Politics & Government

Ze-Gen Hearing Draws Another Crowd of Objectors

Attleboro conservation commissioner fights for resident's right to speak during a public hearing on a controversial business.

Attleboro residents again packed Wednesday night to speak out against Ze-Gen, a company that plans to build a gasifcation plant in an industrial park on Pleasant Street.

Ze-Gen's attorney, Edward Casey, went before the Attleboro Conservation Commission to discuss the interest by the public in being included in a site visit to the proposed location for the plant. Casey said Ze-Gen would be open to allowing the public in small groups to visit the site, but the visits would be separate from the official site visit by the commission. 

When Charlie Adler, a resident representing @RISC (Attleboro Residents With Important Safety Concerns), took to the podium to address the commission, he was told by the commission's chairman, Eric Prive, that the hearing was continued and that he could not speak. Prive and commission vice chairman John Marth said residents had enough opportunities during previous hearings to speak out for or against Ze-Gen's request. 

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One member of the commission, Ronald Kobak, stuck his neck out for Adler and moved to allow Adler to speak. 

"I think he is entitled to five minutes of time to respond to a statement by the attorney," Koback said. "It is obvioulsy a matter of public concern. He spent a lot of time and effort investigating it, he deserves five minutes of our time to listen to him."

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A motion was accepted and Adler got his five minutes to make two requests to the commission. 

One was to allow three members of his group and members of the press to go on the site visit. Adler also asked the commission to consider a list of nine conditions to be included if they were to grant Ze-Gen an approval on its Notice of Intent. 

  • No more than 75 tons of material shall be processed by the facility within any 24-hour period.
  • No refuse or waste of any kind shall be incinerated at the facility.
  • No hazardous waste shall be accepted, stored, processed, produced, or emitted by the facility.
  • Ze-gen shall not accept from the NewStream facility any feedstock or waste of any kind other than the industrial glycol residuals described in the Environmental Impact Report.
  • Municipal solid waste shall not be used as a feedstock by the facility.
  • No feedstock containing or derived from construction and demolition debris shall be used by the facility.
  • No quantities of feedstock or waste of any kind shall be deposited or stored on the site, by Ze-gen or NewStream, except in sealed enclosures.
  • All baghouse dust will be stored in sealed containers and removed from the site within seven days of capture.
  • Ze-gen shall request a site assignment for the facility from the City of Attleboro Board of Health.

At a meeting held by the concerned residents after the public hearing, resident Gary Lavoie said the commission needs to realize how important their decision is to the community. 

"I understand the frustration of the commission, but this is really important to us," he said. "This is a big deal. Sorry for the inconvenience and redundancy, but that's just how it is."

"I thought of Norman Rockwell's four freedoms, and one is freedom of speech. We certainly did not have that tonight," said Attleboro resident Florence Gasior. 

"I'd like to commend Ronald Koback for, in the interest of fairness, allowing Charlie to talk," George Morin said. 


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