A power plant and a plea

Judi Luciano says she has nothing against industry. She just wants some reassurances that her health won't be compromised if a power plant is built a few streets away from her Tewksbury home.

Ever since a private energy company sent Luciano a notice -- one of about 2,000 mailed to residents this month -- she has been calling local and state officials to voice her concerns about the proposed facility in Billerica.

"I moved into the neighborhood 17 years ago realizing it was zoned for industry," she said of the Park Avenue address where she and her husband live. "I'm not saying 'not in my backyard,' because I do have industry in my backyard. . . . I'm just concerned about the health impacts and it being so close."

Residents in both towns have raised questions about what effect the plant could have on air and water quality, as well as noise levels. Tewksbury's town manager has told state environmental officials of concerns he has regarding drinking water.

Billerica officials, on the other hand, welcome the revenues the plant would bring. And the plant's advocates say it would comply with strict state regulations governing everything from air emissions to chemical storage.

All of these views will have to be considered when the state Department of Telecommunications and Energy decides on whether to approve the facility.

The 480-megawatt natural gas-fired plant has been proposed by Montgomery Billerica Power Partners of Burlington, Conn., in conjunction with DG Clean Power of Thornton, N.H. The facility, to be situated on 16 acres off Billerica Avenue that will be leased from Baker Commodities Inc., would help meet eastern New England's electricity needs during peak usage times such as summer heat waves and winter cold spells.

Under the proposal, the plant would operate no more than 1,500 hours a year. Already, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs has ruled that an environmental impact report is needed.

The proposal for the plant responds to growing electricity use in New England over the past decade, said Ellen Foley, spokeswoman for Holyoke-based ISO New England, one of seven independent system operators in the United States that oversees wholesale buying and selling of power.

"We estimate right now that we need to increase the amount of generating capacity on the bulk power grid by approximately 170 megawatts by 2009 to keep up with consumer demand," said Foley. That translates to an estimated growth in demand of 2 percent per year for peak usage, she added.

DG Clean Power is managed by two men with experience in the energy industry, Joseph S. Fitzpatrick and Edward T. Liston. Fitzpatrick is also a former state secretary of energy.

They chose the Billerica site two years ago because it is a meeting point for natural gas and high-voltage transmission lines.

"We literally drove the route of the gas transmission lines and the high-voltage electric lines to find potential sites that could be developed into electric power plants," Liston said. Once the gas is converted into energy, the transmission lines serve as a distribution highway throughout the region.

He said he hopes to have state and local permits by the year's end, break ground in the spring of 2008, and complete the project by the following December.

The plant would store about 500,000 gallons of low-sulfur diesel fuel as a backup for the source of natural gas, and about 15,000 gallons of aqueous ammonia. It would use almost 1 million gallons of recycled water per day diverted from the town's waste-water treatment plant, and return about 18,000 gallons per day to the treatment plant, which discharges to the nearby Concord River.

The north-flowing Concord is Billerica's source of drinking water. It feeds into the Merrimack River, which is Tewksbury's source of drinking water.

"I know that they want to store 500,000 gallons of diesel oil on site so that when there are cold snaps and they can't burn the natural gas, they'll burn the diesel," said Luciano. "That's the stuff that when it gets in the air, it can have asthmatic effects in children. It can cause cardiovascular disease."

Tewksbury officials are concerned about the town's drinking water. In a letter dated Jan. 9 to the state environmental affairs office, Town Manager David Cressman asked for assurances that "any water withdrawals from the Concord River basin/watershed will not impact Tewksbury's water supply which is dependent on and influenced by the Concord River."

Questions are also being raised by a group called Billerica Watchers, which posts information at groups.yahoo.com/group/BillericaWatchers/.

"We don't even know if the town can handle the treatment of the waste water from the plant," said Ed Complese, a New Foster Avenue resident and founder of the group. "I don't think our pumping stations can handle all the waste. I don't think this has been very well thought out."

Complese also voiced concerns over stressing the town's infrastructure and the prospect of using the plant more often than just at peak times.

"This is a gamble that could end up being the taxpayers' burden," he said.

Liston said that because the water would be recycled, it wouldn't stress the town's sewage system. He said there is no financial incentive to increase plant usage because wholesale purchasers pay continuous rent for their occasional use. And he said oil would be stored in double-nested steel tanks that prevent leakage.

The state "Department of Environmental Protection will make sure we comply with all emission and noise standards," Liston said.

Liston added that the 80-foot-high exhaust stack would be constructed deep within the wooded parcel. "You can't see this plant from anywhere in Billerica or Tewksbury," he said. "The trees are taller than the stack."

Billerica town officials are looking for additional revenues from the plant.

"We're in the process of negotiating a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement," said Billerica's principal assessor, Richard Scanlon. "I consider us very lucky to be in this position considering how strapped many cities and towns are."

Scanlon declined to specify how much the town is seeking.

But those financial benefits won't help Tewksbury residents, and Luciano's concerns transcend fiscal matters.

"We want assurances that as far as the air quality, environmental and health conditions that it's safe to live within a mile of the plant," she said.

Joyce Pellino Crane can be reached at crane@globe.com.