ONLINE PETITION - CITIZENS AGAINST CPV OXFORD ENERGY PLANT

An online petition is circulating to stop the building of a large power plant in the Woodruff Hill Industrial Park in Oxford.

This highly-polluting 805 megawatt plant will impact the environment, the community, and the health of our children.

This site is only 500 feet from the Middlebury town line. If built, the plant will affect neighborhoods up to 2-3 miles away with vibration, noise, and 30 months of heavy construction traffic. Air pollution will directly impact homes within a 10 mile radius. The size of the proposed facility is stunning - 26 acres in all, with 6 acres of 80 foot tall water condensation units and two stacks 150 feet tall.

At its peak, the plant will consume over 80 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. When natural gas is low, as it was this past winter, the plant will run on fuel oil. There is currently 1.5 million gallons of fuel oil stored on the proposed site, which will last just 2.5 days. When that runs out, it will take one tanker truck full of fuel per hour, every hour to run the plant.

At minimum, the plant will put out over 50 tons of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) per year. When the plant runs on oil any benefits of natural gas disappear, so we are facing known carcinogens such as sulfur dioxides and mercury output. The proposed plant will release 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. The plant will release 190 tons of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) per year. The plant will release 12 tons of PM2.5 (particulate matter or ‘soot’ a known carcinogen) per year. There is a debated radius of impact for this pollution. Much of it is heavier than air and when it cools it falls to earth.

The generally-accepted rule of thumb is that a ten mile radius around the plant receives greater levels than surrounding areas. Almost ALL of Middlebury and a small part of Oxford is encompassed in that radius. This says nothing of the water consumption, danger to the airport and pilots, noise, vibration and other forms of waste this facility creates. It is cleaner than coal by about 50%. HOWEVER, at 805 megawatts it produces about 50% more energy than the average coal plant. Its efficency is eclipsed by its capacity and its output of waste measured in the millions of tons per year.

Do not be fooled by the clean energy mantra. Yes, it is cleaner than coal, but it creates staggering amounts of pollutants due to its enormous capacity. YOU can make believe it all just blows away in the wind when its released just 150 feet in the air and 500 feet from our home. I will choose to not take that chance. Sign the petition and join us in saying “Not in Our Backyard!”

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/330/530/563/citizens-against-cpv-oxford-energy-plant/