News

Transylvania blocks biomass plant for one year

By Bill Moss, Published: July 23, 2013

BREVARD — Transylvania County commissioners approved a one year moratorium that prohibits construction of a bio-mass plant in a 3-2 vote at the Monday night meeting.
The moratorium, which is the second version and has been reworded to include a broader spectrum of bio-mass derived energy products, could delay construction of a plant that the company Renewable Developers proposed.
The ordinance prohibits issuance of any development approvals required by law in the development and construction of a bio-mass electricity generating facility, any other facility generating bio-mass derived energy products using a pyrolysis process or combustion related technology, a materials recovery facility or any facility using municipal solid waste as a feedstock.
Commissioners Mike Hawkins, Larry Chapman and Page Lemel voted for the moratorium.
"I will be voting for this moratorium tonight," Chapman said. "But I'm voting that so we can get the information, more input and more technical expertise."
The county commissioners say they have yet to receive information about the project that was promised to them by the developers. Renewable Developers submitted an initial application in February for a plant at Penrose that would use municipal garbage, wood chips and other fuel to generate electricity that the plant would sell to Duke Energy.
County commissioners Jason Chappell and Daryle Hogsed voted against the moratorium.
"I support the first moratorium with that narrowly worded language because I believe we need to keep it narrowly worded to what's before us now when considering something as setting the precedent as this moratorium will set," Hogsed said. "I believe we need more time, I believe we need to study and understand what we're letting in, but I prefer the first moratorium with more narrow language."
Chappell echoed the thoughts of setting a precedent.
"I do have some concerns about moratoriums in general," Chappell said. "I have more concerns about expanding it to other possibilities."
Though they did disagree on the moratorium, all of the commissioners agreed there was a need for more information from the developers of the bio-mass plant.
"The lack of information on this particular issue from the developers is essentially just flat-out appalling," said Lemel. "We've received a lot of empty promises; we've received a lot of information about unnamed partners and everything else. I think we as a community need a longer period of time to figure out what's involved in something like this."
About 200 people attended the meeting, many of them members of the citizen group People for Clean Mountains, which was formed to oppose the biomass plant. Sporting light blue shirts that said "Burning Biomass is Nuts" with a picture of a squirrel wearing a gas mask, the opponents spoke during the public comment section of the meeting.
"I think it's time we work together to equip the people of this county with a functioning fishing hole so to speak," David Bradford, who lives near DuPont State Forest, said about the economic development behind the bio-mass plant, "so that we are no longer vulnerable to those who come here to literally and figuratively poison our fish."
Both county commissioners and citizens pointed out that the moratorium was a quick fix to a long lasting problem created by a lack of zoning and a need for a revised ordinance regulating high impact land uses.
"This is a private developer, private land and we have no zoning restrictions in the county," Chapman said. "If we're concerned about these types of industries we're going to be sitting right back in here with the next on that comes before us. It begs at what point do you start looking at land use planning or that evil word zoning?"