NEWS RELEASE -- Focus: Tamworth

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Focus: Tamworth spokesperson:
Charles Greenhalgh
603 356-5439 x 516
If unavailable:
Kate Vachon, press coordinator
603 323 8224
focus@focustamworth.org

Focus: Tamworth asks EPA to require additional permit for CMI

(TAMWORTH, NH, June 1, 2005)

Focus: Tamworth has petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require Club Motorsports Inc. to obtain an additional permit before it begins construction of its private racetrack on Mt. Whittier in Tamworth.

In a May 24 letter to Robert Varney, regional administrator for the EPA, Focus: Tamworth asks that EPA consider exercising its right to require an individual permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Both construction of the mammoth project and operation of the racetrack after construction pose threats to water quality in wetlands and the Bearcamp River, the letter states.

Construction of the facility will disturb more than 100 acres of land and create runoff containing silt, rocks and gravel. Operation of the track will generate runoff that contains racing fuel with unregulated levels of MtBE, benzene and other pollutants. Pollution generated by maintenance of cars and track equipment may find its way into wetlands and the Bearcamp as well, the letter says.

The EPA has the discretion to require an individual NPDES permit rather than the more common general permit. An individual permit requires a more extensive permitting process that looks closely at stormwater discharges caused by the project that could affect water quality in the area.

“In the absence of the Tamworth Race Track Ordinance, which required Best Management Practices for handling hazardous substances, we hope that the EPA will decide that this project needs an individual permit under NPDES,” said Focus: Tamworth spokesperson Charles Greenhalgh.

CMI’s proposed race track is exempt from the Tamworth Race Track Ordinance because of a law that CMI pushed through the New Hampshire legislature in 2004. An attempt to repeal the exempting statute passed the NH House in April but failed in the Senate in May.

Wetlands and water quality are the subject of two other pending actions that affect CMI.

The project’s developers have still not applied for the Special Use Permit they need under Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance. Focus: Tamworth has asked the Rockingham County Superior Court to issue a declaratory judgment requiring CMI to apply for the permit. That issue is not expected to be resolved until the fall.

In addition, a group that includes St. Andrew’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church and other abutters and Tamworth residents has appealed CMI’s Water Quality Certification issued in March by the NH Department of Environmental Services. The appeal is based on a lack of necessary  information from the developer about plans for handling hazardous racing fuels. Concerns about the missing information were raised in a letter from a DES official to the developer in December, 2004, but to date the developer has not responded to that letter or provided any further information.

Focus: Tamworth is a coalition of local residents who support careful and fair regulations that protect Tamworth’s economic and natural resources. More information on Focus: Tamworth is available at www.focustamworth.org.

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