Small turnout for Renovo rally against proposed energy center

RENOVO, PA – Opponents of the Renovo Energy Center project staged a Saturday afternoon rally in opposition to the power plant proposal. The event drew a crowd estimated at less than one hundred people, including many project supporters.

Maureen Ruhl, a Renovo borough council candidate, emceed the 40 minute proceeding. She said, “I don’t know if this is good for Renovo or not; we’re not getting information.” Attendees meanwhile were provided a flyer from a recently established group called Renovo Residents for a Healthy Environment; that circular was highly critical of the REC project, claiming the plant would be “the fourth largest industrial polluter of greenhouses gases in Pennsylvania.”

Ruhl engaged in a brief round of verbal sparring with some project supporters in attendance, including two representatives of the Clinton County Economic Partnership in Mike Flanagan and Jim Russo. She said Flanagan would not return her phone calls, to which he responded, “I’ve got three words for you: build the plant.” She was also critical of the current Renovo borough council.

Renovo area public officials in attendance observing included Mayor Tom Tarantella Jr. and council president Ann Tarantella of Renovo and Chapman Township Supervisor Greg Werts. After Ruhl finished her written introductory comments, there was a smattering of applause. Project supporters were given the opportunity to participate in the dialogue, but few did.

There was an opportunity for opponents to add their names to a petition being circulated in the Renovo area by the Renovo Residents for a Healthy Environment. A spokesperson after the event said some 60 to 70 signatures have been obtained thus far.

Speakers included Ralph Kisberg, a fossil fuel consultant and a member of Responsible Drilling Alliance from Williamsport. He told those in attendance that the project as proposed by the Bechtol group is “riding the end of the wave,” that natural gas-to-electricity projects are “petering out.” He said, “Be careful what you wish for,” citing the impact of a project the size of the REC proposal on the town.

Also speaking was Renovo resident Gail Lutz who offered information from her son who works for the Environmental Protection Agency; she said he provided information from three sources that such natural gas plants are “not clean.”

Attendees were then invited to walk to the proposed site, about a mile away, on the north side of the Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks; only a handful did so on a hot, sultry day. Renovo’s two part-time police officers stood off in the distance and there was also a Chapman Township fire truck parked nearby.

There were no REC officials present Saturday, but afterwards an REC spokeswoman provided this statement, “We are privileged to be working closely with the Borough of Renovo and others to help transform a disused railyard site into a state-of-the-art facility that will provide a reliable source of low-emissions power for more than a million homes. This project will be an economic engine for the local community, employing hundreds of skilled workers during construction and unleashing sustainable growth.”