St. Andrew’s-in-the-Valley church joins appeal of Club Motorsports water quality permit

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

Insufficient information on plans for hazardous fuel handling mean permit should be reconsidered, citizens’ group says

(TAMWORTH, NH, April 25)

St. Andrew’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, owned by the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, has joined in an appeal of a recent permit issued to Club Motorsports. The church, whose land abuts the proposed development, could be severely affected by possible groundwater pollution from spills of high-octane racing fuels. The church property also includes seasonal wetlands that could be affected by surface runoff, its rector said.

A group of fifty Tamworth residents who will be affected by the proposed Club Motorsports racetrack are also plaintiffs in the appeal. The group is challenging the developer’s Water Quality Certification, issued by the NH Department of Environmental Services on March 22.

“We’re also worried about the effect the noise from the track could have during services and other church activities,” said the Reverend Heidi Frantz-Dale, rector of the well-established and active congregation at St. Andrew’s. In addition to two services each Sunday, St. Andrew’s is the location for weddings and funerals throughout the week. It serves a congregation that is drawn from Tamworth and several surrounding towns. It is home to the weekly Dinner Bell community meal program, as well as a twice-weekly community food pantry, Christmas and Thanksgiving food drives, youth groups, concerts and a wide range of other community events and activities.

There is an Episcopal church close to the Lime Rock Park racetrack in Lime Rock, CT, where events similar to those proposed for the Club Motorsports facility take place. That church was a party to a thirty-year legal action to regulate the Lime Rock racetrack, which now operates under strict guidelines that control its impact on the community.

The appeal of the Water Quality Certificate is based on a lack of necessary information from the developer about plans for handling hazardous racing fuels, which contain high levels of the additive and potent polluter MtBE. 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.

“During hearings on previous permits, there was a lot of public concern about the damage that even a small spill of racing fuel could do to the Ossipee Aquifer and the Bearcamp River watershed,” said Charles Greenhalgh, spokesperson for the citizen group Focus: Tamworth. Several members of Focus: Tamworth are among the list of plaintiffs in the appeal.

The appeal will be heard first by the New Hampshire Water Council, a 16-member group that hears appeals of water permits that are not related to wetlands. Its members are drawn from six state agencies and several industrial groups.

“We hope the water council will agree that the developer must provide the necessary information. Then DES can revisit the certification with all the data it needs to do a thorough review of possible hazards,” Greenhalgh said.

Each step in the appeal process usually takes several months.

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.

-end-