Archive of events:
EFSB hearings concluded on 10/31/22
EFSB decision, June 2023
Docket for this case is here: Case 21-02
Carver Concerned Citizens
is fighting back!
Get in touch with CCC to help! carverconcernedcitizens@gmail.com and on Facebook
 Residential area in Carver, MA is ground zero for the 150 MW Cranberry Point battery storage project Residential area in Carver, MA is ground zero for the 150 MW Cranberry Point battery storage project At our April 11, 2022 Town meeting, Carver voted by 387 to 87 saying YES to an 11 ½ month zoning moratorium to pause this project. This dealt a blow to Cranberry Point and its supporters and sent a loud message to Town officials. Now Cranberry Point is trying desperately to get around the wishes of Carver voters and the zoning moratorium. Cranberry Point has petitioned state agencies to EXEMPT IT FROM ALL CARVER’S ZONING BY-LAWS! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN Cranberry Point is asking for for permission to poison our water with a dangerously unstable lithium-ion storage facility. Cranberry Point has repeatedly, told the state Siting Board that the battery site is a “rural” location and will have no impact on our sole source aquifer and our unique landscape. DANGERS • Lithium-ion batteries’ general composition includes toxic elements such as cobalt and under fire conditions toxic gas can be generated like hydrogen fluoride gas, which when mixed with water creates hydrofluoric acid, which is a respiratory irritant. • Mitigation measures can reduce risk, but not eliminate a failure occurrence, which is not only possible, but probable. This facility will be placed adjacent to the EverSource sub-station, if it does have a failure occurrence of a thermal runaway, it is likely that the sub-station will be damaged, impacting a large section of Eversource’s service area. • Thermal runaway is a primary risk of lithium-ion batteries. This happens when the lithium ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state. Thermal runaway can result in: Ejection of gas, shrapnel and/or particulates (violent cell venting), extremely high temperatures, smoke and fire. • The water used to cool a thermal runaway event, will immediately become contaminated because of the toxic gas and particles from the storage facility, that contaminated water will find its way into private wells and our sole-source aquifer. DID YOU KNOW? • The Energy Facilities Siting Board website states “To obtain EFSB approval, a proposed facility must demonstrate that it would provide a reliable energy supply, with a minimum impact on the environment, at the lowest possible cost.” • That you will not benefit, in any way, from this battery storage facility. • Two Select Board members were instrumental in approving the site plan during their tenure on the Planning Board: Jennifer Bogart and Jim Hoffman. • Select Board member Sarah Hewins, our former conservation agent, at Town Meeting stated she was “offended” by resident’s efforts to pass a moratorium on battery storage facilities in our town. • At the April 12, 2022 Annual Town Meeting, the moratorium was passed by an overwhelming 387-78 vote. • Cranberry Point is not fully permitted, which is in direct conflict to the statements made by our Select Board and Planning Director, Tom Bott. • Battery storage for energy is a recent initiative in Massachusetts, which became incentivized under the SMART Program in late 2018. Because of the SMART Program, solar companies and battery storage companies are using the Town of Carver as their testing grounds without any regard for its residents or the impact of their products on our lives or the environment and our water. • All large-scale ground mounted solar installations must now have a “Battery Storage Energy System” (BESS) on-site. Carver already has at least 4 large solar installations with battery storage of the 19 large scale ground mounted solar installations in town. • BESS have been halted through-out the country because of the instability and danger to surrounding communities. • Our youngest and most vulnerable residents attend Carver’s Elementary School only .6 miles from the proposed Cranberry Point site. • Our neighbors’ homes directly abut and are only 400 feet from the site! • 974 homes are within 1 mile of the battery project and of that number 61 are mobile homes. • 500 homes are within 800 feet of the battery project. • Carver’s Lakenham Historic District is .5 miles away. • Meadowbrook/Carver Housing Authority, our low-income housing complex and town center is within 1 mile away from the battery project.  Lithium-ion battery storage project similar to the proposed Cranberry Point project WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP? • Remind the Select Board that we elected them as town leaders based upon the promises they made to protect our communities and towns. They should not allow predatory corporations like Cranberry Point from Texas put us in danger, contaminate our water, lower our property values and endanger the natural beauty of this town. • Let our Select Board know that if they don’t start protecting our residents, our natural resources and our water that we will not vote for them again. • Let’s stand united as a community against the continual takeover and destruction of our community. If we remain divided our water becomes poisoned and our neighborhoods become unlivable, all in the name of “green energy”. |
Some important events:
August 25, 2022: Nearly 1,500 letters sent to the Carver Select Board, Planning Board, Town Manager and Town Administrator from concerned citizens urging them to not allow Cranberry Point to be exempt from Carver’s zoning laws.
Read Cranberry Point’s petition for a zoning exemption here.
July 26, 2022: Over 360 letters letters sent to the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) by concerned citizens urging the Board to not allow Cranberry Point to be exempt from Carver’s zoning laws.
May 6, 2022: VICTORY! We won the right full participation in the hearing. There is a lot more work ahead to get our concerns put before the Hearing Officer at the EFSB. Cranberry Point fought our participation so this is a victory.
The EFSB Hearing Officer’s Decision is here.
Here is the November 8, 2021 video of the EFSB hearing on the Cranberry Point
Here is some information on the dangers of battery storage.
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