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Neighbors say environmentally-friendly solar company making too much noise

Print | Comments () Posted by Beth Daley July 9, 2009 04:07 PM

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Workers at Evergreen Solar, Inc. put together solar panels in the panel fab area at the Devens facility. (Globe photo/Joanne Rathe)

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Evergreen Solar, a clean-tech coup for the state when it opened a 24-hour manufacturing plant last year in Devens, is making so much noise neighbors near it can’t sleep.

“It's like a jet engine whir,’’ said Bill Carroll, of Harvard who is one of an estimated 10 families who have complained about the noise over the last four months. The sounds vary with the winds and weather, he said, and can disturb people in their yards. “We want to hear birds not machinery.”

No one argues that the solar-panel plant, which stretches longer than three football fields, is violating noise thresholds.

But there is a battle over when it will be fixed.

Evergreen Solar officials say the racket is coming from at least six different sources – and they are spending more than $1 million to fix the problem. However, the company says it needs to order custom-made equipment, the last of which will be installed in September.

“Our primary concern is for our neighbors and we are doing everything possible to fix the sound problem as quickly as possible,’’ said Chris Lawson director of marketing and communications for Evergreen.

Neighbors say that is not good enough. They want the company to shut down at night so they can sleep and question why the Devens Enterprise Commission, the permitting and enforcement agency at the former Ft. Devens, has not made them do so.

The Devens Enterprise Commission says it is still gathering data. The commission met early this a.m. but didn’t have enough info to make a decision whether to order them to shut, fine them or allow them to continue work, said Peter Lowitt, land use administrator and director of the Commission. They will meet again Tuesday.

“We are trying to balance the interest of business and neighbors,” said Lowitt.
For more information go to http://www.devensec.com/news.html