EPA hears public comment on PVEC power plant
Date: 1/17/2012
Jan. 18, 2012By Debbie Gardner
Assistant Editor
WESTFIELD — Though there was no clear victor in the most recent confrontation regarding construction of a new power plant on the north side of the city, Westfield Concerned Citizens (WCC) spokesperson Mary Ann Babinski said she was pleased with the response her advocacy group has received.
“We have a very good feeling about what happened on Thursday [at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) public hearing] and a very good feeling about the feedback we’re getting,” Babinski said, adding that she had received numerous phone calls and emails from supporters. “It’s been a very positive thing for us.”
Babinski and her supporters were part of a group of more than 150 residents who attended an EPA presentation and public hearing Jan. 12 at North Middle School regarding a draft federal air quality permit for Pioneer Valley Energy Center’s (PVEC) proposed 431 megawatt oil and natural gas-fired power plant to be constructed on Ampad Road.
Individuals who preregistered to speak at the public hearing portion of the event appeared to be equally divided between those concerned about the potential health effects the plant’s emissions might have on residents, especially children who would be attending one of five schools nearby, and those supporting the abundant electricity and potential jobs it would bring to Westfield.
“There’s a lot of concern in this community about this [plant] being an additional [pollution] impact in an already overburdened area,” EPA New England Environmental engineer Donald Dahl said. The Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit regulates a power plant’s emissions of nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, greenhouse gasses and sulfuric acid mist.
To receive a federal air quality permit, Dahl said a power plant must meet or exceed national ambient air quality standards as identified under the 1990 Clean Air Act. Materials provided by the EPA at the meeting indicate that currently, “the Westfield area meets all of EPA’s health-based standards except for ozone.”
Dahl added he did not “know of another [permit] that is more restrictive” than the one being considered for the PVEC project.
One resident asked Dahl if the permitting of the PVEC project would require the dirtier, coal-fired electric power plant on Mount Tom be closed to help reduce particulate pollution in the Pioneer Valley, to which Dahl answered no.
Another asked if it was possible to see the computer models for PVEC’s emissions so residents could determine “where the pollution would flow in the valley.” Dahl said the computer models were available in the permit application submitted by PVEC.
When yet another resident asked if the EPA considered the potential total impact of all the power plants being proposed in the Pioneer Valley, including the biomass plants planned for Russell and Springfield, in determining air quality, Dahl said no, because air quality permitting is “done in increments” not a s a whole.
During the public comment portion of the hearing, Ida Macdonald, U.S. EPA Region 1 representative told attendees that the “EPA will carefully consider your comments” and that it would “issue a response to public comments” after the close of the comment period on Jan. 24. She said the results of the consideration “will show in any alterations to the final permit.”
In their comments, members of the WCC asked the EPA to carefully consider the additional health impact the emissions, specifically the particulate emissions, would have on a community that already is impacted by heavy diesel truck traffic on Southampton Road and pollution from the nearby Barnes Regional Airport. Claire Miller, a community organizer with the Toxic Action Center of Boston, requested that air quality monitors be placed along Southampton Road to determine the total pollution load in the neighborhood prior to permit approval. Babinski said that the Westfield Board of Health had not considered the total health impact of the additional air pollution on the “already overburdened” neighborhood when it issued a local air quality permit, and the WCC was “looking to the EPA to protect us.” Several members asked that the EPA require the PVEC to conduct a health impact assessment before issuing a final permit.
“We do not need to add 2.5 tons of emissions annually to the air in this valley,” WCC member Jean Carpenter said.
Paul Gour, an electrician, was one of a group of men who stood to speak in favor of construction of the plant.
“In my opinion there should be more plants like this one built in America,” Gour said. “This is the cleanest [power plant] in Massachusetts.
“The clean plants will take out the dirty ones, that’s the free market.” Gour continued. “They aren’t going to subsidize dirty coal.”
Gour added that his daughter would be attending the schools near the PVEC plant and he felt her health was safe.
In a statement released to the press Matthew Palmer, project manager for PVEC said, “The Massachusetts DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] has already determined that this project will meet or exceed air quality standards that protect public health, even for the most sensitive of the population.”
Ray Frappier, who also spoke at the public hearing, also noted, “This plant has met all city regulations, has met all state regulations. There is no reason not to permit it.” He added that he felt the main argument to the plant’s construction is “not in my backyard.”
Babinski noted that she understood lure of the potential for construction and permanent jobs at the PVEC project that may have motivated many who spoke in favor of the plant, but reiterated “short term jobs should never be traded for the health” of residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the power plant.
“I listened to both sides and it would be interesting to sit down with the people on the other side and address [all our] concerns,” she said.
“We don’t intend to give up,” she added “We stand by the reasons we go into this [protest] initially.”
Residents who were unable to attend the EPA public hearing but would still like to register comments on the PVEC project can submit them to Donald Dahl, environmental engineer, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency – New England, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Attn. OEPO5-2, Boston, MA 02109-3912 until Jan. 24
Debbie Gardner can be reached by email at debbieg@thereminder.com
