Letter: Residents Demand Relocation of Proposed UMass Geothermal Well Field
Geothermal well installation at Notre Dame University. Photo: nd.edu
by Becky Miller and 29 others
We are residents of the Farview neighborhood of North Amherst, that abuts the well field planned by UMass-Amherst as part of a large geothermal project. UMass intends to drill 70 wells, each 800 feet deep, with 2.2M gallons of thermal energy storage which will then be piped to an energy exchange center. The project is slated to begin on November 11, 2024, with drilling to continue until May 13, 2025.
Our neighborhood is already subjected to substantial noise and vibration from ongoing UMass construction projects. On October 10, we attended an eleventh-hour UMass information session and sent follow-up questions about the environmental and health implications of the geothermal project but to date, we have not received answers to them. Given the magnitude of this project and the uncertainties associated with it, we are asking UMass to move the well field to a nearby site that does not abut a residential area.
We applaud the commitment of the university to attaining net zero carbon emissions. At the same time, the University has not responded to our critical questions about the process of choosing this particular site and about the project’s short- and long-term impacts, including:
—Did UMass conduct feasibility studies and/or prepare an environmental impact statement for the geothermal project? If yes,.why have these not been made available to the abutters, as requested?
—Why was the project sited for a lot directly adjoining homes in a residential neighborhood?
—What is the rationale for not moving the project approximately 500 yards to the west, to Parking Lot 26?
—What volume, kinds, and duration of noise and vibration will result from the drilling?
—What, if any, noise mitigation measures has UMass put in place, both for the proposed six-plus months of drilling and beyond?
—What research can UMass provide to reassure neighbors concerned about a) possible cracking of their foundations; b) airborne emissions; and c) contamination of ground and/or surface water?
—It appears that UMass or the Town of Amherst failed to notify the residents of the Amherst Housing Authority duplexes on Fairfield Street whose homes are closest to the proposed well field. Why?
Given the scope of this project and its potentially critical impact on our health, homes, and neighborhood, we demand that the proposed geothermal well field be relocated to Parking Lot 26, or another location on the UMass Campus that does not abut a residential neighborhood.
The signatories are residents of Amherst’s Farview Neighborhood.
Kay Baker, Patricia Cahill ,Tu Chu, Han Chu, Maria Correia, Sara Crary, Katja Hahn d’Errico, Rafael Fissore , Karen-Marie Harrington, David Sebastian, Alfred Lennart Karlson, Ashley Lawrie, Noelle Nubani, Cyrus Safizadeh, Andrew Melnechuk, Josna Rege, Becky Miller, Tom Randall, Lori Mortimer, Katharina Pistor, Tristram Seidler, Sarah Stookey, Richard Tedeschi, Merrylees Turner, Lynne Weintraub, Jeffrey A. and Jean Marie Wolfman, Joshua Wolfman, Eileen Wood, Robin Wood
Even better would be asking UMass to add your neighborhood to the new geothermal network as a town/gown benefit of enduring the construction process. Geothermal is the renewable energy of the future and so needed in our region of cold winters. Framingham is the first city in the nation to form a geothermal residential neighborhood network. You could be on the leading edge too. https://www.framinghamma.gov/3416/Geothermal-Pilot-Program. UMass could create a system whereby residents could join the network at inception or when they are ready to upgrade their heating systems. Amherst College could do the same with its geothermal project. Share the wealth.