The Burrillville Democratic Town Committee voted unanimously to endorse three candidates for town council. All three oppose the $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant proposed for the town by Invenergy and supported by the present town council.

“In all these cases,” said Committee Chairman Stephen Mulcahey, “we have candidates who are committed to opposing the proposed power plant. In addition, these candidates have the experience and capacity to govern past this one issue”.

The three candidates are:

• Jim Alix, a retired school counselor (MSW). He and his wife, Kathy, a retired school teacher have been residents of Burrillville for over 30 years. Jim has been an active member of the Burrillville Parks and Rec program as well the Burrillville Extended Care Program.
• Michael Dutilly, a career firefighter and union president of the Harrisville Fire Department. Mike is a lifelong resident of Burrillville and a graduate of Burrillville High School. Mike is married and has a newborn baby boy.
• Bob Perreault, a multi-generational Burrillville resident. Bob is a retired Zambarano Hospital employee where he spent his career caring for patients. Bob was a Therapeutic Services provider and has a keen sense of empathy for our fellow residents at Zambarano Hospital.

It is thought that Councillors Nancy Binns and Kimberly Brissette Brown will not be seeking re-election. The only councillor up for re-election is Council President John Pacheco. Councillor David Place, not up for re-election, has plans to run for state representative, against Cale Keable. It’s unclear how this race would affect the make up of the Town Council.

A new Burrillville Town Council may come too late to have an impact on the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB)’s decision regarding the plant. Close observers say the current make up of the Town Council supports the plant 4-3, with Stephen Rawson, David Fox, Place and Binns in support and Pacheco, Brissete Brown and Michelle Bouchard against.

At the same meeting, the Burrillville Democratic Town Committee gave its endorsement for reelection to State Senator Paul Fogarty and State Rep. Cale Keable, who made an unsuccessful play in the State House to pass legislation that would give voters in Burrillville the opportunity to vote on any tax treaties the town council negotiates with energy companies in the town. That bill died in the Senate under “curious” conditions.

Problem is, Wood is wrong.

Wood was speaking to around 150 Burrillville residents at a “Town Council Special Meeting” held to answer questions and concerns regarding Invenergy’s proposed $750 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning electrical plant.

Nick Katkevich, from the Fang Collective, had just read from aloud the relevant passage from the RI General Laws concerning Burrillville and energy plant taxation, as quoted in RI Future:

44-3-30 Burrillville – Property taxation of electricity generating facilities located in the town. – Notwithstanding any other provisions of the general laws to the contrary, the town council of the town of Burrillville is authorized to determine, by ordinance or resolution, an amount of taxes to be paid each year on account of real or personal property used in connection with any facility for the generation of electricity located in the town, notwithstanding the valuation of the property or the rate of tax.

Council president John Pacheco told Katkevich that the item wasn’t properly on the agenda.

Burrillville resident Kenneth Putnam Jr. then rose and asked a follow up question, which provoked Wood’s response.

This exchange was provoked by a piece I wrote, in which I consulted with lawyers on background. To check my logic, I wrote Jerry Elmer, a Senior Attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation for his opinion. Elmer is an expert in climate change and renewable energy law and has literally written many of the laws currently on the books in Rhode Island regarding energy and climate.

Elmer’s response to my query is worth quoting in its entirety:

The Rhode Island state law on this matter is clear and unambiguous, even if not everyone is familiar with the law.  The Rhode Island statute I am referring to is R.I. General Laws § 44-3-30.  That statute gives the Town of Burrillville (which, legally, would act through the Town Council) the right to set the real estate taxes for any electricity generation plant within the Town (including, but not limited to Invenergy) at any level the Town wants.  Importantly, the level at which the Town taxes the energy plant (such as Invenergy) need not be sensible or reasonable.  For example, the Town could legally charge Invenergy $1 per decade in property taxes.  The Town could legally charge Invenergy $1 billion per week (or per day, or even per hour) in property taxes.  One could have a reasonable argument as to whether any of those tax levels I just mentioned are sensible, or whether (or not) they represent good public policy.  But under that statute (RIGL 44-3-30) they are legal.

“It is also important to note that the statute explicitly says that this is true notwithstanding any other state law to the contrary.  Thus, even if someone could point to a different state law on municipal property taxation, the provisions of RIGL 44-3-30 would trump that other (possible) law.  The statute also is true notwithstanding what tax rate the Town of Burrillville has on other properties (like local homes and businesses).  The statute is also true notwithstanding the actual valuation of the Invenergy power plant.

“The short of it is that there is a specific, very detailed, state law that speaks to this exact question, and which trumps other state laws.  By law, the Burrillville Town Council can set Invenergy’s property tax at any level it chooses; and, if the Town Council chooses, it has the legal authority to set that tax rate so high that Invenergy would pack its bags immediately and leave the Town forever.”

Earlier, Councillor David Place interrupted Katkevich, asking everyone present that even if the law as written and understood were true, “How long do you think it will be before that law is changed, if the Governor and the General Assembly want to pass the plant?”

Changing the law in the middle of negotiations to favor one party over another would be a pretty big move on the part of the Governor and the General Assembly, especially in the face of widening opposition to the plant and the rising unpopularity of our elected leaders. And the very idea of changing the law in that way is of dubious legality. But that’s a question for another day.

The “Town Council Special Meeting” was held in the Beckwith-Bruckshaw Memorial Lodge, a place with no microphones. From the beginning people in the back had difficulty hearing the proceedings. Only three Town Councillors, John Pacheco III, Stephen Rawson and David Place, attended. Town Planner Tom Kravitz gave a short presentation and answered many questions from those in attendance.

The general tenor of the meeting was one of distrust and exasperation. For instance, while the Town Council won’t reveal any details of tax deal negotiations with Invenergy, on Dan Yorke’s television show State of Mind, John Niland, Development Director for Invenergy and the company’s public face for the project floated the number $3.6 million a year in taxes and rising, over 20 years. This was more information than has ever been volunteered by the Burrillville Town Council.

The people of Burrillville have real concerns. Time and again Town Manager Wood says he “can’t discuss the particulars” of the pending deal with Invenergy, provoking those in attendance last night to reply that they “get all our information” from John Niland on Dan Yorke. In the video below, a resident points out that in her email exchange with Wood, the Town Manager didn’t seem to realize that her home was in the area determined to be affected by the power plant.

“How can we trust that you have our best interests at heart when clearly, I’m in a severely impacted area, and you’re saying I’m not?”

It gets worse.

Tiya Loiselle is a veteran whose home value has dropped nearly $50 thousand in value since January. She was hoping to build equity in her home, but instead she’s rapidly going underwater, because of the possibility of this plant coming to her town.

As much as the residents of Burrillville seem to distrust their Town Council, they distrust Governor Gina Raimondo more.

Governor Raimondo “has been on the wrong side of a lot of issues because she doesn’t listen to the people,” said one speaker.

“She doesn’t reply to your emails,” said another.

“Did she not say that she would meet” with us, asked a woman, who was answered by another woman with, “I followed up, and sent her a message asking ‘Are you still planning to come to Burrillville?’ and she said ‘You’ll have to talk to my advisory board.’”

“You can’t trust the Governor,” said the first woman, “You understand why you see Trump signs everywhere, because no one trusts the Governor any more.”

Perhaps no one at the meeting expressed the impotence, fear and anger felt by the people of Burrillville better than Deborah Krieg, a “mom from Burrillville”. Her short speech to the Town Council was heart breaking:

You can watch the entire Town Council meeting 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.

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.”

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.”