By Paul Tuthill
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-982343.mp3
Westfield,MA – Opponents of a planned natural gas fueled power plant in western Massachusetts are appealing to the developer to stop the project. The fossil fuel plant is being developed by the person behind Cape Wind..the nation's first off shore wind energy farm. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.
Members of a local community group and environmental activists gathered in front of a elementary school in Westfield Massachusetts Wednesday , where they showed off a petition signed by more than 550 people, and letters from close to 20 clean energy businesses. Mary Ann Babinski, of the group, Westfield Concerned Citizens said the concern is there are five schools and a day care center within a mile and half of where the power plant is to be built.
Babinski, a former school teacher of 23 years, said current EPA guidelines do not recommend building a new school in close proximity to an existing power plant.
Nicki Figeroa says she's worried about how the power plant might affect the health of her four children
The 430 megawatt natural gas fueled plant is being developed by Pioneer Valley Energy Center. It is a subsidiary of a Boston based company whose CEO is Jim Gordon, the lead developer of Cape Wind. That project to put 130 wind turbines off the Massachusetts Coast won final federal approval last year, more than a decade after it was first proposed. Construction has yet to begin.
Jessica Edgerly of the Toxics Action Center, says Gordon is running the risk of alienating the environmental activists who backed him during the long struggle over Cape Wind.
Gordon did not return a call seeking comment.
The 400 million dollar project in Westfield is well down the road to obtaining all of the environmental and land use permits necessary to start construction next summer, according to project manager Mathew Palmer. He insists the emissions from the power plant will not contribute to air pollution.
Palmer says the plant will help stabilize electric rates. Other benefits he cites include 200 to 300 construction jobs, and 42 million dollars in tax payments to the city of Westfield. Local elected officials including the mayor and every current member of the city council support the project.
Reporting from Westfield, I'm Paul Tuthill WAMC News