Apr. 2--PLAINFIELD -- State and local officials are trying to determine whether the site of a planned wood-burning plant has been contaminated after an environmental group claimed it dumped chemicals at six locations there.

After receiving a letter from someone claiming to be from "Earth First" on Tuesday, the state Department of Environmental Protection sent an environmental conservation officer and an emergency response team to the project site, said agency spokesman Dennis Schain. Plainfield police, fire personnel and representatives of private contractors who work for Plainfield Renewable Energy, the limited liability corporation that received the agency's approval to operate the plant, also responded on Tuesday.

Soil samples were collected and brought to a lab for analysis, but Schain said he didn't expect immediate results.

The letter claims that "Lead Mercury Asbestos Toluene Benzene Perchloroethylene and Creosote" -- "the same pollution that PRE intends to dump on their neighbors" -- were dumped there.

Two empty barrels were found at the project site near Norwich, Mill Brook and Tarbox roads, said Daniel Donovan, vice president of Plainfield Renewable Energy. It was not known what the barrels had contained, said Donovan and Schain.

Donovan said the letter is "not only irresponsible but reprehensible."

"This is bizarre," he said. "This is beyond the norm."

The letter also claims that Earth First put "Lead Mercury and Solvents" at Donovan's Easton home and at the Suffield home of J. Scott Guilmartin, a consultant for PRE. It identifies Donovan and Guilmartin as the "primary driving force" behind the project.

It also threatens to sabotage contractors working at the project, which received its final approval from the state this month. The plant will burn "non-hazardous woods under controlled conditions to generate electricity," according to the DEP.

The letter includes a return address for "Earth First Journal" at a post office box in Tucson, Ariz. It states that the organization has no offices or telephones.

Earth First is an international group of environmental activists started in 1979. Its website makes a reference to Earth First Journal.

In addition to DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy, the letter was sent to other organizations, including the Norwich Bulletin newspaper.

The chief state's attorney's office also has been notified about the threat, Schain said. Donovan said the FBI also is involved.

Courant staff writer Lynn Doan contributed to this story.

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