RSE services focus on reducing project construction costs and maximizing operating efficiency and revenues while complying with multimedia environmental constraints.
RSE provides environmental engineering services for a variety of public and private sector energy projects.
Projects have included biomass power plants, waste-to-energy facilities, oil- and coal-fired power plants, power transmission lines, and the only peat-fired power plant in the northeast.
On many projects, RSE has primary responsibility for environmental permitting, including air, land, solid waste, stormwater, and wastewater licensing at local, state, and federal levels.
RSE assists with facility process designs and mass balancing of energy and material systems.
RSE also designs facilities and operating procedures for fuel-handling systems, hazard materials management, noise controls, stormwater drainage, and other plant systems. Each major project involves detailed CPM/PERT scheduling of permits integrated to minimize impact on financing and construction milestones.
Biomass Power Plants
Aroostook Valley Electric Company (formerly U.S. Energy Corporation, Fairfield Energy Venture); Fort Fairfield, Maine. Full-service environmental permitting; site evaluation; noise and visual impact studies; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; wood ash utilization program development; emergency response planning; groundwater monitoring; and environmental compliance program development for a biomass-fired, 30-net-megawatt (33 gross) electric power generating plant. The plant is fueled with green whole-tree wood chips and waste wood from local mills and wood fuel suppliers. Oil is used as an auxiliary fuel. Environmental permits included PSD/NSR air, land, solid waste, stormwater, and wastewater at local, state, and federal levels. Along with permitting the wood ash utilization program, RSE worked with the University of Maine to develop an agronomic computer model for landspreading wood ash onto commercial agricultural fields in Aroostook County. RSE guided plant staff in management of the ash program, which has been touted as the best ash utilization program in Maine. RSE conceived and implemented a unique permit strategy that allows the plant to use an existing wastewater discharge outfall to the Aroostook River operated by the local utility district. By sharing an existing resource, capital costs were reduced and new construction in a salmon restoration river was prevented. RSE developed an Integrated Pollution Prevention Plan to meet both oil pollution prevention and chemical emergency planning requirements. RSE also completed a noise impact study, measured in-plant sound levels, and performed an environmental compliance audit for the facility, among other services. Ongoing services include permit modifications and renewals, assistance with pollution prevention plans, toxics use reduction, and environmental compliance.
Hydra-Co Enterprises, Inc.; Stratton Energy Associates, Stratton Power Project; Stratton, Maine. Environmental permitting, noise and visual impact studies, oil and chemical emergency response planning, environmental compliance program development, groundwater monitoring and protection, and water supply pump station and supply line design for a 40-net-megawatt (49 gross) biomass-fired electric power generating plant. The plant is fueled with sawmill residue and whole-tree wood chips. Oil is used as an auxiliary fuel. Transmission of electric power from the plant required construction of a 5.5-mile transmission line. The primary water supply wells and pump station for the project are located approximately 2 miles from the site. The site is situated over a sand and gravel aquifer that serves as the town’s water supply. The 40,000-acre Bigelow Preserve is located 600 feet east of the site. The transmission and water supply lines are subject to jurisdiction under both the Site Location of Development Law and the Land Use Regulation Commission. RSE conducted visual impact studies for the power plant and the transmission line, particularly for the Bigelow Preserve. Detailed alternative routing scenarios for the transmission line were evaluated to minimize both environmental impacts and construction costs. RSE delivered testimony at public hearings to address the concerns of interveners. RSE prepared an integrated Spill and Emergency Response Plan to ensure the protection of groundwater and surface water from oil and chemicals used at the plant. CPM/PERT compliance schedules were integrated with project construction milestones to facilitate an early project start and minimize construction schedule impact. RSE analyzed discharges from the plant’s cooling towers and the potential impact on the aquifer and public water supply. RSE completed the environmental diagnostic studies that led to the implementation of noise reduction measures. As a follow-up, RSE developed a detailed, written protocol acceptable to local and state officials, and conducted a sound level compliance demonstration approved by the MDEP.
Thermo Energy Systems Corporation; Gorbell/Thermo Electron Power Company; Athens, Maine. Full-service environmental permitting; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; noise impact studies; civil designs; groundwater protection; stormwater management; environmental site inspections; consent agreement oversight; and environmental compliance assistance for a 15-megawatt wood-fired electric power generating plant. The plant is fueled with bark and whole-tree wood chips. Environmental permits included air, land, solid waste, and stormwater at state and federal levels. RSE designed a surface water and groundwater monitoring program for the facility. RSE assisted the project with the negotiation of a consent agreement in response to enforcement action by the MDEP. During this process, RSE analyzed and documented plant systems and civil designs, and prepared an application for a major site permit modification. The water quality program and follow-up were approved and complimented by MDEP. RSE completed environmental diagnostic studies that led to the implementation of noise reduction measures. This was followed by a sound-level compliance demonstration approved by the MDEP.
Swift River/Hafslund Company; Greenville Steam Company; Greenville, Maine. Environmental permit oversight, air emission license, and noise impact analysis for a 10-megawatt electric power generating plant. The primary fuel is sawmill residue with some whole-tree wood chips. RSE also had primary responsibility for the renewal of the air emission license and modifications to the site permit.
Worcester Power/Worcester Peat (formerly Down East Peat, L.P.); Denbo Heath; Deblois, Maine. Environmental engineering and permitting; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; peat and wood ash utilization program; design of biomass fuel and ash handling systems; noise impact analysis; environmental compliance program; emergency response planning; and consent agreement negotiations for a 28-megawatt electric power generating plant. The plant is the only power plant in the United States fueled with peat harvested from on-site peat bogs and purchased whole-tree wood chips. RSE completed a drainage and dewatering plan, an erosion and sedimentation control plan, harvesting equipment design modifications, harvesting plan oversight, and noise impact analysis for the 1,000-acre Denbo Heath peat bog. The peat bog dewatering plan included the design of a detention pond dam and embankment structure based on the results of an investigation by a geotechnical sub-consultant. The noise impact analysis included research on the impact of noise on wildlife. The ash utilization program expanded RSE’s proprietary agronomic landspreading model to include both peat and wood ash mixtures. RSE coordinated mapping and soil sampling at ash-spreading sites and assisted with landowner negotiations. RSE conducted a study of potential leachate from a wood and peat fuel storage area. RSE was also a senior consultant for major modifications to the site permit and assisted in document preparation for modifications to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wetlands Dredging and Filling Permits.
Worcester Power/Worcester Peat (formerly Down East Peat, L.P.); Rock Dam Heath; Deblois, Maine. Environmental permitting and noise impact analysis for peat mining development to support peat-fired power plant. RSE developed CPM project and permit schedules.
Corporate Energy Management; Bates College Cogeneration Plant; Lewiston, Maine. Performance evaluation, air emission license, and acceptance test protocol for a 1,000-hp wood-fired boiler and air pollution control equipment. The cogeneration plant produced heat for Bates College and electricity for sale to Central Maine Power Company. RSE assembled the necessary experts and was responsible for the performance evaluation and facility design for new primary and emergency boilers to replace a low-efficiency boiler. Fuel handling system designs and performance were also evaluated. RSE prepared an application to renew and modify an existing air emission license for the new boiler.
Lewiston Steam & Power (Bates Fabrics Cogeneration Plant); Lewiston, Maine. Full-service environmental permitting and compliance program; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; and SPCC Plan for an 8.7-megawatt wood-fired electric power generating facility. Environmental permits included local, state, and federal levels.
ARS Group/Bloomfield Associates; Paris, Maine. Environmental permitting; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; and agency coordination for a proposed wood-fired electric power generating facility.
Whitefield Power & Light Company; Whitefield, New Hampshire. Comprehensive environmental program review and air emissions analysis of a wood-fired electric generating facility. Recommendations were provided concerning outside wood storage, oil and chemical storage, environmental management systems, stormwater management, and solid waste management.
Hemphill Power & Light Company; Georges Mills, New Hampshire. Comprehensive environmental program review and air emissions analysis of a wood-fired electric generating facility. Recommendations were provided concerning outside wood storage, oil and chemical storage, environmental management systems, stormwater management, and solid waste management.
Thermo Ecotek; Waltham, Massachusetts. Comprehensive environmental management planning for electric power generating plants in New England. See details concerning Gorbell/Thermo Electron Power Company, Hemphill Power & Light Company, and Whitefield Power & Light Company.
Oil and Coal-Fired Power Plants
United Timber/Wood Energy Systems; Anson, Maine. Process designs; mass, energy and water balance optimization consultations; system design; capital cost estimates; economic feasibility; air emission licensing; and special studies for an electric power generating station using three diesel engines and one standby No. 2 oil-fired boiler with a total heat input capacity of 21.6 million BTUs. This project was designed to convert a failed wood gasification system to a conventional diesel fuel cogeneration plant.
Applied Energy Services, Inc.; Lower Penobscot River Estuary; Maine. Environmental permit strategy and fatal-flaw analysis of alternative sites for a proposed 180-megawatt coal-fired cogeneration plant. Potential fatal flaws identified during the analysis have become reality; the project stalled over noise and air quality impact issues emanating from the Bucksport facility. This project evaluated potential sites from an environmental impact and siting design perspective. Analyses of air quality, water quality, solid waste, site, and socioeconomic issues were completed.
Robinson Manufacturing Company; Oxford, Maine. Boiler replacement, project management, air emission license, site permit, SPCC Plan, and environmental consulting for a wool cloth manufacturer. Detailed design sufficient for evaluating alternative fuel led to a conventional boiler replacement. The air emission license was for two 15.07-million-BTU No. 6 oil-fired boilers, as well as five manufacturing processes producing textile fiber particulates and volatile organic compound emissions. RSE developed CPM/PERT design, permitting, and construction milestone schedules and project management services that involved a network of independent consulting engineers.
City of Lewiston; District Heating & Cogeneration Feasibility Study; Lewiston, Maine. Surrogate project management and quality control, preparation of technical and economic issue papers, agency and industrial liaison, and public participation for a district heating and cogeneration feasibility study. Peer review of all consultant studies, designs, and development strategies evolved into a municipal solid waste to energy cogeneration facility to provide district heating to Lewiston’s industrial and commercial centers.
Waste-To-Energy Facilities
Maine Energy Recovery Company; Kuhr Technologies, Inc.; Biddeford, Maine. After-the-fact environmental permit peer review and fatal-flaw analysis; compliance officer during construction and initial start-up; design of original environmental compliance program; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; noise impact analysis; monitoring protocol and community noise survey; forensic engineering and legal assistance; and SPCC Plan for a 500-ton-per-day municipal waste refuse-derived fuel and wood-fired electric power generating facility. The facility provides up to 21 megawatts of electric power for sale and consumption. RSE completed a three-day community noise survey under a noise protocol prepared by RSE and approved by the cities of Biddeford and Saco, Maine. RSE also identified the need for and managed a special study of the outfall design to ensure compliance with the thermal impact of the licensed discharge into a salmon-restoration river. This involved the development and management of a unique and complex physical model constructed by others. Ultimately, design modifications to the pumping station and outfall diffuser were implemented.
Penobscot Energy Recovery Company; Kuhr Technologies, Inc.; Orrington, Maine. Full-service peer review and management for environmental permitting; compliance program design; oversight of hydrogeologic and geologic studies to determine ambient chemical contamination; toxic air risk assessment; and SPCC Plan for a 26.4-megawatt electric power generating facility. The boilers burn a combination of wood chips, refuse-derived fuel, and No. 2 oil. The facility includes a municipal solid waste preprocessing area where mechanical shredding, separation, and screening are performed to remove noncombustible materials.
Regional Waste Systems, Inc.; Portland, Maine. Environmental permit consulting to Dravo Corporation and Neill & Gunter, with emphasis on site permit and air emission license, and development of permit strategy for a 550-ton-per-day municipal solid waste incinerator. This mass burn facility generates 13 megawatts of electricity from the combustion of the mixed municipal waste.
Union Chemical Company; Hazardous Waste-to-Energy Plant; South Hope, Maine. Environmental permitting; process designs; mass, energy, and water balance optimization consultations; supporting studies; SPCC Plan; and public hearing testimony for a unique, fluidized-bed combustion system designed to burn still bottoms from residues generated during recycling of spent chemicals. Steam generated was intended to produce electric power and to provide heat for recycling spent chemicals.
Power Transmission Lines
Hydra-Co Enterprises, Inc.; Stratton Energy Associates, Stratton Power Project; Stratton, Maine. Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) utility line permit application, alternative routing analysis, visual impact study, civil design, public hearing testimony, and inspection program for a 5.5-mile, 115-kva power transmission line, 400-gpm pumping station, and 2-mile water supply line. The visual study focused on alternative routing and civil designs to minimize the impact of the transmission line to natural resources and the scenic character of the 40,000-acre Bigelow Preserve. Public hearings and testimony were involved.
Central Maine Power Company; West Rockport, Maine. Alternative routing analysis, visual impact study, and design oversight for a new 5± mile 115-kva power transmission line. RSE prepared a CAD-based constraints map of scenic, wildlife, recreational, and community resources to support the alternative routing analysis. RSE conducted a sound level analysis of a transformer station proposed for the power transmission line. RSE also presented testimony at public hearings on the project.
Wind Energy
Lipman & Katz, P.A./Endless Energy; Reddington North, Reddington Township, Maine. Expert witness for plaintiff. Comprehensive review of project was completed to assess the probability of success in obtaining the full spectrum of environmental permits for this unique project with multi-agency jurisdiction. Case was settled out of court.
Other Projects
E.C. Jordan Company, Inc./U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Flood insurance study for identifying and mapping the floodplain on hundreds of miles of Maine rivers.
E.C. Jordan Company, Inc./Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Conceived and developed pilot study of Guidelines for Lake Watershed Management Planning. This four-volume report is a highly regarded planning and research project. This initial program led to the adoption of environmental standards for lake watershed development.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; New England Division. Navigability assessment of more than 4,000 miles of rivers in Maine and New Hampshire. This project applied the 1897 Rivers and Harbors Act definition to the determination of navigability for every major river and its major tributaries in Maine and part of New Hampshire.
University of Maine at Orono; Environmental Studies Center. Assistant to project director and final report preparation for Penobscot River water quality management project. The project was funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation and ultimately led to establishing priorities for water pollution control projects on the Penobscot River, funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and MDEP.
State of Maine; Planning Office; Water Resources Division. Development of statewide map overlay system, preparation of guidelines for implementing the Shoreland Zoning Act, computerization of natural resources data files, verification of Penobscot River water quality model, and charter member for development of Lakes Working Committee now known as the Congress of Lakes Association.
City of Lewiston; Lewiston, Maine. Energy efficiency analysis and preparation of technical report specifying installation of conservation measures in public buildings for U.S. Department of Energy grants.
City of Lewiston; Lewiston, Maine. District heating feasibility analysis. RSE staff provided technical oversight and peer review of feasibility work produced by other consultants. Work involved inventory, analysis, economic review, technical review, regulatory review, public workshops, and presentations to city management and local elected officials.
Highland Lumber Company; Dixfield, Maine. Preliminary design, outline, and organization of a comprehensive environmental management plan allowing for centralization of all necessary environmental fields including air quality, water quality, land quality, solid waste, and additional special studies like noise control.
W.K. and E.L. Yue; Scarborough, Maine. Demolished an existing nonconforming residence and constructed a new residence that met coastal zoning and floodplain requirements.
Lipman & Katz; Augusta, Maine. Provided scientific analysis of expert witness testimony given in a medical malpractice suit.
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