I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed lithium battery storage project in Wendell on wooded land adjacent to high-tension power lines behind 68 Wendell Depot Road.

This battery does not create any new power and will not power anything in Franklin County. The energy it stores will go into the electric grid that feeds eastern Massachusetts. Much like the Northfield Mountain facility, this facility will simply store electricity from the grid when it is at off-peak demand, thus at a lower price, and sell it back to the grid when the prices are higher.

This benefits only the company. It only produces profits for the corporation and does nothing for the consumer or for the environment.

The building of this facility will mean the removal of 40-plus acres of pristine woodland needed to sequester carbon from the air. And it will be built on top of an aquifer. The potential for fires and leakage of heavy metals into the aquifer may be low but it is not negligible, and it could permanently damage the town’s most promising water source.

While I understand it is cheaper for a company to buy undeveloped land and build new, our natural resources are not unlimited. Our forests and water supplies are precious to us. And it seems to me that there are plenty of other places, such as the empty and decrepit former mills that litter our towns, which could be torn down or repurposed for such a project without having to destroy our woodlands.

Thank you for your attention and I hope you will join me and others who oppose this project.

Dan Croteau

Northfield