Brockton's Dirty Power Plant

The Brockton Enterprise offered the article below regarding the proposed Brockton Power Plant. Stop the Power provides additional information regarding construction of the problematic plant near Middleboro's border.

Brockton board urged to reject power plant on legal grounds
Officials claim the application by Advanced Power is not complete


“The petition should be denied for failure to secure all ‘obtainable permits,’” wrote state Sen. Robert Creedon and his wife, Rep. Geraldine Creedon, in a letter to the commission.

The proposed fossil-fuel-burning plant is under review by the Conservation Commission because it would be built near wetlands, including the Salisbury River.

The project must get the go-ahead from the commission before construction can begin, barring an override of the board by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Rejection of the project would not bring it to a halt but could still complicate matters, requiring added legal steps by the Swiss company that would build the Advanced Power plant.

At the request of the company, the Conservation Commission closed its hearings on the project last Thursday. The board has 21 days from then to rule on the application.

However, prior to starting this process, applicants are usually required to file for the necessary local permits, such as a site plan review from the Planning Board.

Advanced Power officials admittedly haven’t done this, saying instead that they are asking state energy regulators for an exemption from local review.

That hasn’t satisfied several city officials, including the Conservation Commission.

“As to whether the applicant had filed for all obtainable local permits, the commission does not feel that has been done,” said commission chairwoman Stephanie Danielson.

Lawmakers Robert and Geraldine Creedon, along with a city-hired special attorney, Drew Hoyt, are arguing that this is grounds for a denial.

Along with the letter from the Creedons, the commission has received a legal opinion from Hoyt, which contends the application is incomplete and must be rejected.

The Advanced Power project manager, Ronald Kelly, said the company has met its obligations.

The pursuit of an exemption from the state Energy Facilities Siting Board is equal to seeking the local permits, he contended.

“It’s a difference of opinion,” Kelly said of the disagreement over the matter.

If the Conservation Commission denies the application, Kelly said the company will “cross that bridge when we come to it,” declining to say what actions might be taken.

“We’re not making any statements at this point,” he said.

Danielson, of the Conservation Commission, said the commission won’t reach a decision on the application until the next meeting. The date had not been finalized as of Saturday.

If the commission approves the project, it might still make additional requirements through an order of conditions, Danielson said.

If the commission issues a denial, the company could appeal it to the Department of Environmental Protection or could ask to re-open the hearing, in order to present more information, Danielson said.

The $350 million plant is slated for a 13-acre site off Oak Hill Way on Brockton’s south side, and would primarily use natural gas, though it could also burn a type of diesel.

The project is widely opposed by city officials, and also by many residents, who are urging the Siting Board to reject the project at the state level. Possible health impacts and the use of global-warming-causing fossil fuels are among their concerns.

Advanced Power officials hope to win all approvals by the end of the year, and to open the plant by 2011.