Town of Burrillville Asks Army Corps of Engineers to REQUIRE Environmental Impact Statement for Invenergy Plant

EIS Needed to Consider Environmental, Socio-economic & Cultural Impact
Must Also Include the 8.5 Mile Burrllville Interconnect Project

Burrillville, RI: The Town of Burrillville is requesting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be conducted on the Invenergy power plant which is proposed for the pristine forestland of Burrillville.

The Town is also requesting a Public Hearing to allow various stakeholders to publicly voice their concerns and have their concerns directly addressed by federal natural resource protection agency professionals.

The requests come as part of written testimony to the USACE regarding Invenergy’s application for a Clean Water Act Wetlands permit. In a letter to the USACE, Burrillville Attorney Michael R. McElroy writes:

“The Town specifically requests that the ACOE -New England District comply with the Department of the Army regulations and require the Applicant to prepare an EIS to address the anticipated adverse impacts that the CREC facility and associated Burrillville Interconnect Project would have on the various resources of the natural and build environment and their respective natural, cultural and socioeconomic resources/ receptors.

“The Town and various stakeholders share several concerns related to the adverse impacts to the environment that the construction and operation of this plant would have should this application be approved without due regard to its environmental impacts.

“Moreover, on June 20, 2019, the RI Energy Facility Siting Board ruled that the proposed CREC facility is not needed.”

The Town asserts that only an EIS would be sufficient to address the adverse impacts of the proposed project due to the extraordinary circumstances of the massive gas fired power plant.  Invenergy’s Clear River Energy Center would be one of the largest fossil-fueled energy plants in New England. It would disrupt and destroy valuable environmental habitat, store and use hazardous and toxic compounds and would create new stormwater and wastewater discharge.

In addition, the proposal for Invenergy’s Clear River Energy Center has been improperly segmented from the proposal to build the necessary 8.5 -mile Burrillville Interconnect Project. An indirect, secondary and cumulative analysis has not been done in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).  

The Town also notes that consideration of the proposed plant has failed to include meaningful public participation, does not include appropriate Native American consultation or address the socioeconomic concerns.

Precedent has been set by a previous EIS (Ocean State Power Project, Final Environmental Impact Statement, July 1988) that dropped the site of the proposed action for land use conversion to a power-generating facility. Also, the federal government required an EIS for the various Spectra Station Improvement projects which were far less impactful than Invenergy’s proposed plant.  

“The Town is now in uncharted waters.  Even though the EFSB has voted no permit for the Invenergy project, it is still unclear why the Army Corps of Engineers and RI DEM Air Emissions permitting processes continue,” said Burrillville Town Manager Michael C. Wood. “That being said, the Town will stay engaged in the unlikely event these permits may have relevance now or in the immediate future.” 

See the entire letter and supporting documents here:

https://www.burrillville.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif2886/f/uploads/acoe_2.pdf

Town of Burrillville
105 Harrisville Main St.
Harrisville, RI  02830
401-568-4300
manager@burrillville.org