Springfield, MA Mayor Blocks Appeal Against Biomass Incinerator

- by Paul Tuthill, Sep­tem­ber 12, 2014, WAMC

The may­or of Spring­field, Mass­a­chu­setts won’t autho­rize an appeal to block con­struc­tion of a wood-burn­ing pow­er plant.

A spokesman for May­or Domenic Sarno said the may­or will not approve funds to appeal a court rul­ing that ordered the city to rein­state the build­ing per­mit for the bio­mass project.  The city coun­cil vot­ed 11–1 to file an appeal. Sarno’s spokesman said the may­or would not spend more tax­pay­er mon­ey on the case, because appeals are also being filed by neigh­bors of the pro­posed plant and com­mu­ni­ty orga­niz­er Michae­lann Bewsee, who said the plant will con­tribute to air pollution.

“We’ve got to pro­tect the health of the peo­ple of the city.”

The devel­op­er of the pow­er plant said it will meet strin­gent envi­ron­men­tal stan­dards and pro­vide 200 con­struc­tion jobs and 50 per­ma­nent jobs.