Mohamad Kassamili and Ariel Kondiles of Nexamp appeared before the Board of Health representing Acton-Boxborough Regional School District in their plans to integrate battery storage with solar photovoltaic panels at the Boardwalk Campus building.
Meeting materials can be found at 3-26-2024 (actonma.gov)
The Board had lengthy discussion regarding the applicants’ concerns regarding the conditions that will be applied to the Hazardous Materials Permit. They also noted the lack of materials provided to address concerns brought up in previous meetings, the impact of the battery location on the school’s evacuation plans, and the comments that the Acton Fire chief submitted.
The Board opened the hearing to citizen concerns.
Resident Jeff Vandegrift – My concern has been with noise on this project. I took the preliminary predictions that CSA (Cross Spectrum Acoustics) produced for the noise in the neighborhood and shared them with Michelle Delamare of the Central Region Office of Mass Division of Environmental Protection (DEP). She was very receptive to my concerns about what I read in the report. I thought it did not justify the conclusion it drew, and she agreed with me on a lot of points. She brought up points, some of which I felt qualified to put in my own words and pass on to CSA. Mass DEP doesn’t get involved until there’s an actual noise complaint. However, I share concerns with this preliminary report and if the Health Department contacts me, I will work with them at this early stage. None of us wants a problem to appear at the end of the project when it’s a lot more expensive to fix. I want to get a commitment that Mass DEP will be involved. They’re not an approving or disapproving entity, but they are a reputable source.
Mass DEP has given an opportunity to work with them. If you pass this up now and it turns out Delamare and I were correct in our concerns, you’ve got two problems in the end. One is willful disregard. I also think you have a potential penalty issue as well as a compensation issue.
Health Inspector Matthew Dow – Jeff, I did speak to Delamare this morning. We went over a few things. So, she is involved.
School Committee Member Andrew Schwartz – Considering the necessity for at least one additional meeting, what’s the timeline for completion of the project and the financial implications of this delay, assuming that the application is perfected?
BOH Chairman Mark Conoby – I think that’s a question for your own contractor.
Resident Kurt Marden – I’m the property owner on Arlington Street adjacent to the school property. I’m a registered professional engineer in the state of Massachusetts. I find a very disturbing, recurring theme that has come from the applicant about costs, with safety appearing to take a back seat. So, my point is, there is an effort to try to push this project through where it currently sits, regardless of the safety aspects, because of money. That is not the kind of message that the District should be sending out. It’s not the District’s purview to chase after money. That should not be the District’s priority. The first should be safety. Safety of the public and students is taking a back seat to costs.
BOH Chairman Conoby – Thank you very much for your comments. Safety is of paramount concern for the board issuing these permits.
Resident Chris Williams – I live across from the school on Arlington Street. I’ve been following this project and the documents that have been submitted. I still really don’t understand the push for putting 80,000 pounds of lithium-ion battery near a flood zone,10 feet from property lines, abutting traffic and blocking fire hydrant access within 100 feet of a school. They could have solar panels and have the financial and environmental benefit of the solar panels without 80,000 lbs. of lithium-ion battery crammed into our neighborhood. This question hasn’t been answered with a compelling argument. Does this pass the common sense test, or are they just going after money? I think we need to take a step back and rethink this rather than just having a focus on how to perfect the permit and get it to pass. My other concern is regarding a thermal runaway event. How long could toxic gases be produced? We have not had answers. No one told us what the ramifications would be for the people who live here if there was a thermal runaway event. I was shocked, absolutely. No one has answered our concerns. They are completely disregarding resident concerns, with the school making inaccurate and false statements. So, I urge you to rethink this project. Go back to square one and don’t just look at how we can make this project happen.
BOH Chairman Conoby – We’re still looking for the information from the District, responding to the questions from the prior meetings.
Resident Williams – I want to know why their risk analysis is not public. They’ve made absurd statements, saying the risk of failure due to flooding is the same as the risk of failure due to stray gunfire. How did they make that calculation? I want to see their risk analysis made public. That should be a condition of this permit.
BOH Chairman Conoby – We certainly do read all the comments. We appreciate them and they certainly make a much better process and raise a lot of great issues. The Board of Health approves reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety and the environment of the town.
Resident Marden – I believe on the town website that for the Board of Health, it states that the Board of Health is charged with protecting the overall public health of the citizens of Acton. Is that the case, or isn’t it? Or are you just in charge for hazardous material permitting? And I’ll stop.
BOH Chairman Conoby – The town website is accurate, but the permit is based on the Hazardous Material Control Bylaw, for which BOH is the enabling authority, so two separate issues, but they’re aligned.
The Board of Health continued the meeting to a future date with the expectation of more materials being provided by the applicant.