Hello NEK residents in the Lyndonville-St. Johnsbury region,
We have an urgent request of you. I (Ned )am working with 350VT (an environmental organization working within Vermont) wanting to put more local scrutiny on a biomass/biogas plant proposed for the Lyndonville/St. Johnsbury area. Therefore, I'm writing to people I know who live in the area.
It's very likely you haven't heard much about this biomass/biogas plant because its developers are using an "expedited" 30-day permitting process to obtain State approval of the project. This expedited process makes it difficult for community members to learn about — and scrutinize — the potential impacts such a facility will have on the community and the wider region. This plant would be the first of its kind in the US; and there are questions related to the health and safety of the new technology being used. There are many concerns and questions that need to be addressed, and we're hoping the Public Utility Commission (PUC) will allow more time — and more opportunities for public input — into the permitting process for this facility.
However, we only have 2 weeks to convince the PUC to employ the more-conventional permitting process -- which offers more opportunity for public comments and concerns to be heard -- rather than the current 30-day expedited process. The PUC needs to hear from NEK residents soon!
Please see the attached flyer/invite below and join us for an informational Zoom meeting this coming Wednesday, September 18th at 7 pm … on Zoom.
And one final request: Please help spread the word about Wednesday's meeting so more NEK residents can attend and learn more about what's happening. We hope to shine much more light on this project from the community before it's too late.
Thanks for your help!
— Ned.
Please RSVP at 350vt.org and invite others to join!
Below is information from the flyer:
VIRTUAL INFORMATIONAL MEETING ABOUT THE PROPOSED LYNDONVILLE BIOMASS PLANT
Speakers will include:
~ Adam Aguire, Attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation
~ Laura Haight, U.S. Policy Director with the Partnership for Policy Integrity
~ Dr. William Moomaw, lead author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports
~. Invited: Members of Lyndonville Electric Department
Organized by Lyndonville residents, 350VT NEK node, Slingshot and Stop VT Biomass
TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK, RSVP TO : VANESSA@350VT.ORG. or at 350vt.org
~on: Wednesday, Sept. 18th at 7pm