A company called GenPower is proposing to build a large electricity-generating, woodchip burning plant and a second related plant for recycling and reducing building rubble and all manner of waste into burnable "chips."
The plants would burn a large amount of waste for power.
According to Concerned Citizens of Hinsdale, "GenPower, developer of electrical generation plants, seeks to build a 40-megawatt electric generation plant fueled in part by construction and demolition (C&D) debris and a 600-750 ton/day C&D processing facility on 30 acres on Monument Road.
C&D is stuff left over from demolition, construction, and renovation. Painted, unpainted, and pressure treated wood; plaster; dry wall and gypsum; insulation; roofing material; asphalt (from roads and roofing shingles); and various metals and plastics, among other items. C&D is also salvageable material such as doors, windows, beams, bricks, and plumbing fixtures.
The portion of C&D material used as fuel can emit 87 toxic substances, with arsenic, dioxin, furans, lead, and mercury among them. Of particular concern is that the toxins emitted are especially damaging to children and fetuses. And the ash that’s left behind contains toxins, too. "
Emitting toxic substances is a concern of everyone in the region if they go into the air or water.
Increased trucking and public safety might become a factor as waste is driven through Brattleboro to Hinsdale for processing.
If you want to know more about GenPower's plans for an incinerator in Hinsdale, visit the Concerned Citizens of Hinsdale website at www.cchnh.org and GenPower at www.genpower.net