Local Residents speaking out against International Biorefineries potentially operating in their backyards
SALISBURY, Md. – Salisbury Residents are pushing back against a local business attempting to build a Biorefinery.
Imagine being told that the build behind you, was only being used for agriculture storage, but instead, finding out there could be a potential biorefinery built in your backyard? Well, the residents of Canterbury Woods are not having it.
Health Concerns
40-year Salisbury resident Julia Tallent is right next door to the property. She is outraged by the lack of concern she feels International BioRefineries has for her neighborhood.
“I’m lucky, I beat cancer twice I hope, and I don’t want to take any chances with my health, my husband’s, my son’s, or anybody for that matter… There’s no way he can operate a biorefinery and not emit gas into the air and pollute the groundwater.”
Proper Protocol
Rhonda Tomko moved her 4 years ago, with 4 generations in her household, and is another resident who isn’t at all ok with her health potentially being threatened either.
“I needed to follow specific hoops and specific laws and ordinances just to add a kitchen to my house, and none of that’s been done here. And this industrial property is now going to function 50 feet from my house… Any kind of industrial waste, pollutants, water contamination, will directly affect me.”
Low- Income Targets
Monica Brooks is the President of the Wicomico County NAACP and co-founder of Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFOS. She says this happens when entities think residents stand alone. “They don’t believe these people will have a voice. They don’t have a voice, they don’t have connection, they don’t have influence, they don’t have power…”
She goes on to say, “So, if I come in with all of my funding, all of my connection to government officials, all of my connections to government entities, or just a history in the corporate world, then I will run over you.”
Property Value
Matthew Olson is a member of Families Not Refineries, a local group of neighbors who are deep in this fight. He also happens to be a realtor who says this doesn’t just impact the current 50 residents, but potential ones.
“If it’s emitting a bunch of pollutants, and it’s known to be polluting the water, then nobody’s going to want to buy a home in here, and your $400,000 house you have on an acre is going to be worth $50,000 because nobody is going to be able to do anything with it.”
Renewable or Reckless?
International Biorefineries, LLC is owned and operated by Raj Kathuria. According to their website, they have a patented technology to convert Biomass into high value renewable energy, according to their website. They also say their technology is environmentally friendly, and their facilities meet industry or Governmental needs with a small footprint.
Raj Kathuria has gone on record saying in part- “The InBio technology features innovative yet simplified design that requires relatively low capital, operating, and maintenance costs and does not require boilers or process water. Can process virtually any biomass material to produce high-value products like Bio-Oil and Biochar with multiple energy and non-energy markets.”
The Maryland Department of Agriculture‘s website reads, “International Biorefineries, LLC will use a state-of-the-art thermochemical conversion technology known as “fast pyrolysis” to convert poultry litter —a mixture of manure and bedding material—into a variety of value-added products. The technology is expected to reduce the amount of litter generated at Chesnik Farms by 50 percent.”
WMDT attempted to speak with personnel from the facility. We were met with aggression and hostility, and after asking if they wanted to make a comment, they refused, even threatening to call the police.
Transparent Communications
Rachel Casteel is the program director for Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health, a non-profit that fights for community justice, who says transparency goes a long way.
“A permit for a storage building is not a permit for industrial use, so there has to be some opportunity for neighbors to be notified, and for our community to have public comment and have their voices heard and their stories heard, and their lived experience respected. ”
Until then, the residents and local non-profits say they plan to keep fighting. The current project is at a standstill after an order issued from Wicomico County. The Board of Zoning Appeals has been notified, but community members are biting their nails until further notice.
