Massachusetts Biomass Project on Hold as Caletta Renewable Energy Keeps Hitting Snags

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--If you're Frank Fitzgerald, attorney for the team of Caletta Renewable Energy (Canton, Massachusetts), you have plenty of work. The company keeps hitting snags developing renewable energy projects in the northeast that could have created more than 100 jobs if environmentalists and local opponents would simply step out of the way.

The company's planned Palmer Renewable Energy biomass energy project in Springfield, Massachusetts, has been put on-hold while the state's Department of Environmental Protection chews on granting the final air permit. Opponents and proponents of the project are preparing for a legal battle in Massachusetts Land Court.

The initial permit for the project was approved in 2008, but project opponents filed an appeal with the appeals board of the city council, claiming the building permits were invalid because the council had revoked a special permit for the project last year.

It seems those against the project have the word "incinerator" stuck in their heads and don't understand the advanced technology for the conversion of biomass and waste materials for energy generation. Caletta is confident the $150 million, 38-megawatt (MW) project will move forward after the review and litigation.

Caletta's Crawford Renewable Energy project in Meadville, Pennsylvania, was also put on hold because of the same public opposition. The $350 million, 100-MW plant was to burn tires to produce renewable energy. The company plans to hold off on development for at least two years.

Caletta's Jefferson Renewable Energy project in Youngstown, Ohio, which was to produce 66 MW of renewable energy was scrubbed completely, as regulators continue to put tougher rules on large-scale, wood-burning biomass projects.

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