Gov: Patrick: We Want Clean Air, Clean Energy

Activists and musicians from across the Pioneer Valley converged on Governor Deval Patrick’s Springfield office on Saturday, December 3rd.  The group of 50 from the Sierra Club and the anti-biomass movement came together to ask Governor Patrick to clean the air that we all breathe and invest in clean renewable energy.

The Pioneer Valley Beyond Coal Team had been collecting petition signatures and a growing business coalition asking Governor Patrick to replace the 50 year old Mt. Tom coal plant in Holyoke with clean renewable energy.  Max Anderson who led the grassroots drive collecting 1,000 signatures from residents said, “Mt Tom has been making money from making people sick for too long.”

The Mt Tom plant has been operating with a Title V air permit that was issued in 2002 and has been expired since the end of 2007.   Since that time the Environmental Protections Agency has issued new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for sulfur dioxide; which the Pioneer Valley is not able to comply with because of the coal plant.  The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is charged with air quality and issuing new air permits.

Bill Ravanesi of Healthcare Without Harm reported, “The Mt. Tom plant released 2,129 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the air and water in 2009.  Sulfur Dioxide can make it hard for people with asthma & other related respiratory illnesses to breathe.”

The Massachusetts Department of Health reports that the asthma rate for Massachusetts is 10% while the asthma rate in Holyoke is 24%.  There is a simple cure to this for the people of Holyoke and the surrounding areas.  Governor Patrick must direct his DEP to issue a new Title V Air Permit for the Mt Tom coal plant that achieves a 90% reduction in SO2 so that the Pioneer Valley can meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for SO2 and the children of the region can breathe free.

Call and ask Governor Patrick to direct his Department of Environmental Management to issue a new clean air permit that exceeds all clean air protections for the health of Massachusetts residents at (617) 725-4005.