IPSWICH —Members of the planning board found themselves butting heads when the topic of smells came up.
The board was discussing the application by New England Biolabs (NEB) to build a 96,000-square-foot extension to its facility on County Road.
The company would hire another 100 people over the coming years, and it wants town meeting to approve a 10-year tax increment financing (TIF) tax break.
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However, at the board’s first hearing on the application in January, the topic of smells emanated.
Board alternate Helen Weatherall, who recused herself because she is a direct abutter to NEB, said she smelled odors from the plant from time to time.
With a site visit by the board on Monday, Feb. 10 under its belt, the board returned to the issue last week.
Board member Paul Nordberg said he didn’t smell anything during the site visit.
“I think we should be careful about what we’re raising conjecture about and what we know,” said chairman Keith Anderson as the topic wafted into the discussion.
“Being told there’s no smell when I smelled the smell and my husband smelled the smell and Paul [Flanagan, an abutter] has also been aware of the scent … for the chairman of the board to contradict me, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Weatherall said.
Anderson asked her if she knew it came from NEB and if she knew what it was.
Weatherall acknowledged she didn’t but added, “I’m not content to be told there is no smell.”
“No one told you that,” Anderson replied, with Nordberg agreeing.
“That’s not true,” Weatherall said, and asked for an explanation of the odor. She compared it to “something reminiscent to what you’d smell driving down the New Jersey Turnpike.”
Nordberg said it’s “tricky” when people don’t always experience the same thing.
Board member Carolyn Britt said she used to walk her dog on the property and smelled it once. She thought it was methane and may have come from the waste treatment plant.
She said the plant should be reviewed during the application to make sure it can handle the increase.
Presenting the application, engineer Charlie Weir of Meridian Associates said the plant is designed to process 27,000 gallons a day and it now handles around 9,000 gallons a day.
Britt wondered if under-use was the problem, noting she lived across the marsh from the town’s wastewater treatment plant.
“When there wasn’t stuff going through it, it really malfunctioned. It was serious,” she said, adding, “You need the extra volume of product for it to function correctly.”
Questions
Paul Flanagan, the abutter, had some other questions for the applicant.
He asked if air quality was monitored. Pat Norton, associate director of facilities and engineering with NEB, replied that emissions were from natural gas heating.
“Do you have containment rooms [for] dangerous, hazardous chemicals, and/or biological?” Flanagan asked.
Norton said there are standard operating procedures for dealing with cleaning and other materials that cannot be flushed down drains.
Attorney Don Greenough said there are separate town regulations on how to handle hazardous materials.
Chairman Keith Anderson said the building code also dictates how such substances must be dealt with.
Flanagan also asked if any trees or shrubs would be cut during construction. Part of the original agreement between Biolabs and himself was to maintain screening, he added.
Weir said there were no plans to cut vegetation. Asked about lighting, Weir said there would be one new light where the new access road splits off from the existing road.
Weatherall asked about the temporary road and if it would be ripped up after the project is complete.
Weir said it would be removed, but the temporary road would be there for 18 months or so.
Asked about tagged trees, he replied those mark the wetland boundary and they are not marked for felling.
Abutter Jim McCarthy of Fellows Road asked that the upper parking lot near the Mansion not be expanded as much as it is very close to hhis neighborhood.
The hearing will continue at the board’s next meeting.
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Elusive smell features at planning board — more toilet flushing could help - The Local Ne.ws
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