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Group calls for revocation of permit

Date: 8/16/2010

Aug. 16, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD -- Last week, opponents of a proposed biomass plant to be built in Springfield delivered more than 900 postcards from residents to the City Council calling for public hearings and a revocation of the permit that would allow construction.

At least three councilors -- Melvin Edwards, John Lysak and E. Henry Twiggs -- support hearings and possible revocations.

Edwards said he intends to vote against the permit.

"To me this is a no brainer," he said.

Noting one of the advantages of the plant would be an increase in jobs, Edwards said, "These are not the jobs we need."

In a written statement, Lysak said, "I am completely against the incinerator and have been from the beginning. I hope my fellow councilors will do whatever they can to stop this toxic incinerator from being built."

Michaelann Bewsee, of Arise for Social Justice and Stop Incineration in Springfield (STIS), also announced that Twiggs was part of the effort.

Megan Jenny, the Western Massachusetts community organizer for Toxic Action Center said the state's Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Environment Protection (DEP) are each conducting separate studies on burning construction and demolition waste.

Jenny explained the DPH report would focus specifically on the effect the proposed plant will have on Springfield. The reports may take up to six months to complete and Jenny asserted the City Council has the ability to stop the plant now.

Gathering on the steps of City Hall for a rally on Aug. 11, about 50 people called for the City Council to take action. The proposed plant would be located on Page Boulevard and Jenny said it would burn 700 tons of demolition and construction waste each day to generate electricity.

She noted that Springfield has a childhood asthma rate twice as high as the state average and believes the plant would put additional pollutants, such as lead, mercury and arsenic, into the air.

"We need to be deconstructing buildings instead of demolishing them, so that we reuse and recycle these materials instead of wastefully disposing of them," she said.

John Miller, a member of STIS, said, "To burn this stuff is crazy."

"We're walking down the path of self-destruction," he added.

Jesse Lederman, the chair of the McKnight Youth Council, said there are 55 schools located within a five-mile radius of the proposed plant.

Mayor Domenic Sarno released the following statement in reaction to the delivery of the postcards: "My administration will continue to give conditional support to the proposed biomass plant in the city of Springfield because it will assist with the creation of new jobs and tax revenues for the city.My conditional support has been and continues to be contingent on the proposed facility meeting all stringent federal, state and local environmental, health and safety requirements. The city will continue to review any and all information regarding the proposed facility as the process moves forward and will evaluate the information accordingly."



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