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One of Massachusetts’ most controversial fossil fuel energy projects will be built in an area where residents already have high rates of cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease and stroke It’s a schedule. This is according to a new report from the Massachusetts Climate Action Network.
MCAN commissioned a study to examine census and health data on communities within a 1.25-mile radius of the so-called Peabody Peaker Plant. When power demand surges. And we found that building this plant would exacerbate existing health and environmental justice disparities.
“Communities near the Peeker Factory have been designated as Environmental Justice Communities based on race and income level. [by the state]MCAN Interim Executive Director Logan Malik said:
“Given all of this, I don’t think anyone can come to the conclusion that it is the right thing to do with this project.”
Sudi Smoller, who lives near the proposed plant and started the community group Breathe Clean North Shore, agrees.
“At the very least, states should demand further evaluation and intervene to prevent this new facility from causing further harm and exacerbating these existing health outcomes,” she wrote in a press release..
The proposed 55-megawatt project, currently under construction and expected to be operational within the next year, will be located in and around eight state-designated environmental justice districts. The survey found that it is within miles of two hospitals, four schools, four long-term care facilities, 19 miles from a major road, and 13 facilities regulated by regulators. [the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.]”
Philip Landrigan, a prominent epidemiologist at Boston College, who was not involved in the study, said the methodology and conclusions were “correct.”
“In my professional opinion, building this peaker plant in Peabody is both unnecessary and unjustified,” he adds. points out, Peabody is already a disadvantaged community with rising levels of air pollution and disproportionately high rates of air pollution-related illness and premature death, which is unfair.”
Despite being located in the District of Environmental Justice, due to the relatively small size of the project, the state did not require a full review of its environmental and health impacts. However, the project would cause him to emit 51,000 tons of carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants each year from a 90-foot chimney.
As noted in a letter from the Peabody Board of Health to Governor Charlie Baker last year, it is a well-documented fact that the health of people living near fossil fuel power plants is deteriorating.
“Emissions such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other harmful pollutants can contribute to cancer risk, birth defects, and harm to the nervous system and brain.” Commission wrote. And “particulate matter emissions increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, COPD and asthma,” the committee wrote.
The group behind the project, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company — better known as MMWEC (pronounced MMWEC). EM Wick) — In the past, health concerns about the project have been exaggerated, saying the plant was needed to keep the lights on for municipal customers in 14 cities and towns. Did not respond to request for comment on MCAN report.
The Peabody Peaker Plant was first proposed in 2015, but many in the community say they only learned about it in 2021. Several prominent environmental groups and politicians have called for the project to be scrapped. , the two towns that originally signed to buy the power have since withdrawn their contracts.
Brita Lundberg of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility says it was a “huge mistake” to proceed with building this project given the findings of the MCAN analysis. Weymouth Natural Gas, another controversial energy project her group did in 2019, reminds me of a study on the health of communities living near her compressor station, she says. .
“The conclusions of the two studies are very similar. The expansion of these natural gas infrastructures is already living in the shadow of excessive air, water and soil pollution that is having measurable adverse health impacts on environmental justice. in the midst of the community,” she wrote in an email.
“I just saw a 71-year-old patient dying of end-stage COPD who lives not far from the proposed Peaker in Peabody,” she adds. And while “it’s hard to connect the dots with certainty in each individual case,” this is the kind of health hazard that we can expect to see more of if projects like the Peabody Peaker Plant move forward. This is the result.
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