A Chicopee official has asked that the West Springfield Town Council join that city in putting the brakes on plans to build a biomass plant in Springfield.
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Town Council will be asked Monday to adopt a resolution calling on Springfield officials to not grant any further approvals for a proposed biomass plant in that city until a site assignment hearing is completed and the Springfield Public Health Council makes a decision.
Town Council President Kathleen A. Bourque said that Chicopee City Councilor Timothy S. McLelland asked that the West Springfield board join the Chicopee in asking that any further approvals for the project be suspended until the completion of a site assignment public hearing and a decision by the Springfield Health Council.
The Chicopee City Council recently passed a resolution opposing the plant on the grounds that Pioneer Valley residents’ health is already compromised by polluted air in the area.
Bourque said she as well as Director of Public Health Jeanne Galloway and Mayor Edward J. Gibson are concerned about the effect the plant would have. The council president said she leans toward adopting the resolution depending on what information comes out and what comments are made by other councilors at Monday’s meeting.
“We have enough pollution problems in the Pioneer Valley right now. We don’t need to add to them by having a biomass plant,” Galloway said.
She noted that air pollution from the western part of the country is blown into the area by prevailing winds and then sinks into lower areas like those around the Connecticut River.
Palmer Renewable Energy has proposed building a 35-megawatt biomass plant at 1000 Page Blvd. in Springfield. The Springfield City Council has a hearing set for Tuesday to consider revoking a 2008 special permit for the East Springfield plant.
The hearing is at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall. There are also proposals for biomass plants in Russell and Greenfield.
Advocates of the plants have said they generate a form of renewable energy.
Frank P. Fitzgerald, the attorney and a spokesman for Palmer Renewable Energy, could not be reached for comment.
The West Springfield Town Council is scheduled to meet Monday at 7 p.m. in the municipal building.