Neighbors unhappy; no word on legal action
The Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC)—over the objections of abutting neighbors—unanimously approved a new monitoring scheme on Thursday, Dec. 3, for determining whether noise from the Evergreen Solar factory on Barnum Road is within the limits allowed by commission regulations.
The vote by the 10-member commission follows weeks of data-gathering at Harvard and Evergreen sound measurement sites, highly technical and public debates between contending sound specialists, and threats of future legal action by Harvard residents who feel Evergreen noise deprives them of their property without compensation. If Evergreen can show in coming weeks and months that noise from its factory is consistently at or below the levels set by the new protocol, DEC can decide that the company is in compliance and issue a permanent certificate of occupancy.
The Harvard property owners closest to Evergreen are clearly angry with the decision, which they view as favoring the company at their expense, especially DEC’s choice of a monitoring location in Harvard that is 190 feet from the Devens enterprise zone (DREZ) property line. Residents argue that because sound decreases with distance, a monitor farther from the plant lets Evergreen make more noise than a strict reading of DEC regulations allows.
“This is not the last of it,” said Laura McGovern, co-owner of Dunroven Farm on Old Mill Road.” Lawyers representing Janice and Charles Perry of Old Mill Road and the Berwind family of Ayer Road could not be reached for comment.
In prepared remarks outlining the DEC decision, DEC Administrator Peter Lowitt said his staff and sound consultant had carefully reviewed a “tremendous amount of data and information” before recommending the commission adapt the new long-term protocol. “The DEC’s job is not to take sides on any issue,” he said, “but to take all information into consideration and apply the DEC rules and regulations in a fair and consistent manner.”
Since opening in late 2007, the Evergreen plant has been operating under a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) and has been under a formal notice of noise violation since March 2009. In July, DEC approved a resolution that required Evergreen to meet a variety of conditions over the next several months. At present the only conditions that remain from DEC’s point of view are installation of permanent sound monitors, including one at its “lease line” (effectively the DREZ line), followed by regular reports from Evergreen that show it can consistently stay below DEC sound limits 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Although choosing a protocol is a major step toward resolving the Evergreen sound violation, several observers have said privately that whether Evergreen can actually stay within the sound limits of the new protocol has yet to be determined. Plant officials have already conceded that they can’t comply unless factory cooling fans are operated at only 60 percent of capacity. Evergreen has already submitted a plan to DEC describing changes it will make to assure its fans are kept in check.
Today Chris Lawson, director of Marketing Communications for Evergreen Solar, released this statement:
“We are very pleased with the Devens Enterprise Commission’s unanimous approval of our long-term monitoring proposal. Evergreen Solar is committed to keeping our factory in compliance on behalf of our neighbors and the Devens community and we would like all involved to know that we do not consider this the beginning of the end but rather the end of the beginning.”
