Plainfield Trash Facts

The facts on the proposed trash plant
Plainfield, Connecticut

Status State permit applications in preliminary review. No DEEP comment window has opened yet. Tell the Siting Council →
A quiet two-lane rural residential road with open fields, bare autumn trees and modest farmhouses under an overcast sky in eastern Connecticut.
Illustrative

The Plainfield Trash Plant, in Plain Facts

A company called SMART Technology Systems has applied to the state to build a waste-to-energy gasification plant on 81 acres off Routes 12 and 14, in a residential Plainfield neighborhood. Here is what is proposed, where it stands, and how to be heard.

1,800
tons of trash a day, trucked in1
100+
heavy truck trips a day, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.2
81
acres, in a residential zone off Routes 12 & 141
1,148–125
how Plainfield voted against it (non-binding)2
Tell the Siting Council See the full facts

What is proposed

What Is Actually Proposed

Every figure below links to its original source. Where the developer and independent reporting differ, both numbers are shown.

  • The plant would be built by SMART Technology Systems, a partnership of O&G Industries and Advanced Waste Technologies International.2
  • The site is about 81 acres at Norwich Road and Black Hill Road, between Routes 12 and 14, in a residential zone.1
  • It would process 1,800 tons of trash a day. The developer’s own materials describe up to 468,000 tons a year.13
  • It would run more than 100 heavy garbage-truck trips a day, roughly 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.2
  • It would generate about 45 megawatts of electricity.1
  • Gasification is distinct from mass-burn incineration: it makes a synthesis gas from prepared waste, and the proposed system would then combust that gas to make electricity. Regulatory treatment depends on the process, feedstock and jurisdiction.4
  • By the developer’s own timeline, the plant would not open before 2028.3

Read the full breakdown of the proposal →   How this kind of plant works →

Where it stands

Where the Proposal Stands Right Now

The plant is a live proposal. It remains under active review by state agencies, and no final permit decision has been issued. Here is exactly what has and has not been filed.

Filed / underway

  • Two DEEP applications on file, Nos. 202503132 and 202503134, in preliminary staff review12 — reported as the air permit application and the solid waste management plan5
  • Town of Plainfield granted intervening party status before DEEP12
  • Environmental justice public participation plan on file with DEEP7

Not yet filed

  • No application before the Connecticut Siting Council6
  • No DEEP comment window has opened yet125
  • Town building, stormwater and wastewater permits5

Plainfield voted 1,148 to 125 against the plant. That vote was non-binding: the state, not the town, decides.2

Plainfield already voted — 9 to 1 against

In the June 2025 town referendum on the proposed plant (non-binding; the state holds permitting authority):

1,148 voted NO 125 voted YES 90% opposed

Source: referendum result reported by the Hartford Courant (via Government Technology), June 2025. govtech.com

Data
Plainfield non-binding referendum, June 2025
VoteBallotsShare
No1,14890.2%
Yes1259.8%

In 2025 the state legislature passed a bill that would have let towns challenge permits like this by referendum. The Governor vetoed it in July 2025.8

Full status & regulatory timeline →   How other towns stopped plants like this →

How to be heard

How to Be Heard

There is no online form. The way to be counted is to contact the state directly, in your own words. Individual letters carry more weight than form letters.

Connecticut Siting Council
[email protected] Ten Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 060519
Connecticut DEEP
[email protected] Office of Adjudications, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 0610610
Your state legislators
cga.ct.gov Find your representative and senator by address11

What to say

Keep it short and specific. Say you are a Plainfield resident. Name your street. Give one concern in your own words: the truck traffic, the groundwater, a second gasification plant in one town, or whether the state has shown this plant is even needed.

DEEP’s formal comment window has not opened. When DEEP publishes a Notice of Tentative Determination, that notice will set the deadline and filing instructions. Unless another statute controls, a timely petition signed by at least 25 persons can request an informational public hearing. A contested-case hearing requires the additional specific-facts or CGS 22a-19 showing described by Public Act 25-84. This site has not found DEEP confirmation that comments sent before the formal window automatically become part of that later permit record.5

Complete guide to being heard →

Sources

Where These Facts Come From

  1. Foundation for Fair Contracting of CT, “Plainfield opposing plans for a trash to energy plant in a residential zone” (81 acres, residential zone, 1,800 tons/day, ~45 MW). ffcct.org
  2. Hartford Courant via Government Technology, “Connecticut Residents Object to Plans for High-Tech Trash Plant” (referendum 1,148–125 non-binding; developer partnership; joint town-committee letter on 100+ trucks 6 a.m.–5 p.m.). govtech.com
  3. Norwich Bulletin via Yahoo News, “Plant to convert trash to gas, electricity to be pitched in Plainfield” (468,000 tons/year; earliest operation ~2028). yahoo.com
  4. U.S. EPA, “Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Pyrolysis and Gasification Units” (examines when Clean Air Act section 129 requirements apply; it is not a blanket classification), and European Union Industrial Emissions Directive language covering gasification when resulting substances are subsequently incinerated, subject to the directive’s treatment-based exception. epa.gov · eur-lex.europa.eu
  5. CT DEEP, “Public Act 25-84 and Initiating the Hearing Process” (timing and requirements for informational and contested-case hearing petitions), together with Norwich Bulletin reporting that no Notice of Tentative Determination or formal comment window had opened. portal.ct.gov/deep · aol.com
  6. Connecticut Siting Council, Pending Matters (no SMART / O&G / Plainfield gasification docket listed). portal.ct.gov/CSC
  7. CT DEEP, Environmental Justice Public Participation Plan on file for SMART Technology Systems, Norwich Road / Black Hill Road, Plainfield. Read the archived document and transcript
  8. CT Mirror, “Lamont finishes review of 2025 bills with a veto” (HB 7004 referendum-challenge bill vetoed, July 8, 2025). ctmirror.org
  9. Connecticut Siting Council, Contact (email and mailing address). portal.ct.gov/csc
  10. CT DEEP, Office of Adjudications, intervening in the hearing process (email and mailing address). portal.ct.gov/deep
  11. Connecticut General Assembly, find your legislators. cga.ct.gov
  12. CT DEEP, Office of Adjudications, letter of August 29, 2025, re: “Petition for Hearing and Motions for Intervention, Application Nos. 202503132 & 202503134” (the two DEEP applications, submitted by TRC Environmental Corporation on behalf of SMART; “still undergoing preliminary review by staff”; “A Notice of Tentative Determination has not been issued”; the Town of Plainfield granted intervening party status under RCSA 22a-3a-6(k) and CGS 22a-19). Hosted by the Town of Plainfield. Read the document and transcript