Project Update: Turning Up the Heat in Ada County

Problems continue to arise for Dynamis Energy as its efforts to push forward with plans for a $70 million gasification facility on the site of the Ada County landfill near Boise, Idaho begin to look more like a daytime drama than a serious discussion.

A newly-formed organization called the Idaho Citizens for a Safe Environment and a Transparent Government sent a formal letter on Monday to Dynamis listing 20 questions it would like to have addressed in the presentation to the Hidden Springs Town Association on June 21^st. Drafted by the Law Office of Andrew T. Schoppe, the questions cover the gamut of issues ranging from the RFP timeline to traffic patterns and intellectual property rights.

Local government officials debate over Dynamis Energy's
proposed project. (KSAW-TV). 

While many of the questions are valid, the tactic of peppering an opponent with questions to put him on the defensive is one taken straight from the pages of the Sierra Club playbook. The lengthy list of questions, some of which have already been answered by Commissioner Sharon Ullman, creates perceptional damage and steals focus away from the main issues.

This effective strategy puts Dynamis between a rock and a hard place. Opponents ask for confidential data knowing it won’t be released but hoping it will make the company look as if its hiding something. The waste-to-energy company hasn’t been the only victim of these attacks: outgoing Commissioner Ullman lost last month’s election amid accusations that resulted because of her support of the project.

But before you pull out the Kleenex for Dynamis, realize that the company has brought some of this on itself. While most projects that use the first commercial installation of a technology face opposition from activists, Dynamis’s disregard for the thoughts and feelings of the surrounding community make it an easy target.  Little has been done by the company to educate the general population on the project and the technology, giving its opponents a chance to swoop in with altered facts and misinformation. Top executives have had brusque encounters with the community at public hearings, almost inviting people to vilify them.

While Dynamis is correct that it’s the government officials and environmental agencies like the DEQ that will ultimately decide if the project moves forward, its attitude could prove to be its Achilles Heel. We remind you of the project at the University of Montana (see A Tale of Two Cities) and offer the story as a warning to Dynamis of how effective a mob of angry citizens can be.

BETTER BTU: Both sides have behaved so badly we’d like to send them back to kindergarten for a refresher on playing nice. Dynamis better get its act together and make an effort to get the people of Ada County on board. On the other hand, we can’t help but notice the irony of an organization that uses the phrase “transparent government” in its title and creates smoke and mirrors itself to detract from the key issues. 

Further Reading:

Comissioner Sharon Ullman answers some of the questions that were directed to Dynamis in her blog entry, dated Apr. 30: Sharon Ullman's Blog

Idaho DEQ Resumes Review of Permit for Dynamis – Idaho Statesman, June 14, 2012

Other Better BTU Blog Posts on Dynamis: 
Project Update: Local Energy Company Becomes Latest Stumbling Block for Dynamis (July 31, 2012)
Better BTU Project Update: Dynamis Energy (May 14, 2012)
Dynamis Energy:Oh the Places You'll Go (Mar. 29, 2012)

A Tale of Two Cities

As developers propose new projects across the United States, more than just the feedstock and financial angles need to be examined. We look at two different towns and how community support can ultimately make or break a project. 

HARLEYVILLE, S.C. – Construction is beginning for a $46 million biomass plant that will burn 280,000 tons of logging debris per year and generate 15 MW of electricity. The plant is being developed by Southeast Renewable Energy, which has other facilities in the Palmetto State and will provide 20 new jobs in an area where unemployment nears 10 percent.

Locations of Southeast Renewable Energy facilities in
South Carolina. Courtesy: Biomass Magazine. 

County leaders as well as state and federal environmental regulators have embraced the project. Dorchester County is giving fee-in-lieu-of tax incentives and contracted to supply the plant with 20 tons per year of debris wood from county operations. Moncks Corner-based utility Santee Cooper plans to buy power from the plant after closing two of its smaller coal-burning plants due to new EPA air pollution regulations.

Locals in Harleyville are generally in support of the project, despite the fact that it will be within one mile of the town of approximately 2,400. Although there are still some questions about the level of carbon dioxide, many residents see it as the lesser of two evils. The project is exempt from EPA CO2 regulations due to the fact that it has been qualified as a “minor emitter” rather than a “major emitter.” The designation has raised some eyebrows, but most still prefer the new plant to coal-burning options.

MISSOULA, MONT. – University of Montana announced it was scrapping plans to build a $16 million biomass gasification boiler on campus at the end of 2011. University President Royce Engstrom cited  "deteriorating discourse” as a large reason for the decision (AP).

Plan for University of Montana biomass gasifier.
Courtesy: Biomass Magazine

The proposed plant would have used trees killed by bark beetles as its feedstock to produce heat and power for the campus. Despite the fact that it would have been the cleanest wood-fired system in the state, several prominent members of the Missoula community spoke out against the project. Concerns were raised about how the rise in emissions over the current natural gas plant would affect the community of more than 66,000 people. The new plant would emit twice as much nitrogen dioxide and three times as much particulate matter (The Missoulian, 11/18/11).

The University offered to pay for additional pollution-control testing in November after the Missoula City-County Air Pollution Control Board postponed its vote on whether to permit the project.

Better BTU Take: We liked both projects and think the location had a lot to do with the outcome. Although there would have been an increase in emissions with the change from natural gas to biomass, it would still have been extremely low. The numbers on the lefthand side of a scale can frequently make small changes look large.

Additionally, it makes more sense to seek out areas that are less densely populated, as it will reduce the risk of controversy and bad media coverage. The political and cultural environment in Missoula wasn’t right and since the town already had a natural gas facility, its conversion to biomass wasn’t deemed as pressing as in areas with coal-burning plants.

The moral of the story: Concentrate on displacing coal-fired electric generation over natural gas boilers. Begin with sparsely populated areas in the country and work your way inwards to the metropolitan areas.

For more on Southeast Renewable Energy’s project in Harleyville, check out this article from The Post and Courier, in Charleston, S.C.

For more information University of Montana’s failed project, see the article from The Missoulian from 11/18/2011 and the Associated Press write-up on KULR-8.