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