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Environment
Forum on the nuke held in Brattleboro
by Mary Serreze | Feb 21, 2010 6:55 pm | Comments (0)
A spirited public forum called Leaks and Lies was convened by a coalition of environmental groups on Sunday at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro, Vermont. The forum addressed a host of issues relevant to the embattled Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, located next to the Connecticut River in Vernon, not far from the Massachusetts border.
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BPW Votes to Hold Off on Landfill Expansion Application
by Mary Serreze | Jan 27, 2010 9:18 pm | Comments (0)
On Wednesday night after a turbulent public comment session, the Board of Public Works voted to hold off on issuing a special permit application for the expansion of the city’s regional landfill on Glendale Road.
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Historic Votes Expected at BPW Meeting Tonight
by Mary Serreze | Jan 27, 2010 11:18 am | Comments (0)
The Northampton Board of Public Works (BPW), in anticipation of a big crowd, will hold its biweekly meeting tonight at the JFK Middle School cafeteria at 5:30 p.m.
Two discussions and possible motions are on tonight’s agenda—one having to do with a major expansion of the city’s regional landfill on Glendale Road, and the other with the fate of the historic Upper Roberts Meadow Reservoir and Chesterfield Road Dam.
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Big Land Preservation Plan Advanced
by Mary Serreze | Jan 22, 2010 12:15 pm | Comments (0)
Under a plan described by Northampton planning director Wayne Feiden at last night’s City Council meeting, 185 acres of land, much of it in the floodplain of the Mill River in Florence, would be preserved forever as open space. The Trust for Public Lands would play a key part in the deal by fronting money to buy farmland within the spread, which would then be sold by the city to a farmer or farming organization. The rest of the land would be used for recreation and conservation, and would be owned by the city.
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Coke Plant Expansion: Can the City’s Infrastructure Take It?
by Mary Serreze | Jan 18, 2010 7:03 pm | Comments (1)
A proposed expansion of Northampton’s Coca-Cola bottling plant will greatly increase biological oxygen demand (BOD) loading at the city’s wastewater treatment plant and draw an additional 400,000 gallons of tap water per day, according to Department of Public Works director Edward “Ned” Huntley.
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BPW Poised to Vote on Landfill Expansion
by Mary Serreze | Jan 13, 2010 8:51 am | Comments (1)
On Wednesday, January 27, according to Mimi Odgers, spokesperson for the local environmental group known as Water Not Waste, the Board of Public Works (BPW) is likely to take “an historic vote” on whether to advance a special permit to the City Council for a 30-acre, 20-year expansion of the city’s regional landfill on Glendale Road.
Odgers single-handedly tripped up the BPW’s attempt to vote on the permit application at its January 6 meeting, when she pointed out to the body that no mention of the vote was contained on the BPW’s agenda.
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MEPA Ruling: No Environmental Impact Report for Three County Fair Project
by Mary Serreze | Jan 6, 2010 1:53 pm | Comments (0)
The Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) on December 23 ruled that the Three County Fairground Redevelopment Corporation need not file a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in order to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). The state’s decision can be downloaded here.
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Creative Problem-Solving as 2009 Rolls to a Close
by Mary Serreze | Dec 23, 2009 2:39 pm | Comments (0)
As 2009 rolls to a close, the city of Northampton is once again mired in controversy. Virtuous locavores and sports-minded soccer parents are battling over the best use of the 47-acre former Bean Farm property in Florence, which, by the way, the city doesn’t even own. Organic agriculture of playing fields? Dueling petitions are circulating, and harsh words have been exchanged.
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Chamber to Lead King St Rezoning Effort; Members of City Zoning Committee Invited to Private Meeting
by Mary Serreze | Dec 14, 2009 11:45 am | Comments (0)
The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce will host an invitation-only meeting on Tuesday, December 15 to discuss potential zoning changes to King Street, Northampton’s shabby and car-centric “miracle mile.” King Street, poxed by a number of derelict properties, stretches from Damon Road to Main Street and serves as the city’s gateway from the north. A minority of the city’s Zoning Revisions Committee (ZRC), a public nine-member advisory group appointed by the Planning Board, are among those invited to attend.
More PVTA Busses Will Carry Bikes
by Press Release | Dec 9, 2009 7:34 pm | Comments (0)
Through the hard work of the MassBike Pioneer Valley Chapter, 29 new buses owned by the Pioneer Valley Transit Agency will be fitted with bike racks.
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Die Hilton Die Part Two: Jena Wikler Dances Her Politics
by Guest Columnist | Dec 9, 2009 5:28 pm | Comments (0)
“all of our efforts to date to stop the hilton having failed, we are left with no recourse but to bring out the big guns: interpretive dance.” Jena Wikler’s MischiefRobot.
MA Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy: Public Meeting in Holyoke
by Press Release | Dec 8, 2009 2:19 pm | Comments (0)
Public Meeting Announcement
Massachusetts Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy
Thursday, December 17, 2009
6:30 – 8:30 P.M., Holiday Inn, 245 Whiting Farms Road, Holyoke, MA
In November 2009 the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) commissioned a team of experts to conduct a comprehensive study of issues related to biomass sustainability and carbon policy. Launched at the direction of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles, the six-month study will result in a “white paper” that brings the best science to bear as DOER considers the path forward for biomass energy policy, including the preparation of new regulations to establish sustainability criteria biomass facilities must meet under the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard.
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BPW Takes Emergency Measures to Retire Landfill Debt
by Mary Serreze | Dec 6, 2009 12:40 pm | Comments (0)
Solid Waste Enterprise Fund: $1.2 Million Gap from Northampton Media on Vimeo.
(hour-long video, give it time to buffer. Clipped from video shot by Mimi Odgers for the North Street Neighborhood Association.)Bag fees will double for Northampton residents who use the transfer station, a cell phone tower lease will be sold for a lump sum, and the city will be asked to take a 50% reduction in its host community fee under a plan approved on December 2 by the Board of Public Works (BPW). The Board, at its next meeting, will also discuss the option of reducing the volume discount that it offers large commercial haulers at the municipal landfill on Glendale Road.
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Massachusetts Biomass Subsidies on Hold
by Mary Serreze | Dec 4, 2009 3:53 pm | Comments (0)
In a move that took Western Massachusetts environmental activists by surprise, the Commonwealth on Thursday announced that it will suspend its consideration of biomass energy applications for qualification under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) until a biomass sustainability study is completed.
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The Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS): What Is It, Anyway?
by Mary Serreze | Dec 4, 2009 3:24 pm | Comments (0)
Massachusetts has made a list of energy technologies that it wishes to encourage. These technologies are defined in the Renewable Portfolio Standards, or RPS.
The RPS is regulated by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER), which is administered by Commissioner Philip Guidice. The DOER is a branch of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEOEA), headed by Secretary Ian Bowles, who answers directly to Governor Deval Patrick.
The Massachusetts RPS statute was the first in the nation. Established in 1997, it requires that electricity retailers buy an increasing yearly percentage of their power from “new renewables” produced in New England, New York, and Quebec. The first compliance year was 2003, when the purchasing requirement stood at one percent. The obligation for 2009 has ramped up to four percent, and is slated to rise by one point each year.
Every RPS-qualified power plant has an account with the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL), as do electricity retailers and and certificate brokers. Each megawatt hour of energy produced by an official renewable source generates an electronic certificate with specific attributes. These renewable energy certificates, or RECs, are traded within the NEPOOL market, and ultimately purchased by utilities eager to meet their purchasing quota under the law. (Some people refer to these certificates as “green tags.”)
In 2006, almost a million RECs were purchased in Massachusetts. Only about eight percent originated from wind and solar producers. Landfill gas-to-electricity accounted for almost one half. A full 42% came from the broad category known as “biomass”—incinerators that burn carbon-based fuels, such as wood chips or municipal solid waste, to produce electricity. Only a quarter of 2006 NEEPOOL renewable energy was produced in Massachusetts. A full 39% came from Maine, which hosts a number of large biomass incinerators.
Originally, only solar, wind, ocean, certain fuel cells, landfill gas-to-electricity, and so-called “low-emission, advanced” biomass incineration using virgin fuels were eligible for RECs. Vintage hydropower, existing biomass, and existing municipal waste incinerators were excluded. The market problem that these policies mean to address has been referred to as the “green spread”—the cost difference between new renewable energy and conventional energy production.
The renewable standards were broadened within the Massachusetts Green Communites Act of 2008. A new “Class 2” designation covers facilities developed before 1998. A separate “Alternative Portfolio” (APS) seeks to replace fossil fuel sources with energy efficiency measures. Nuclear power is not part of the portfolio. Under the Act, Massachusetts must meet at least 20 percent of its electric load through its RPS or Alternative Portfolio Standard (APS) by 2020.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have developed RPS and six have established portfolio goals. New York’s standard is 24 percent by 2013, Montana’s is 15 percent by 2015, and Wisconsin’s is 10 percent by 2015, according to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. National standards also could be on the horizon to accelerate biomass development, as a bill with a federal renewable electricity standard, American Clean Energy & Security Act, passed in the House of Representatives in June.