Uxbridge planning board hears sound-study findings for proposed 374 Hazel Street battery storage; hearing continued to May 14

Uxbridge Planning Board members continued the special-permit public hearing for a proposed battery energy storage facility at 374 Hazel Street to 6 p.m. on May 14 after hearing a presentation and peer review of the project’s sound study.

The applicant’s representative, Tom Corbett of ZP Battery Dev Co., said the engineering team has revised civil plans, supplied reviewer comments to the planning office, and is coordinating with the fire department on site access and water-supply requirements. "They are going to require a cistern," Corbett said, describing early comments from fire officials. Corbett also said the project team added secondary containment sized at 12,000 gallons for fire-water runoff and that final safety documents will be attached to the emergency response plan after on-site training.

Consultant Mark Wallace, project manager for Tech Environmental, walked the board through the three-step sound-study process used for the project: monitoring, acoustic modeling and mitigation evaluation. "The goal here is to demonstrate compliance with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection noise policy," Wallace said, noting that the Town of Uxbridge does not have a municipal noise ordinance and that the team defaulted to the MassDEP policy.

Wallace described an…