Residents speak about biomass plant

GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Greenfield residents have been waiting to speak-up about a proposed biomass energy plant in the area for some time now.

The meeting had been rescheduled three times and on Monday night more than 500 people packed the Greenfield Middle School auditorium to speak their minds.

“I don't want it in my front yard. I don't want to see it. I don't want to have to smell it,” Howard Stone said.

The Board of Appeals meeting began in the school cafeteria, but once that room hit capacity, fire officials decided to move the meeting to the nearby auditorium.

Denise Hubert bought her house 9 months ago. She told 22News if she knew then what she knows now, she never would have purchased the home.

“I'm worried about the noise and the odor and the pollution. My two granddaughters live with me, they play in the yard all the time,” she said.

While most people at the meeting were vehemently opposed to the plant, there were also dozens of union workers and tradesmen who were in favor of it.

The plant would create a few hundred jobs during the construction phase and between 20 and 30 permanent jobs once the plant is built.

If approved, the 47-megawatt wood burning energy plant would be built in the I-91 Industrial Park in Greenfield.