Biomass backed by a giant
By Deborah Rothschild
Posted:01/08/2011 08:00:29 AM EST
Saturday January 8, 2011
Despite being denied its petition to break ground by the end of December 2010, Beaver Wood Energy, the company proposing to build a wood-burning biomass plant on the former racetrack site in Pownal, has by no means given up on its plans.
Beaver Wood (aka Alternative Energy and GenPower) intends to press on, with its usual strategy of coming into economically depressed towns, staying a few years, then leaving the locals a legacy of health problems, pollution, blight on scenic views and legal fees.
But Beaver Wood is a small cog in a much bigger wheel: Citizens should know that Beaver Wood's partner is Bechtel Power Corp. and Development Co., a multi-billion-dollar mega corporation that will provide the development capital, as well as design and construct the proposed Pownal facility. This corporate giant has a long record of corrupt dealings and irresponsible construction. Bechtel is so powerful that it has gained political clout and has sway over many of our legislators.
What do we know about Bechtel's record on how accountable it is to public health and safety? Here is a summary of its domestic record alone, by organizations monitoring corporate development activity ( [and others]):
Bechtel was charged with mismanagement on the "Big Dig" highway/tunnel project in Boston. The Boston Globe, Feb. 2003, published a year-long report by the state inspector general that found hundreds of errors in design and construction during the 17 years Bechtel was involved with the project. The report claimed, "Bechtel failed to heed warnings of problems in the design drawings, even from its own engineers."
Later, the project was plagued by such problems as widespread water leaks and a fatality in the tunnel when a three-ton concrete panel fell onto a woman's car. The National Transportation Safety Board faulted Bechtel for failing to check whether the glue used to hold the panel bolts could slip over time.
The Department of Homeland Security found more than $40 million of waste in the temporary housing, no-bid contracts awarded to Bechtel in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
From 2000-2008, Bechtel was cited seven times for safety violations in its major projects for the U.S. Department of Energy, including plutonium, waste treatment and nuclear plants. Along with billions of dollars in cost overruns, there were allegedly many cases of design and engineering mistakes attributable to Bechtel.
We've already been warned about the dangers to public health that biomass wood-burning creates. The microscopic particles emitted from these plants pose health hazards. They stay airborne and are dispersed widely over an estimated 3-to 5-mile area. The water needed to cool the wood amounts to more than 500,000 gallons a day, depleting our local ground water and wells -- and the living environment they sustain.
Our forests are already being denuded at an alarming rate. At this moment, great swaths of public woodlands are being clear-cut for wood-burning biomass factories here and abroad. We are short-sightedly destroying what we need most, since trees absorb carbon and pollutants from the atmosphere. In the process of cutting down our forests, we are creating soil erosion and upsetting the delicately balanced ecosystems that are home to a variety of tree species, plants and animals.
For all this, the Beaver Wood Energy plant will give us 2 or 3 percent on the energy grid. We could do much better for much less than the $250 million price tag for building the facility by insulating and refitting our homes and offices and by conserving and recycling -- and in the process create sustainable local jobs.
The fact that Bechtel is involved in the planned Pownal biomass plant means that powerful resources are at Beaver Wood's disposal. But people can make a difference. It is important for citizens to write their legislators and demand accountability. A massive writing campaign showing awareness of Bechtel's collusion with politicians will hold our legislators feet to the fire.
I urge citizens of Pownal, Bennington, Williamstown and North Adams to go to for the names and addresses of their legislators and to write.
Independent scholar Deborah Rothschild is a former senior curator of the Williams College Museum of Art and an active member of the Bennington-Berkshire Citizens Coalition.