Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed a bill that would allow the trash-to-energy plant in Penacook to burn construction debris, but the plant still may be able to burn some after all.
That confusing result came about because a second bill containing the permission along with more restrictions is headed to the governor’s desk, and she plans to sign it.
This legislative dance occurred because Hassan expressed concern about the original bill, Senate Bill 381, which would have allowed the Wheelabrator plant in Penacook to burn up to 10,000 tons of “wood residue” from demolition and construction during the winter. That is the time of year when the plant says it sometimes doesn’t have enough dry trash to keep its boilers hot, forcing it to burn natural gas instead of consuming waste.
SB 381 faced concern from some environmental groups that said it didn’t include enough protection to keep out toxins associated with what is known as C&D, or construction and demolition debris. Lead in old paint and arsenic in wood preservatives can be emitted in vapor or left in the post-incineration ash.
Wheelabrator has proposed to burn residue processed from C&D debris from Environmental Resource Return Corp. recycling facilities in Epping and Salem, which is owned by ReEnergy. The debris is currently buried in a landfill.
New Hampshire banned C&D incineration in 2007, which is why a new law is required.
Hassan cited those concerns in vetoing SB 381.
“While the bill places some limitations on the combustion of the wood component of construction and demolition debris, it does not set or outline a procedure to set fuel standards for this material or for testing requirements,” she said in a press release.
A different bill that has been passed by both chambers of the Legislature contained some of those standards and requirements, said Henry Veilleux of Shaheen Phinney Capital Group, which represents Wheelabrator with the Legislature. House Bill 1428 covers a variety of unrelated items, including a fund for wastewater projects, police training, and state liquor commission revenue, as well as combustion of C&D materials.
The bill says that “no such combustion shall occur until the department adopts rules regarding fuel quality standards and test methods . . . and the department has taken final action on a permit revision for the facility utilizing such fuel.”
The bill is written so that the Wheelabrator plant can burn debris between Nov. 15 and April 15.
The bill does not mention the plant by name, but it is the only one in the state burning enough municipal trash to meet the bill’s definition.
Veilleux said it’s not entirely clear whether there will be enough time to get rules written and the permit for the facility revised in time for this winter.
Municipal trash has been burned in the Penacook plant since 1989. It was owned by Waste Management before it sold its Hampton-based Wheelabrator division to investors in 2014. The seven-story-tall plant burns up to 575 tons of trash a day – 191,000 tons last year – and produces up to 14 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 14,000 homes, although it uses about 1.5 megawatts to operate the plant.
The ash left over after burning, about 52,000 tons of it last year, is sent to a Wheelabrator landfill in Shrewbury, Mass.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313, dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek)
