Holyoke City Council Members Pass Resolution for Advisory Group to Create Reuse Plan in Preparation for Retirement of Mt. Tom Coal Plant
New Release: October 19, 2011
Action/Acción for a Healthy Holyoke! Coalition supports Holyoke City Council resolution to plan for coal plant retirement
[Holyoke, MA] – On Tuesday, the Holyoke City Council unanimously voted to pass a resolution to form a Community Advisory Group that will conduct a study on potential future uses of the Mt. Tom coal plant site. The resolution, offered by Council members Rebecca Lisi, Kevin Jourdain, Tim Purrington and Aaron Vega, was supported by two dozen members of “Action for a Healthy Holyoke!” The city council chamber was packed with supporters holding signs, and several spoke in favor of the resolution. Action for a Healthy Holyoke! is a coalition working to hasten the retirement of this 50-year old polluting power plant and ensure that Holyoke has a plan in place for a clean, sustainable alternative.
“We’re glad the City Council recognizes the need to proactively find a good way to reuse the Mt. Tom site when the plant inevitably retires,” said Neighbor to Neighbor member Virgenmina Perez, “Thanks to our forward-thinking Council members Lisi, Jourdain, Purrington and Vega, we can start to find ways to reuse the site to create good jobs and clean power for Holyoke.”
Coal-fired power plants have been retiring across the nation; here in Massachusetts, two coal plants, Somerset Station and Salem Harbor Station, have retired or announced retirement in the last year. The recent decision by GDF-Suez to lay off half of its work force suggests that the Mt. Tom plant is on a similar path.
“With retirement just around the corner for the polluting Mt. Tom coal plant, now is the perfect time for city council to create a diverse resident advisory group to actively engage our community and facilitate healthy, alternative uses for the site," said Giovanna Di Chiro, Director of Environmental Programs at Nuestras Raices and member of AHH!. "We'd love to see Holyoke's green community label mean more community gardens and farms, more solar arrays, and healthy, green jobs!"
"Today the council heard our call to plan for the future," commented N2N member and Holyoke resident Leonilda Figueroa. "If the coal plant closes its doors, we want to make sure the company cleans up the site, and that we have a plan to attract new, green jobs to the city."
“This plant has affected the health of residents of Holyoke for far too long,” said Drew Grande, field organizer for the Sierra Club, a member of Action for a Healthy Holyoke!. “We know that pollution from coal-fired power plants causes asthma attacks and that coal pollution contributes to four of the five leading causes of death in the U.S. It’s time to retire this plant and to come up with a responsible plan to create good jobs when it does so.”
“We are excited that Holyoke City Council members took this proactive step,” said Claire Miller of Toxics Action Center and AHH! member, “Somerset and Salem are working through this same process of retiring coal plants, and Holyoke is really getting ahead of the game to be a leader in the Valley.”
At tonight's city council meeting, Neighbor to Neighbor member and Holyoke resident Carmen Concepcion called on the council to bring healthy alternatives to coal. "Holyoke has the second highest asthma rates in the state, and each time someone is hospitalized for asthma, this has a high cost for the city. This is the city's opportunity to move from coal to clean, healthy industry."
“This is a once in a generation opportunity, and CLF is excited to see Holyoke take this step towards a cleaner future. Key to this effort will be engaging GDF-Suez to be transparent about its plans and the current environmental conditions on the site.”, said Shanna Cleveland of Conservation Law Foundation and AHH!.
Another member of Neighbor to Neighbor's Holyoke chapter, Daniel Perez, commented to the council that "Mt. Tom has already laid off half of their employees - this could be a sign for us to wake up, they could be on their way out. If the plant closes, we don't need a dirty plant sitting in our city. We should have a plan in place that will open doors for new investment and a clean-up."
The Mt. Tom coal plant is owned by GDF-Suez, the world’s largest utility. GDF-Suez is headquartered in Paris, France; Mt. Tom has been in operation since 1960. Action for a Healthy Holyoke!’s preferred re-use plan would ensure that healthy, good jobs and clean energy for Western Massachusetts are created to replace the aging plant when it retires.
“I think the heart of this matter is that if Holyoke wants to be a Green Community we have to be producing green energy,” says Jane Andresen, Holyoke resident and AHH! member, “When the coal plant was built a half century ago, no one was looking at the long-term ramifications of coal-fired energy generation. We can now enter a new era in energy production – one that takes the whole picture into account. We need to develop energy solutions that promote health and sustainability, while also providing jobs and revenue for our city.”
Holyoke City Councilman Aaron Vega agreed. “I feel it is important to have these discussions to prepare and plan for the future so that Holyoke is not scrambling if the Mt. Tom power plant were to close. Our efforts and discussion here are not to force a closure but to have community input on how to move forward. Clean air is important to all the people of the valley, and the jobs and tax revenue issues are important to all of us in Holyoke. As Holyoke becomes a green community, I hope to work with business—local, national and international—as well as citizens to have Holyoke be a leader in green energy and green jobs.”
Full text of the city council resolution can be found here: http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/ma/downloads/HolyokeReuseResolution.pdf
Action/Acción for a Healthy Holyoke! Coalition supports Holyoke City Council resolution to plan for coal plant retirement
[Holyoke, MA] – On Tuesday, the Holyoke City Council unanimously voted to pass a resolution to form a Community Advisory Group that will conduct a study on potential future uses of the Mt. Tom coal plant site. The resolution, offered by Council members Rebecca Lisi, Kevin Jourdain, Tim Purrington and Aaron Vega, was supported by two dozen members of “Action for a Healthy Holyoke!” The city council chamber was packed with supporters holding signs, and several spoke in favor of the resolution. Action for a Healthy Holyoke! is a coalition working to hasten the retirement of this 50-year old polluting power plant and ensure that Holyoke has a plan in place for a clean, sustainable alternative.
“We’re glad the City Council recognizes the need to proactively find a good way to reuse the Mt. Tom site when the plant inevitably retires,” said Neighbor to Neighbor member Virgenmina Perez, “Thanks to our forward-thinking Council members Lisi, Jourdain, Purrington and Vega, we can start to find ways to reuse the site to create good jobs and clean power for Holyoke.”
Coal-fired power plants have been retiring across the nation; here in Massachusetts, two coal plants, Somerset Station and Salem Harbor Station, have retired or announced retirement in the last year. The recent decision by GDF-Suez to lay off half of its work force suggests that the Mt. Tom plant is on a similar path.
“With retirement just around the corner for the polluting Mt. Tom coal plant, now is the perfect time for city council to create a diverse resident advisory group to actively engage our community and facilitate healthy, alternative uses for the site," said Giovanna Di Chiro, Director of Environmental Programs at Nuestras Raices and member of AHH!. "We'd love to see Holyoke's green community label mean more community gardens and farms, more solar arrays, and healthy, green jobs!"
"Today the council heard our call to plan for the future," commented N2N member and Holyoke resident Leonilda Figueroa. "If the coal plant closes its doors, we want to make sure the company cleans up the site, and that we have a plan to attract new, green jobs to the city."
“This plant has affected the health of residents of Holyoke for far too long,” said Drew Grande, field organizer for the Sierra Club, a member of Action for a Healthy Holyoke!. “We know that pollution from coal-fired power plants causes asthma attacks and that coal pollution contributes to four of the five leading causes of death in the U.S. It’s time to retire this plant and to come up with a responsible plan to create good jobs when it does so.”
“We are excited that Holyoke City Council members took this proactive step,” said Claire Miller of Toxics Action Center and AHH! member, “Somerset and Salem are working through this same process of retiring coal plants, and Holyoke is really getting ahead of the game to be a leader in the Valley.”
At tonight's city council meeting, Neighbor to Neighbor member and Holyoke resident Carmen Concepcion called on the council to bring healthy alternatives to coal. "Holyoke has the second highest asthma rates in the state, and each time someone is hospitalized for asthma, this has a high cost for the city. This is the city's opportunity to move from coal to clean, healthy industry."
“This is a once in a generation opportunity, and CLF is excited to see Holyoke take this step towards a cleaner future. Key to this effort will be engaging GDF-Suez to be transparent about its plans and the current environmental conditions on the site.”, said Shanna Cleveland of Conservation Law Foundation and AHH!.
Another member of Neighbor to Neighbor's Holyoke chapter, Daniel Perez, commented to the council that "Mt. Tom has already laid off half of their employees - this could be a sign for us to wake up, they could be on their way out. If the plant closes, we don't need a dirty plant sitting in our city. We should have a plan in place that will open doors for new investment and a clean-up."
The Mt. Tom coal plant is owned by GDF-Suez, the world’s largest utility. GDF-Suez is headquartered in Paris, France; Mt. Tom has been in operation since 1960. Action for a Healthy Holyoke!’s preferred re-use plan would ensure that healthy, good jobs and clean energy for Western Massachusetts are created to replace the aging plant when it retires.
“I think the heart of this matter is that if Holyoke wants to be a Green Community we have to be producing green energy,” says Jane Andresen, Holyoke resident and AHH! member, “When the coal plant was built a half century ago, no one was looking at the long-term ramifications of coal-fired energy generation. We can now enter a new era in energy production – one that takes the whole picture into account. We need to develop energy solutions that promote health and sustainability, while also providing jobs and revenue for our city.”
Holyoke City Councilman Aaron Vega agreed. “I feel it is important to have these discussions to prepare and plan for the future so that Holyoke is not scrambling if the Mt. Tom power plant were to close. Our efforts and discussion here are not to force a closure but to have community input on how to move forward. Clean air is important to all the people of the valley, and the jobs and tax revenue issues are important to all of us in Holyoke. As Holyoke becomes a green community, I hope to work with business—local, national and international—as well as citizens to have Holyoke be a leader in green energy and green jobs.”
Full text of the city council resolution can be found here: http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/ma/downloads/HolyokeReuseResolution.pdf
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