Question 1: Please provide examples of existing co-digesters of the same size that you have build and operated for three years without major system failures (i.e, no significant manure or waste spills, no major or minor explosions or fires, no community complaints about odors or other complaints about health and/or quality of life concerns).

 

Question 2: Vanguard Renewables/(name of host farm): Please describe the economic and environmental impact studies you will pay for and will undertake prior to any individual or governmental body entering into an agreement to construct this co-digester? What qualified third-party firm(s) will conduct these studies? How much time and money have been allocated to complete these studies? What independent third-party air, water, and soil testing has been done to this point that will give the township a baseline should future problems arise? Have you set aside money to pay for these studies prior to any approval being given?

 

Question 3: Will Vanguard Renewables/(name of host farm) be required to provide proof of liability insurance and bonding so that any accidents or damages in the community/environment during construction or operation of the co-digester are paid for by Vanguard Renewables/(name of host farm) and not by the residents/taxpayers of the township? Will insurance include coverage for all incidents at the co-digester plant and for any damage resulting from the digester by-products both liquid and solid?

 

Question 4: As other communities across the U.S. and Europe have learned, current state-of-the-art co-digesters have had problems dealing with odors, with some even being shuttered by the EPA and courts due to community health and quality of life concerns. How will Vanguard Renewables handle odor complaints? Will you send out notices to neighbors of planned or unplanned odor release as some other digester companies have done? WillVanguard Renewables include a written guarantee that when the co-digester is operational, it will not emit odors or gasses that will impact the health, safety, or quality of life for our residents?

 

Question 5: Specifically how often will you be flaring off emissions into our air and what specifically and inwhat quantities will be released into our air during flaring. Your air permit application states that you will be flaring off during start-up (how many hours), during process upset (how many times/length of time) andwhen gas can’t be injected into the pipeline. How long do you anticipate it will take to produce gas that will be of quality required to inject into the pipeline? What type of third-party independent monitoring of our air quality will be guaranteed once the digester is operational?

 

Question 6: As other communities have learned, current ‘state-of-the-art’ co-digesters may have an impact on the normal outdoor pursuits of area residents and studies have shown that they do have an impact on nearby property values. What type of written warranties will you provide to hold residents harmless from the loss of property values?

 

Question 7: Should road damage occur on township roads by either the trucking of waste or the trucking of excess digestate, what written guarantees will you provide that (township name) will be reimbursed for those damages? How will you mitigate the noise and dust kicked up related to the truck traffic? How many trucks will be delivering the industrial food waste each day?

 

Question 8: Will Vanguard Renewables provide written guarantees that they will reimburse the County, Township, or any other entities that might provide services such as the fire department, emergency medical personnel, hazmat teams, emergency management services that may be required to assist with fires, explosions, spills, employee accidents etc.?

 

Question 9: What is the volume of water needed on a daily basis for the digester and for all other uses related to this project including the Farm?

 

Question 10: How many tons of waste will be trucked into the township per day should this proposal beapproved. Will you state in writing that you will not increase the amount of off-site food waste at any time in the future? What is the classification of the composition of the off-site waste? Please be specific in telling us what the off-site waste will consist of. Will it be separated at its source? What independent third-party will be testing the off-site waste prior to it being used in the digester? What will the testing consist of? Will it be tested for heavy metals, petrochemicals, pesticide, pathogens, viruses, etc.? Will there be written guarantees that the off-site waste that you are telling us today you will be sourcing will not change without written approval from the County or Township?

 

Question 11: There are concerns about nearby wells being contaminated or depleted. Are you paying to have neighboring wells tested now so that there is a baseline data should problems occur in the future? In the evident that wells are affected what guarantees will you put in writing that you will hold harmless the homeowners whose wells are affected?

 

Question 12: Please describe how all aquifers and surface waters within a five mile radius of the proposed digester will be protected and monitored? How will this monitoring be accomplished and by what third-party independent firm(s)?

 

Question 13: Please describe the guaranteed bonding that Vanguard Renewables will have to cover any and all costs of closure for the proposed digester after it reaches the end of its service or should the operation be shut down due to any other contingency? (Such as but not limited to bankruptcies, contractual disputes, community complaints related to health, safety and quality of life, loss of local property values, unacceptably high road damage, toxic spills, explosions, or other unforeseen events).