My name is Jeffrey Scavron, I am a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts and a physician practicing in Springfield’s North End for more than 40 years.

 

I am also a member of the Springfield Public Health Council and have been appointed to that body since 1996. I serve as the head of the Environmental Committee and we have held hearings on the topic of a Biomass in Springfield 3 different times in the past 10n years. After each hearing, the Council voted by a large majority to delay permitting of a Biomass plant proposed by Palmer Renewable Energy (PRE) in Springfield, until a true and unbiased Health Outcomes Analysis about such a plant in Springfield could be performed and studied.

I want to make it clear to the Department (DOER) that if your new regulations are passed without a proper amendment, the financial plan for the PRC Biomass plant will be feasible and will be built. That will mean that a wood burning furnace will be built in the very center of the largest population area in Western Massachusetts and directly in the center of the city that has the most serious asthma burden in the entire United States in both 2018 and 2019,  based on asthma prevalence, death rates and emergency room visits, as compiled by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

 

If you allow these regulations to pass without making exceptions for the placement of Biomass furnaces in areas with current major health burdens, you will be undermining what little faith is placed in government by other than the business community. Our Governor, the Mayor of Springfield and the Springfield Health Department should vigorously speak out against the placement of the Biomass plant in this city as has the Springfield City Council. The potential devastation of miscalculation or unexpected events will be overwhelming to the people of our city and will be the responsibility of those who allowed the irresponsible placement of a potentially toxic site.

 

This statement will also be sent to The Springfield Health Commissioner, President of the Springfield City Council, Mayor of Springfield and Governor of Massachusetts

 

Thank you for your attention,

 

 

Jeffrey Scavron MD

Springfield, MA