Cathy Eakin wants to put a brake on the proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy until more can be learned about it. Eakin and other residents were told of the proposed test at an EPA meeting on area mine cleanup last week.
"They haven't tested it anywhere before, and I wonder whether they would test it in Helena, in East Helena or in their own backyard," Eakin said. "They seem to think that most people up here are ignorant and will go for anything. But I'm not into being a guinea pig."
Fuel cells work like a battery, creating
electricity and heat through conversion of energy sources such as methanol
or natural gas into hydrogen. The cell planned for Rimini is about the size
of a refrigerator and will sit in a building about 500 yards from Eakin's
house.
The plan calls for using electricity from the fuel cell to power a pumping and filtration process to treat acidic water draining from the Susie Mine. The EPA is heading up a project to clean up dozens of abandoned mines in and around Rimini.
Brian Park, a senior process engineer with MSE Technology Applications, Inc. in Butte, is working with two federal agencies on the project. He said researchers are striving to develop a more efficient fuel cell with lower emissions.
"This project in Rimini really is just kind of a test to see how well one of these will work in the real world, as opposed to a lab," Park said. "We want to find out how reliable and efficient they are."
Rimini resident Bob Liddiard said he doesn't necessarily oppose the fuel cell, but wants some safety questions answered before one is installed near his home.
Hydrogen, he said, is highly explosive and burns invisibly.
"It burns perfectly clear, so you could walk into it and not even know what killed you," said Liddiard, a retired aeronautical engineer. "I've been around hydrogen enough that I have a damn healthy respect for it."
Both Liddiard and Eakin say the EPA could just as easily power the mining filtration system with a nearby electrical line.
Mike Bishop, the EPA Superfund official in charge of area mine cleanup, said he expected a meeting between the contractor and Rimini residents to "get them comfortable with (the project)."