Treated lumber company goes green

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (WWLP) - The Massachusetts Green Communities Act is an initiative that pushes for the reduction of greenhouse gases. One company that is doing just that is Northeast Treaters in Belchertown.

The company recently finished a 35,000 square foot solar photovoltaic power plant. Solar panels on the roof will provide 80 percent of the electricity needed to power its manufacturing plant.

The solar plant project will reduce the company's carbon footprint by nearly 400,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

In addition to the environmental impact, Northeast Treaters President David Reed says the rising cost of oil was also a factor in building the solar plant.

“As a business owner I too think about energy, the cost of energy and energy policy. I think we are very vulnerable to price spikes and shortages of power or energy. Just in the last six weeks oil closed at $102 a barrel up 37 precent in six weeks. This is almost impossible for a business owner to tolerate or to plan with and our customers are getting whip-sawed by the price of things,” said David Reed.

Most people 22News talked seem to like the idea of having a solar power plant in town.

“I think that's great why not you go to save somewhere... anything green is good for any town," said Susan Lavalle of Belchertown.

“I think it's good anytime we can reduce our fossil fuels and stuff and solar is a good way to go so I think it's a good idea,” said Phil Earle of Belchertown.

All the workers involved in the construction and all the materials used to build the solar plant came from the local area or from somewhere in the United States