By denying an appeal last week, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors cleared the way for Roseburg Forest Products to go forward with its plans to fire up a 15-mega-watt closed-loop co-generation power plant in Weed.
Supervisors Jim Cook, LaVada Erickson, Michael Kobseff, Marcia Armstrong and Bill Overman were unanimous in denying the appeal of the Sept. 30 planning commission approval of the certification of the final Environmental Impact Report for the plant.
After listening to nearly four hours of pro and con testimony it didn’t take the supervisors long to make their decision and grant Roseburg a use permit to generate electricity at their Weed facility.
Approximately 60 people attended the hearing, which was held at the Miner’s Inn Convention Center in Yreka last Thursday.
“I visited a small bio-gen plant in Montana and I know the plants can work,” said supervisor Marcia Armstrong. “I’m for green technology and I am satisfied we gave our due diligence and looked at all sides of this.”
District 3 supervisor Michael Kobseff came to the same conclusion. “I commend the process. It’s been a year and a half process. I’m satisfied the state regulations have been met,” he said.
The use permit approved by the county planning commission was conditional. The condition placed on Roseburg by the county commissioners at that time was that only unaltered wood could be burned in the facility, meaning wood that has not been treated with resins or had paint applied to it.
The appeal was filed by a coalition of 40 individuals and three community and environmental groups. Appellants asserted that the Final EIR was flawed and that questions remained unanswered concerning issues such as air quality, water quality, and noise pollution.
Both sides were given a half hour to make their presentations, and Roseburg’s operations manager Steve Henson took the podium to make his company’s case. Henson thanked everyone who supported the plant and gave those in attendance some facts on Roseburg.
“We received a letter of support from the governor along with the City of Weed, COS and 1200 residents. We are as committed as a company can get in planning the next 25 years. You (board) are going to hear a lot today but we have been working towards being part of the Weed community for a long time,” Henson said.
He then gave a video presentation to help make his case. The video brought out the fact that bio-mass thinning operations (removing biomass fuel that causes forest fires) help the forest in many ways including to help the forest grow faster once debris is removed. “A lot of eyes are on us to see what happens,” he said in reference to other companies looking to do the same thing in their communities.
Barbara Brenner, special council for Roseburg talked in some detail about the water use issue. “We are not using ground water. We will be using surface water with no discharge of waste water. She told the supervisors that Legionnaire’s Disease, a concern opponents have, was unfounded. “It won’t be in the water. We won’t be releasing any bacteria not just Legionnaire’s Disease,” she said. She also assured the audience that they won’t be taking other people’s water. And she spoke about the ash that is sure to be created from the burning wood, saying that the ash will be tested for metals and other contaminants.
Later in the meeting Bob Allen, manager of Burney Forest Power, spoke in favor of the project. He shared some of his plant’s experiences with the water issue. “Our water is checked every 12 hours. Impurities in the water would corrode the turbine blades. Not a good economic move,” he said. He also said that in his 22 years experience running the same kind of turbine generator Roseburg will use that noise was not a real problem.
Tom Wood, an attorney for the company, spoke to the air quality concerns saying that, in effect, the plant will be a step beyond being carbon neutral because clearing rotting debris from the forest reduces the amount of methane created and methane is a known contributor to carbon in the air.
Critics of the plant had their turn at the podium and Molly Brown of the Ecology Center in Mount Shasta said that the Roseburg presentation created an “uneven playing field.” Roseburg spent half-a-million dollars on the EIR report and her group had to raise the $750 to file the appeal, she said. “I ask the board to remember to represent all the people here not just business.
We simply want a higher level of pollution control. We are not against the project. We don’t have a vested interest in this; we just want clean air and water,” she said.
Karen Rogers from Weed said she has spent 25 years as an environmental consultant.
She said she is not against the plant but only wants a higher level of pollution control. “We don’t believe the plant is up to the level the residents here need… There is a smell in Weed now and this is going to exacerbate that.”
Rogers said that dioxins would be released from burning wood and that was not addressed in the EIR report. Rogers brought up the fact that fugitive emissions like dust were also not covered in the EIR report. Roseburg spokesman Tom Wood refuted some of her concerns, saying that dioxins were released from burning plastic not wood.
Bob Hall, newly elected to the Weed City Council, has been critical of potential health issues that could surface when the plant goes on-line. Hall cited possible increases to already high pollution levels as a problem. “We have endured increases of fine wood dust from Roseburg’s veneer dryers, idling diesel trucks and boiler emissions which at times feels like it burns your skin and your lungs,” he said.
Dale LaForest brought up the issue of noise and said there was a need for more independent noise testing.
Pete Himmel, manager of Timber Products, which employees 75 people in Yreka, spoke in favor of the plant. “This is the kind of project the county needs. Forests will benefit from the plant,” he said adding, “…it opens up opportunity to other businesses. It would be difficult for our company to move forward if this project is not approved.”
Siskiyou County’s Director of Public Health and Community Development Terry Barber presented the county staff’s report and reviewed the CEQA process.
She said the project would generate electricity for Roseburg’s use with the excess going to aid the power grid and that it would also assist the state in meeting its green energy requirements.
During peak periods in fall and winter, the plant could use up to 27 loads of biomass per day, much of which will consist of slash and other woody debris from forests.
Barber further stated that the county has responded to all comments received during the comment period and that the EIR concludes that all potential impacts could be reduced to less than significant.
In a press release after the supervisors made their decision, Tonya Dowse, executive director of Siskiyou County Economic Development Council, said, “The Roseburg project is a much needed boost for our local economy, especially now in the face of this very difficult economic downturn. The company is an extremely important part of our base economy and has a long history of providing family-wage jobs for the people living in Siskiyou County. We are extremely pleased that we played a role in helping to facilitate this clean, green, renewable, and sustainable project – it’s not just a win for our county, but for our region and our state.”
-- Reporter Dale Andreasen contributed to this article.
Yreka, Calif. —
