WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, November 8, 2007
Biomass Plant Hits Snag

Company hoping to build a biomass power plant near Estancia has failed to prove it has rights to any biomass fuel to run the plant
Contact: Laura Nesbitt Mountain View Telegraph

A state agency says the company that wants to build a biomass power plant near Estancia has failed to prove it has rights to any biomass fuel to run the plant.

The Energy, Conservation and Management Division of the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department submitted a 26-page document Friday supporting its denial of tax credits for the proposed plant.

The document was a response to Western Water and Power Production LLC's appeal of the denial.

"ECMD correctly denied WWPP's tax credit application because WWPP failed to show it had secured any amount of biomass for its Project," the ECMD response states. "Documents that accompanied WWPP's application reveal that WWPP does not have the right to cut even one tree or collect one day's worth of biomass fuel."

WWPP filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 10 to EMNRD Secretary Joanna Prukop after the agency rejected the company's application for renewable energy production tax credits for a second time on Sept. 25.

The tax credits could be worth approximately $2 million a year for 10 years, according to WWPP.

WWPP intends to use biomass, primarily piñon and juniper, from nearby mountains and rangeland to fuel its proposed $80 million, 35-megawatt plant.

State hearing examiners filed an order Monday outlining a schedule for the appeal process.

The order includes the option for the hearing officers to schedule oral arguments between the parties, said Jodi McGinnis Porter, public information officer for EMNRD.

The deadline for "any other party" to file a response to WWPP's notice of appeal was Wednesday. In an e-mail Tuesday McGinnis Porter said no responses had been filed yet.

A decision on the appeal will be made by Prukop by Dec. 11 unless oral arguments are scheduled. In that case, a ruling would be made 20 days after the conclusion of the oral arguments, she said.

Bryan Bird, director of public lands for WildEarth Guardians, an environmental group that has opposed the construction of the plant, said there are differences between the WWPP assessment of available biomass materials and a study done by "an independent group (of) citizen-scientists" that was also submitted to the state.

"(WWPP) looked at clear-cutting an area and WildEarth Guardians looked at various percentages of cutting an area," Bird said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Three individuals with "a scientific background," but not in the area of forestry, performed the study, said Paul Davis, one of those individuals listed, along with Bud Latven and Bill Fogleman.

According to Davis, WWPP claims it will be able to harvest 21.6 million tons of biomass within a 50-mile radius of the proposed plant. The study cited by WildEarth Guardians found that less than half the amount of biomass material needed, as stated in WWPP's air quality permit application, would be available for harvest by the company, Davis said.

WWPP president David Cohen said his assessment of biomass material in the area includes satellite imagery, land ownership identification of biomass tonnage, evidence from soil and water conservation districts of thinning plans, and history from ranchers from the last 40 to 50 years.

Cohen said his company's study has excluded areas that are "environmentally sensitive."

"The bottom line is, just like in the air permit issue where we were presented with information from opponents that did not hold up, we're going to face the same bad science in this case," Cohen said in a phone interview Monday. "It's an ongoing process of misinformation."

Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission