion requesting a 45 day extension of the deadline to intervene, FANG and BASE argued that, “At the December 9th Burrillville Town Council Meeting, several residents voiced their confusion with the intervenor process and expressed frustration with the lack of information provided about the process. Residents posed questions to the Town Council that the Council was not equipped to answer.” Note that the Town of Burrillville, though ill-equipped to answer rudimentary questions about the process at the Town Council meeting, is one of the groups that Invenergy says will “adequately” and “capably” represent the public interest.

The requested extension, maintains FANG and BASE, would allow “interested individuals and parties… more time to learn more about the intervention process, seek legal counsel and draft motions to intervene.”

The Siting Board, according to the motion filed by FANG and BASE, sent out “the first announcement for the public hearing… on November 17th to only sixteen parties, most of whom were local or state government agencies or elected officials. November 17th was one week before the Thanksgiving holiday. The deadline for filing as an intervenor was set as December 22rd, leaving two days before Christmas and one day before Eid Milad ulNabi (the observance and celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s life). Also happening during the intervention period was the Hanukkah holiday from December 7th-14th.”

Residents affected by the proposed power plant’s siting were informed of the process with little time to seek counsel or determine if their interests were to be covered by approved intervenors. At the December 9 Burrillville Town Council meeting, Town Manager Michael Wood told Kathy Sherman that the town council’s job is to represent Burrillville, but that doesn’t mean that the town council will be representing every concern of every resident.

Yet in their court filing objecting to intervenor status being granted to Dennis and Kathy Sherman and Paul and Mary Boldue, Invenergy claims that their interests will be adequately protected by the Town of Burrillville as a Party.

Invenergy objected to Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI and RIPDA being granted intervenor status because none of the groups is represented by a lawyer. The groups maintain that the rule cited by Invenergy is applicable to Parties, as legally defined, and not to participants. Further, Invenergy claims that the groups will not “be ‘directly affected’ by the project in a manner that will not be represented by other parties.”

Hilariously, one of the Parties that Invenergy claims will represent the interests of Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI and RIPDA is National Grid, a company with a history of disregarding the concerns of Rhode Islanders and the environment in its endless craving for corporate profits.

Invenergy further claims that “interests related to carbon emissions and the state’s overall energy policy will be more than adequately represented by other Parties” including the Governor’s Office of Energy Resources. Governor Gina Raimondo has very publicly supported the proposed energy plant, so it is highly doubtful that the interests of Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI and RIPDA will be represented by Parties advocating for her interests.

FANG and BASE were represented by a lawyer in their motion to intervene, but Invenergy says that these “grassroots organizations” will be “cabably represented” by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the Town of Burrillville, the DPUC and the RI Department of Environmental Management.

This is another strange statement, because when I emailed Josh Block, the press secretary for the Conservation Law Foundation, he wrote back saying, “By intervening in the pending Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) docket, CLF will present multiple arguments as to why Invenergy should be denied a permit to build an expensive, long-lived, carbon-emitting fossil-fuel power plant. A proposal such as this which makes little economic or environmental sense has unsurprisingly garnered opposition from a large number of stakeholders, each with unique interests and perspectives. Thus, any assertion that CLF’s participation in the docket is a reason for excluding other intervenors in the process is as misguided as the proposal itself.” (Italics mine)

2015-12-05 FANG Arrests Spectra 022 — Sister Mary Pendergast, in pink, being arrested

Sister Mary Pendergast, explaining her reasons for being arrested during a protest organized by FANG and BASE, said, “Pope Francis has called us all to an ecological conversion and he said it is essential and not an option.” Her motion to intervene has also been opposed by Invenergy, apparently, because her philosophical and theological concerns will be “adequately” and “capably” represented by the corporate and governmental interests of approved Parties, which is errant nonsense.

The fact is that the interests of the people will not be adequately represented in these proceedings if these motions for intervention are denied. The interests of the public are routinely and bureaucratically sidelined by relegating our voices to public commentary hearings with no real power or weight. Invenergy, though, depends on these public hearings to provide the appearance of public input where there is none, saying, “There will be ample opportunity… to provide comments, views, oppositions and data, in the form of public comment, in writing or in public testimony, at the appropriate time…”

This is how the voices of the public are silenced. We are relegated to separate, lesser forums, scheduled after the real decisions have been made. We are allowed to speak only when our objections have been rendered moot. It is only after our rights have been sacrificed to appease corporate power and after our world is destroyed that our voices will be heard, and that will be too late.

The motions for intervention should be granted.

December 10, 2015May 3, 2016

Burrillville Town Council argues with, disappoints residents on gas expansion project

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Burrillville Town Councilor Stephen Rawson became combative with some of those who spoke against the Spectra pipeline expansion and Invenergy’s new fracked methane power plant at this week’s council meeting.

Rawson was quiet early on as Kathy Martley, who leads BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion), read her statement about the health and environmental dangers of a methane gas energy plant. She ended her talk by urging the town council to pass a resolution opposing the buildup of fracked gas infrastructure in Burrillville.

Rawson was even quiet when Nick Katkevich of FANG (Fighting Against Natural Gas) handed out copies of a recent story in RI Future in which two former Spectra safety inspectors alleged dangerous working conditions on Spectra’s build sites and a disregard for environmental and safety regulations.

But Rawson’s ability to restrain himself reached its limit with the third speaker, Lauren Niedel, who spoke of why she opposes the buildup of fracked methane infrastructure in northern Rhode Island and why she decided to be arrested for trespass, along with seven others, as a protest against Spectra over the weekend.

In the course of her testimony Niedel said that, “Governor Raimondo just came out saying she wants us to be using 100 percent renewable energy by 2025,” a reference to Raimondo’s executive order, signed in a State House ceremony the day before. Niedel misspoke, she meant to say that the order was for all state buildings to be using 100 percent renewables by 2025.

Rawson jumped on Niedel for this. “Can you give the date and time that Governor Raimondo said these things?” he asked.

“Yesterday,” said Niedel, along with several other people crowded in to the town council chambers. “It was for government buildings.”

“I believe it would be hypocritical of [Raimondo] to have a press conference to welcome the power plant, then come out with that statement,” said Rawson, “But for state buildings, that’s different.”

Rawson then looked at Niedel and admonished her, saying, “That was an exaggeration.”

“I’m sorry I misspoke,” said Niedel.

Of course, this wasn’t the point Niedel was trying to make. Governor Raimondo supports the proposed Invenergy Clear River power plant. The plant will have “a 30 year life span,” said Niedel, “We will be indebted with a fossil fuel infrastructure until 2050, making us beholden to Invenergy until then.”

Niedel’s point appears to be that for the Governor to have one standard for state buildings and another for the the rest of Rhode Island is hypocritical, or at least inconsistent. But that point was lost on Rawson, who went in for a cheap rhetorical hit instead of grappling with Niedel’s larger point.

Later that same evening Rawson got into what seemed to be a full on argument with Kathy Sherman, a Burrillville resident seeking clarification on just what the Town Council would be doing when negotiating with Invenergy about the proposed power plant. Sherman’s home is within a half mile of the plant’s location, and she is afraid that her property values are going to plummet due to the noise and air pollution a large power plant will bring. Will the town council be representing her needs, she wondered, or should she and her neighbors retain their own lawyers?

It was a complex question, and Town Manager Michael Wood didn’t have a lot of information or satisfactory answers. Much of what Invenergy is proposing hasn’t been fully revealed yet. There are hundreds of details to nail down. The town council’s job is to represent Burrillville, said Wood, but that doesn’t mean that the town council will be representing every concern of every resident.

Rawson then jumped in to explain that 25 years ago, the town went through the exact same process with the Ocean State energy plant. There was noise, there was construction, there was the “occasional blow off” but the plant ultimately had no effect on property values, said Rawson.

“That was 30 years ago,” replied Sherman, “things are different now.”

“Not 30 years,” said Rawson.

“1987, 2015. That’s thirty years, minus two,” she countered.

Now Rawson was exasperated. “Can I speak now?” he asked, eager to finish what he called his “history lesson.”

“Maybe you should listen instead of talking,” said Sherman. She didn’t have time for history lessons. She needed to understand the town council’s intentions, and was realizing that the town council had little idea of what it’s intentions were going to be.

“Please be patient,” commanded Rawson, “We’re going to do what’s necessary to mitigate the negative impacts.”

“You sound like Algonquin,” said Sherman, to a smattering of applause. She was referring to Spectra’s Algonquin pipeline expansion.

“Algonquin’s not the issue here,” countered Rawson, employing one of the town council’s favorite tactics, “We’re talking about the power plant.”

Whenever a speaker brings up an aspect of the power plant in reference to the pipeline or mentions the pipeline in relation to the power plant, town councilors pounce on the chance to explain that these are two different projects from two different companies. Of course most of those speaking to the town council know this. The projects, though different, are related: by proximity, because both projects are in Burrillville; by nature, as they are both methane infrastructure projects; and by business, since the pipeline will be supplying the methane that powers the energy plant.

Rawson and some other town councillors sometimes smugly correct speakers in this way to score easy, rhetorical points and shut down the conversation. Maybe it’s easier than addressing the concerns of the public in an honest, open way.

“We are in the process of developing an idea of what we want to do,” said Wood, the town manager. “You have to take a leap of faith and trust that the town council will do what’s best.”

This inspired pained groans from the audience.

Outside, after the meeting, residents clustered in small groups, talking about what had just transpired inside. They were not very happy. A consensus quickly formed that Rawson and Councillor Donald Fox, who had interrupted and admonished a woman in an argument about water filters, never treated male speakers with the kind of disrespect and argumentative tone they used when addressing women.

One resident, who hadn’t spoken during the meeting, asked if it was possible to recall the council members and force a new election. Another pointed out that they were in an election year, and that change was in the offing if the town council doesn’t begin to better represent the concerns of the residents.

There were three categories of speakers at the town council meeting. Those for the methane infrastructure build up, those against it, and those neutral on the subject but who are afraid that having such facilities so close to their homes will ruin their property values. Kathy Sherman falls into the last category.

Only two people spoke in favor of the new power plant. Chris Votta is a union iron worker, interested in the construction jobs the project will create. David Eston is a power plant worker who believes that methane will be a necessary bridge fuel as we make the conversion to renewables.

But every other speaker, and a large number of those crowded into the council chambers, opposed the project.

In their flyer “Invenergy talks about clean energy, then proposes gas, not a clean energy,” said one resident, “natural gas and fracking is exactly the opposite of” clean energy.

“Having a second power plant in this small town is complete insanity,” said another.

Lorraine Broussard, a self-described “ardent environmentalist” was one of the last to speak against the projects, saying, “Fossil fuel is a dinosaur on the eve of extinction… Natural Gas is a fracking lie.”

October 15, 2015May 3, 2016

Burrillville Town Council claims to be powerless against Spectra, Invenergy

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More than 50 people packed the Burrillville Town Council chamber to register their objection to the Spectra energy pipeline expansion and the new $700 million “Clear River” methane power plant that’s proposed for Wallum Lake Road by Invenergy. Kathy Martley, of Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE), presented the town council with research she had gathered outlining the health risks and dangers of pipelines and power plants in the community.

Council President John Pacheco III and the other councilors did not seem very receptive to the concerns of the citizens in attendance. In response to questions raised at previous meetings about half the town council recently toured the Spectra plant and examined the work being done on the pipeline. They left satisfied that the pipes were not corroding and that the noise levels were within acceptable limits.

One town councilor said that during the tour they were told that Spectra was digging up some pipelines, so the noise was louder than usual. She seemed surprised that those in attendance laughed. But it was less funny when the town council revealed that all the information they have on Spectra’s actions and all the information they have on safety and public health issues comes from Spectra, and there are no other sources of information available.

“We have no legal authority to regulate or look at their reports,” said Pacheco, “We have to rely on Spectra.”

This was the refrain of the Burrillville Town Council throughout the meeting. Only FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency) can regulate Spectra, claims the town council. Spectra doesn’t even have to obey the town’s noise ordinances. “We don’t have control over Spectra and we can’t enforce local ordinances” against them, said Town Councilor David Place.

Meanwhile the vibrations from the pipeline compressors are so overpowering that plates rattle in the cabinets of Kathy Sherman’s home, who lives across the street from Spectra, she said. She warned the town council that there may be dire impacts on Burrillville due to Spectra’s expansion that have nothing to do with health or the environment.

“When you have people leaving, not paying their taxes, you will suffer for that,” she said.

Said Kathy Martley of BASE, “The value of this town is going into the toilet. I urge you to pass a resolution to oppose this power plant.” The crowd overwhelmingly agreed, applauding and cheering Martley’s words. But the town council seemed unwilling to be moved by their voters.

“FERC and the governor have all the power,” says Councilor Nancy Binns, “we don’t.”

Several times Council President Pacheco tried to close off comment, and several times those in attendance had to insist on being heard. “Why don’t we get to vote on this?” asked a man at the back of the crowd, “Newport votes on gambling over and over again, but we just have to accept this?”

Instead of addressing the man’s concerns, Councilor Stephen Rawson insisted that discussing the new power plant would be illegal, since it’s not on the agenda, only the pipeline expansion is. This was news to Kathy Martley of BASE, who told me after the meeting that she’s pretty sure she asked that both items be on tonight’s docket.

Spectra held an open meeting recently in Burrillville. Residents were annoyed that “union people” holding signs in support of Spectra arrived early and took up all the parking spaces at the too small venue. Others complain that they don’t get proper notification about meetings from Spectra.

“Don’t you get notification of meetings?” asks a councilor.

“NO!” shouts virtually everyone in frustration.

“We asked about their notification process,” says Councilor Donald Fox, “they admitted that they aren’t as good as they used to be.”

Meanwhile, says Kathy Sherman, “No one from Spectra will return calls.”

The Town Councilors don’t want to be discussing this. They claim to be powerless in the face of Spectra. They recommend contacting Governor Gina Raimondo or State Representative Cale Keable. A man behind me says, referring to Keable, “He’s useless.”

Burrillville is home to two interstate methane gas pipelines, two methane gas compressor stations and the Ocean State power plant. Spectra Energy’s compressor station is already being expanded and a second expansion has been proposed. The proposed “Clear River” power plant plans to use Pascoag’s MBTE (methyl tert-butyl ether) tainted water supply for cooling.

In their press release, BASE suggested three things the town council could do in opposition to new methane energy infrastructure:

-Invenergy, the company that wants to build the plant, will try to negotiate with the town for a lower tax rate. If the Town refuses to negotiate with Invenergy and refuses to give them a tax break, the plant won’t be built.

-The Town will be asked by State agencies to submit official opinions about the power plant. If the Town Council says that they are against the plant, the State permits might not get approved.

-The power plant would need huge amounts of water to operate. The town has some power to deny Invenergy access to the local water supply and the pipes that will be needed to transport the water.

Amanda, another member of BASE, wants to know what the town council has done to move Burrillville towards a renewable energy future. After a few minutes of prevaricating, Councilor David Place is forced to admit that they’ve done almost nothing.

Invenergy also builds renewable energy power plants says Amanda, before demanding that the town council tell Invenergy to, “go solar or go home!”

After public comment on the subject is finally closed, and the citizens leave the building and gather outside on the sidewalk, no one seems happy with the performance of the town council. There is anger and frustration and talk of electing town councilors willing to stand with them against Spectra and Invenergy.

“When I started this two years ago, they could ignore me,” says Kathy Martley, of BASE, “They can’t ignore us any more.”