Regional Impacts

Following is a knowledgeable letter from a Hudson Resident about some of the regional impacts of the Proposed Hudson Logistics Center as of March 2021.

Chief Avery/Chief Buxton,
First let me Thank You for your insights into the Hudson Logistics Center impact on your resource base and I appreciate all that you and your departments do for our town.
I would like to share information(Fall River Ma. Amazon Facility Incident report attached….since it opened in sept 2016) and some insights/comments since we were not allowed to input last evening. Very disappointing.

As background, I have worked for Procter & Gamble for 44 years and am deeply involved in Logistics and Warehouse facilities across the globe. Currently I am responsible for all our Military business globally as well as digital platform developments. I have worked directly with Amazon and other large global Ecommerce Retailers(Alibaba, JD.com, COUPANG) as well as starting up digital business with WalMart, Target, Costco, etc. So I am quite familiar with Ecommerce and very familiar with sites like this. Unfortunately people only know what they know and many do not want to ask for insights.

Hillwood will paint a rosy picture but I am very concerned about what is coming in here. I was our town’s 1st Emergency Preparedness Director as a result of the Grace spill back in the late 80s so I understand many of the issues and want to make sure our 1st responders are taken care of and prepared. Being prepared means to know what we are going up against.

Amazon has been in the news on a regular basis with Warehouse Fires, Roof Collapses, Hazmat Issues, Traffic issues, etc. They are rapidly trying to expand before towns realize what is coming in. I have talked to multiple towns with existing Amazon facilities similar to what is being proposed here but they are not anywhere near this in size with 3 major buildings. The Hillwood developers called out the Fall River Mass Fulfillment Center(BOS7) as the closest to model out….so I reached out and got plenty of insights of which we need to prepare for as this data is similar across the country. Just scale it to the size.

So here are the facts:
Site: Amazon Fall River Mass
Size: 1.3 Million Sq Ft with approx. 50 Million Cubic Ft
# Employees: 950 (a shortfall from the 1400 promised)

Hudson Logistics Center:

Site: HLC @ current Green Meadow Golf Course
Size: 3 Buildings with 2.6 Million sq ft (1.1 Million Sq Ft; 900,000 sq ft; 600,000 sq ft) and approx. 130 Million Cubic Ft. For perspective, the size of 3 Gillette Stadiums

# Employees: 1450 to a seasonal surge of 2250. This excludes employees for the 3rd building which we do not know anything about or Service workers and truck drivers

NOTE: The town of Hudson cannot fill the employee needs. They will come predominantly from Lowell, Haverhill, Lawrence where unemployment rates are higher

Traffic Impact: 400 to 800 Tractor Trailer Trucks; 40 to 100 Box Trucks; 3000 to 5000 Car trips per day to be added to our roads. These will be all over our back roads.

So technically we are over twice the size and impact that the Fall River Facility is. Now let me give you some simple facts I received and you can review in the attachment. I have also talked directly with police and fire officials there.

Amazon Fall River Mass:

• This facility has been open for 231 weeks(as of March 7th 2021)
• There have been 505 Emergency Service Calls(Police and Fire…typically respond together) since Oct’16. 2.2/wk
• 113 Calls in 2020; 119 Calls in 2019;
• There were 125 injuries reported to OHSA in 2018 out of 950 employees for a 13% injury rate. The State of Mass had to investigate. Since then Amazon has not released any injury figures. But we can always get them through public information.
• Calls are up 17% in 2021 thru March 7th 2021
• These numbers exclude calls for Truck and Vehicle accidents related to this facility on the surrounding Fall River roads. I will have that information soon.
• A couple of key call outs for 2020 service calls:
• 44 Ambulance Transports
• 8 Fire Calls
• 2 Hazardous Materials Incidents
• 2 Lethal Weapons Incidents
• 3 Mentally Ill/Violent Issues
• a dozen drug overdoses
• plus a myriad of other things

This all means 2 to 3 calls every week. I am very concerned on “who” will be working there and the working conditions that Amazon facilities have. I get concerned around the elements that will be coming from south of the border and its impact to our town. All of this excludes the responses that will need to happen due to all the truck traffic and congestion we have today. Throw in bad weather and we have recipe for some major incidents. To say we can model out with anything in our town is not possible. We need the facts and the data of what really is out there.

I believe town officials and many are blinded by the “money they will throw in to get this” and people will not use common sense. These type facilities do not belong here. Putting that aside I want to make sure our first responders are equipped and staffed to handle what is going to happen at some point. I pray not but the inevitable always occurs.

A couple of concerns:

• The HVAC Units on major buildings today use “isobutane” refrigerants. These are toxic and flammable. There will be hundreds up there. Are we trained?
• Hydrogen will be stored on property. I had to deal with a Hydrogen explosion and it is not pretty. It burns hot, fast and furious when ignited and explosions push out.
• Equipment needs that I have called out and needed:
• Tower or Platform Truck
• Additional Pumper or Engine
• Are all companies staffed to 4 FF and 1 Officer??? Those are minimum standards from all I have dealt with
• The South Hudson Fire Station should have apparatus of 1 Tower Truck, 1 Engine, 1 Pumper, 1 Ambulance, and appropriate officer cars.
• Plus staffed with the right manpower.
• Is the facility big enough to hold equipment and sleep the manpower.
• Heavy Rescue equipment….I know we do not have today but it will be needed.
• Police Facility and Equipment. I am disappointed we did not get the Station Expansion. It needs to happen if this warehouse center goes in.
• Very concerned about crime elements this will bring in based on rising crime rates around all of these facilities.

These facilities detract from the character of a town. I simply cannot imagine this here.

I am happy to discuss any of the data and facts. I was hoping to provide this during the meeting for public input but clearly it was not wanted.

Thank You for reading and listening. I just feel it is all for naught and feel terrible about what is going to happen to this place I call home today.

Regards
Jim Dobens