Several bills before lawmakers this session would ban the use of construction and demolition debris at wood burning power plants.
The proposals are driven mostly by a contentious fight in Hopkinton over one company's plan to start the practice.
But the bills are also aimed at other plants that may be on the drawing table including one in Hinsdale.
New Hampshire Public Radio's David Darman has more.
Lawmakers are considering two kinds of bans.
One would permanently stop power plants from incinerating construction and demolition debris.
The other would place a temporary ban on the practice, so lawmakers could study the matter further.
Democrat Derek Owen of Hopkinton is sponsoring a permanent ban.
He says it's necessary, because burning used lumber can create higher levels of pollution.
well, you have lead problems, mercury problems, copper. i don't know if its copper but a multitude of compounds that go in the air. dioxin for another one. i can't name them all, i'm not a scientist.
His bill would stop the BioEnergy plant in Hopkinton from moving forward with its plans to burn used lumber.
A ban would please many town residents, who have worked for two years to keep the plant from switching its fuel from virgin wood chips to wood taken from construction or demolition sites.
The owner of the BioEnergy plant says his opponents are overreacting.
William DellOrfano says his plant will be outfitted with new pollution control devices that will minimize mercury and lead pollution.
we're going to do it very safely, cleanly. and it will be upgraded and modernized to be one of the cleanest facilities in the northeast.
The BioEnergy battle has been fought in Hopkinton town hall, the Department of Environmental Services, and in state courts.
That battle is about to go back before DES.
But opponents say they're not worried just about BioEnergy.
A Massachusetts company has plans to build a debris burning power plant in Hinsdale.
GenPower LLCs plant would burn as much as 750 tons of used wood a day.
Tom Emero of GenPower says residents have nothing to fear, because the plant will produce very few harmful elements.
this facility has all of the most modern, environmental controls available, to ensure that the emissions from such facilities are eliminated or signficantly reduced.
But environmental activists worry GenPower's decision to build in Hinsdale signifies another problem that could develop in years to come.
Scott Flood is vice president of Residents Environmental Action Committee of Hopkinton, or REACH.
He says if BioEnergy is successful, and GenPower builds its plant, New Hampshire could become a magnet for used wood from outside the state.
the problem for nh is that we generate a small amount of construction, demolition debris, indigenously, in nh. once these plants open up, under the interstate commerce clause of our federal constitution, we're going to be required to accept waste c+d material from any other state that wants to ship it to us.
Many REACH members say there's a better way to handle the state's modest amount of debris.
Representative Richard "Stretch" Kennedy of Contoocook has sponsored one of the bill's that would prohibit incineration.
He says he supports burying New Hampshire's material, at least for the short term.
now there's a safe way to handle this, i believe. ...to hopefully, get a sanitary landfill, a secure landfill, separate out those parts of the demolition debris that are dangerous, put them in there and keep them until such time as they can be properly handled. right now there's no way to properly handle this by burning them. we don't know what to do with them. so you put them in a safe place where they're safe until we do.
One factor that could contribute to New Hampshire's attractiveness as a destination for this material is a new law in Massachusetts.
That law bans putting the debris in a landfill, whether its metal, drywall, or wood.
Massachusetts environmental officials say the ban is a way to pare down the volume heading into fast filling landfills.
And there are no wood burning power plants in the state.
Ed Colletta is with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
He says officials would be willing to consider one, if it were proposed.
we're not endorsing wood burning facilities but again we would listen to the ideas and deal with it as perhaps a project came up.
The timing of GenPower's proposal to build a plant and BioEnergy's application to restart its operations is certainly geared to fill the need being created by the Massachusetts disposal law.
GenPower expects its facility to be completed in 2008.
BioEnergy's hearing with the Department of Environmental Services concerning its permit is scheduled for next month.
The bills in the legislature are working their way through various committees.
Lawmakers will likely produce one bill to send to lawmakers.
But a final bill probably won't be ready for a few months.
