Why Blandford residents are leery of a proposed battery storage site
BLANDFORD – Concerned residents of this picturesque hill town want to enlist Springfield and the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission in their fight against battery storage.
Their outreach concerns water quality.
Mission Clean Energy has proposed a 175-megawatt battery storage facility for a North Blandford Road site near two streams that feed Springfield's Cobble Mountain Reservoir.
Like many residents in the town, Richard Meczywor fears not only the disruption of construction and then having an industrial installation in a rural area, but the possibility of fire that could be difficult to put out.
"This could be catastrophic not only for Blandford but for the city of Springfield," Meczywor said. "We've been good stewards of the Cobble Mountain Reservoir."
A resident of Blandford for 50 years, Meczywor remembers when Springfield officials were so attentive to water quality they paid to pump out residents' septic systems in order to make sure the job was done properly — and frequently. His home, on North Blandford Road, is about 500 yards from the proposed battery storage site and about a mile from the reservoir.
About half of the 53 square miles of land in Blandford is government-owned, including state parks and the reservoir and its watershed, Meczywor said. The town has a population of 1,215.
Blandford resident Lisa Bruno lives across town, about a mile away from a proposed solar project she said would also involve storage batteries.
"We need oversight," she said. "We need help."
Officials with Mission Clean Energy didn't reply Wednesday to an email seeking comment.
An illustration of Mission Clean Energy's proposed battery storage site in Blandford. (Image provided by Mission Clean Energy)Staff
In a presentation to the town Aug. 11, the company said its project would help Massachusetts meet an "ambitious" goal of having 5 gigawatts of energy storage facilities available by the mid-2030s. The company projects that over 25 years, it would pay Blandford $7.5 million in taxes.
Blandford residents voted overwhelmingly Monday at a special town meeting to oppose this battery storage plan, as well as solar energy farm proposals and a planned expansion of an Eversource substation.
They also voted to establish a committee to carry on a fight against such development, said Cristina Ferrera, town administrator.
Bruno, Meczywor and five other residents sent a letter last month to Springfield Mayor Dominic J. Sarno and to the water and sewer commissioners he appoints, as well as to other towns and cities whose water systems are connected to Cobble Mountain: Agawam, Southwick, Westfield, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Ludlow.
It seems they found a sympathetic ear.
"While the Commission understands and values the benefits of green-energy, battery storage projects may pose unacceptable water quality risks depending on their location, design, and construction," a spokesperson for the commission said in a statement Wednesday to The Republican.
"The Commission will closely monitor and raise any concerns with the siting, design, or construction of any proposed battery storage projects in the interest of protecting the public water supply," the statement said.
Sarno responded to the Blandford neighbors with a letter of his own Sept. 15 saying he's forwarded the issue to the commissioners.
"My first priority, as with our Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, is to continue to enhance and protect the quality of our outstanding water source, systems, and services to the nearly 250,000 regional residents and business community," Sarno said in a statement to The Republican, in response to questions.
"In turn, yes, I would question the proximity of this project to our Cobble Mountain Reservoir," he said.
The sprawling, 22-billion-gallon reservoir includes land in the towns of Blandford, Russell and Granville and was completed in 1931.
Surrounding Cobble Mountain and the older Borden Brook reservoirs that feed it are 48.5 square miles of rural or forested land, according to the commission.
Of those 31,000 acres, 47% of the property is owned by the commission for water supply protection purposes, and an additional 10% is protected by public and nonprofits.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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