By Russ Choma
Staff Writer

Despite having spent money set aside by voters for legal costs, Hopkinton officials said there is no danger that selectmen will give up their fight against Bio Energy anytime soon.

When voters allocated $50,000 for legal expenses last March, it was meant to last 12 months but with the intensifying legal battle with Bio Energy, that money was spent in just seven months.

The town has been in a legal battle with the company, which plans to reopen its West Hopkinton power plant and burn demolition and construction debris, which can potentially release up to 2.6 tons of toxins into the air.

However, at their Nov. 1 meeting, selectmen approved an additional $50,000, taken from surpluses in other areas of the budget to bolster their legal war chest.

Chairman of the board of selectmen, Don Lane, said that in a closed session meeting with their attorneys the selectmen laid out a plan to make the additional money last until the next Town Meeting in March.

Lane said a general strategy was agreed upon that allows the board “to continue to fight the good fight, but keep it in balance fiscally.”

Despite a desire to conserve the new funds, Lane said there is no danger of the town running out of money for its legal fight.

“There won’t be any gaps,” he said. “We’re not going to say, ‘Oh damn, we’re out of money.’ That won’t happen. We have enough funds to continue.”

In March, Lane said selectmen will place a warrant article on the ballot specifically asking voters to approve a specific amount of money to further legal efforts against Bio Energy. Lane said the specific amount has yet to be determined.

Last year, voters approved $25,000 for legal fees as part of the general budget and another $25,000 in a separate warrant article.

“Last year, we didn’t know how much it was going to cost. But this year, we’ll have a better handle on it,” Lane said. “But then it will be up to the voters to decide if they want to (approve the warrant.)”

Lane said he has “every confidence that the people will be supportive of what we’re doing.”

New allies
The town has already said it will appeal the most recent Bio Energy court decision to the state Supreme Court – meaning an almost certain increase in costs – but Lane said the town is lucky to have allies in their fight.

Lane referred specifically to Residents Environmental Action Committee for Health (REACH) and Citizens for a Future New Hampshire (CFNH), the two anti-Bio Energy citizen groups.

“We don’t have to carry the ball all by ourselves,” Lane said. “I think between the various groups, we can continue this fight as long as people want us to.”

After Bio Energy was granted a state permit to emit up to 2.6 tons of lead into the air annually in July of 2003, REACH – the older of the two groups – was founded and actively pressured the town to act against Bio Energy.

The group also appealed to the Environmental Protection Agency to overturn the state’s emissions permit. They claim to have more than 1,000 members.

Ron Lajoie, chairman of REACH, said in addition to countless volunteer hours contributed by members, his group has spent $7,500 on its effort so far, not including a $5,000 donation to the Conservation Law Foundation, a Concord-based environmental advocacy legal organization.

Although it is also an anti-Bio Energy group, the CFNH has pursued a more hardline approach – opposing any reopening of the Bio Energy facility.

The plant, which for almost two-decades operated as a wood-burning power plant, shut down in 2001. The company now plans to burn wood chips made from construction and demolition debris, a material that frequently contains wood tainted with lead, arsenic and mercury.

Although REACH has discussed the possibility of accepting Bio Energy’s plans to reopen if tighter emission controls are installed, CFNH said its members are unwilling to compromise.

As part of its campaign for zero emissions, the group has filed a lawsuit challenging Bio Energy’s solid waste permit, which allows the company to handle the construction and demolition debris.

The CFNH attorneys have argued the company’s permit, issued by the state in late 2002, should be tossed out because company executives filed an incomplete application.

This lawsuit, and a petition filed in support of the town in its lawsuit against Bio Energy, have cost the group significantly, said David Swords, CFNH co-chairman.

“We spent $10,000 just to file our initial suit, and we’ve spent another couple thousand to file (the supporting brief,)” Swords said, adding that his group is committed to spend far more. “One estimate our lawyer gave us (for the cost of pursuing the lawsuit) is $50,000. And I personally think it will cost more than that.”

The lawsuit is being handled by attorney Doug Wilkins, an environmental law specialist and partner at the Cambridge, Mass., law firm of Andersen and Kreiger.

To date, only CFNH is involved in the suit but may be joined by one of Bio Energy’s other opponents.

Hopkinton Town Administrator Ed Wojnowski said selectmen have to discuss the possibility of joining CFNH, but said “signing on as an intervener, that may be something we do.”