WILMINGTON -- Sunset Park residents showed up in great numbers Thursday to voice their concerns about the construction of two giant wood pellet storage domes at the Port of Wilmington.
"According to Google Maps, I'm 2,932 feet from the base of these domes," said J.T. Cobelt, who has lived in the Greater Sunset Park Area for 23 years.
Construction of the two 150-foot-tall domes is a project by the wood pellet company Enviva. The facility will be used to receive, store and ship wood pellets. Residents are concerned about the location, just 200 feet from the neighborhood's boundaries.
"There would be the safety issue, traffic issue, potential for noise. They'll be hundreds of feet of conveyor running these pellets. Conveyors are particularly noisy," said Cobelt.
Thursday night's public meeting served as an opportunity for residents to voice these concerns and have questions answered.
"I'd like to learn a little bit more information, see exactly where these domes are going to go, if there is the opportunity to reconsider the location of the domes as an example," Cobelt said.
But with construction already underway, the location of the domes won't be changing.
"While we appreciate the concerns, and I'm glad they came forward, I think as we become neighbors and we have real operations here in a little while, they will find that we're gonna be a good member and a good neighbor. And hopefully with that some of the concerns will go away," said Enviva Executive Vice President Thomas Meth.
As the project moves forward, Sunset Park Residents are hoping to establish a good neighbor agreement with Enviva. Enviva officials said the project will be complete and fully functional by January 2016.