Attleboro Residents to Ze-gen: Not in My Backyard

It was a standing-room crowd of concerned and interested citizens at Attleboro Wednesday night. The crowd of residents were there to speak against Ze-gen, Inc., a renewable energy company proposing to build a $20 million gasification facility in the Attleboro Corporate Campus (former Texas Instruments Industrial Park) on Pleasant Street. 

This was the first of several public presentations and hearings required by the city before the project can move forward. Further informational presentations and public hearings will be conducted before the zoning and planning boards as well as with the health department.

David Robertson, vice president of technology at Ze-gen, founded in 2004, briefly explained that the proposed plant would process 150 tons of waste per day. Items known as “feed stock” would be shredded off site and trucked to the Attleboro facility. Some of the items would include railroad ties, telephone poles, non-recyclable plastics, carpets remnants and wooden pallets.

Robertson described these materials, that otherwise would be headed to the landfill, as being “repurposed” and that the energy that would be generated in the process would be utilized by other businesses within the industrial park.

A total of 200 construction jobs would be created during the construction phase and 20 new jobs when the plant is in operation, according to Robertson.

Alexander Trakimas, principal engineer of SITEC Environmental explained what impacts the proposed plant would have on area wetlands and how the company would mitigate those impacts. His explanation is one of the requirements of the Conservation Commission's permitting process.

There were many concerns voiced at the hearing, many not pertaining to the health of the wetlands but rather the health of the community. 

City Councilor Duff White disputed Ze-gen’s claim that the only waste product produced when the feed stock was heated and vaporized would be a small amount of slag.  “Another byproduct will be toxic dust that I understand to be too toxic to process," he said. 

“The pilot test site located in New Bedford is much smaller, maybe just the size of this room, than what is being proposed here," White said of  Ze-gen. 

Attleboro resident, Arthur Kenyon echoed White’s concern about toxins being released into the community via air and water. “There will be toxic materials being brought into the city adding to the existing pollution," he said. "All of us have had enough. It’s affecting our health.”

Charlie Adler, representing Attleboro Residents with Important Safety Concerns (@RISC) had several concerns including health risks for students attending three area schools. He suggested that the gasification process had the potential to generate air-borne toxins.

Adler further provided the commission materials questioning whether Ze-gen’s proposed gasification plant is really “clean” and “green.”

“Some 150 tons of toxic waste will be trucked into Attleboro seven days a week," Adler said. "Revenue will be generated from tipping fees, money to dispose these products.”

Adler requested through the commission that Ze-gen provide additional information pertaining as to how clean up will be done if ground water is contaminated due to a 100-year flood event or hurricane.

Former Attleboro Fire Chief and candidate for mayor, Ron Churchill also voiced public safety concerns to the commission. His concerns included the need for air monitoring, procedures for storage of materials and about people's exposure to the "volatile materials" used in the gasification process.

John Fertitta had immediate and worrisome concerns about the Ze-gen proposal.

“My property and that of my neighbors’ borders this proposed development," he said. "Cooper’s Pond, located behind the industrial site used to be one of the largest ice producing body of water in the area. Now it’s polluted from TI’s (Texas Instrument’s) run off. Every neighbor of mine has a sump pump. All of us have flooded cellars.”

In light of all of the concerns expressed at the public hearing, Ed Casey attorney for Ze-gen requested a continuance of the public hearing until April 6.

“Our engineer was prepared to address conservation concerns tonight," he said. "We can come back and address issues normally addressed at a zoning or health board meeting. We will tailor our presentation to health and environmental issues.”

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