Harvard Selectman Leo Blair has urged the Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) to shut down the Evergreen Solar manufacturing plant on Barnum Road until it complies with the noise limits set by its temporary operating permit.
“They [Evergreen Solar] are making … diligent efforts to straighten this out,” Blair said, “but it doesn’t matter. They’re exceeding the noise levels [set by their permit] and I believe that it is entirely within [the DEC’s] jurisdiction to revoke their temporary permit of occupancy until such time as they are in compliance.”
Blair made his recommendation at a DEC public hearing on Tuesday, at which Evergreen Solar managers were asked to report their progress in complying with a DEC May 26 notice of violation. The deadline for compliance was Monday. DEC has the power to impose penalties or grant Evergreen Solar more time as a result of its failure to comply with the notice. However, DEC chose to postpone any decision until its next meeting on July 9 for lack of information on key issues that emerged during public comments about the Evergreen Solar report.
For example, there was disagreement at the meeting as to whether the plant’s hours of operation could be restricted, or whether the plant needs to be shut down entirely. There was also disagreement on whether the company has been acting in good faith; if it has been diligent in its efforts, DEC could have grounds for extending the deadline for compliance as well as continuing the company’s temporary occupancy permit. Residents accused Evergreen Solar of moving slowly, while DEC’s sound consultant was able to report that the company has made “measurable progress.”
In their report, Vice President of Operations Rodolfo Archbold and Plant Manager Brian LaValle were able to show that Evergreen Solar’s efforts over the past several weeks have reduced plant noise and are within limits at two of three Old Mill Road locations that are being used to determine compliance. However, several plant modifications that are designed to reduce noise won’t be completed until August.
DEC also chose not to respond to the June 18 letter from the Harvard Board of Selectmen that asked the DEC building commissioner to restrict Evergreen Solar’s hours of operation to weekdays only, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Although DEC member John Knowles introduced a motion to implement the Harvard request, the motion was dropped. DEC’s legal counsel, Edith Vetter, said she had not yet determined whether DEC had the power to act on the letter.
The meeting, often heated, was attended by more than 30 Harvard residents and supporters from neighboring towns. Harvard’s two state legislators, Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representative Jen Benson, and Harvard selectmen Ron Ricci and Peter Warren were also present.
“It’s a legal issue; it’s a compliance issue,” said one attendee from Ayer. “They’re breaking the law. You [DEC] are the police officers, to make sure the law is upheld … They need to be shut down, as I was shut down [when I had noisy parties] as a college student. Then you can give them a chance to do what they need to do to be in compliance.”
“This is a very bad start for a [new] corporate neighbor,” said Blair. “I’m bitterly disappointed with the progress to date … As stewards of this area, the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone, you owe it to the affected residents to make sure that your corporate partners here are good neighbors.”
A new allegation made by Harvard resident Jay Wallace of Dunroven Farm is that the Evergreen Solar plant was built without the sound mitigation equipment specified in its approved design. Many of the changes being made now, he said, should have been present from the beginning.