Two weeks from tomorrow, opponents of the proposed wood-burning plant in East Springfield will finally get what they’ve spent months asking for: a City Council hearing on whether to revoke the special permit awarded to the project in 2008.
On Tuesday, May 17, at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, the Council will hold a hearing to consider amending or revoking the permit awarded to Palmer Renewable Energy, developers of the plant, which would be sited on Page Boulevard.
“I think it’s time the City Council took another stand on this and hear both the opponents and proponents and make the decision that’s best for the city, and that’s also legal,” Council President (and 2011 mayoral candidate) Jose Tosado told the Advocate last week.
Tosado called the hearing with Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards, who’s been staunchly against the project. Opponents of the plant—including the Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield coalition—cite concerns about the potential environmental and public health effects of the project, especially given the poor air quality and profound health problems (including high asthma rates) in the city.
Tosado declined to say what he’d like the outcome of the meeting to be since, as Council president, he will chair the meeting. “I need to maintain an open mind,” he said. “However, having said that, I definitely have a lot of questions.”
Tosado actually voted for the Palmer Renewable Energy permit in 2008 (others who voted for it and remain on the Council are at-large Councilors Jimmy Ferrera, Tim Rooke and Kateri Walsh). At the time of the vote, Tosado said, he relied on information provided to the Council that convinced him the plant would be clean and safe. But in the intervening years, he said, “we’ve been inundated with so much information about the effects, on [plant] neighbors and the city as a whole. …
“In all good conscience, I’m not sure it’s a project I can support. I’ve received no additional information that has swayed me at this point,” Tosado added.
Tosado also declined to predict what the outcome of the hearing will be. As for threats by Frank Fitzgerald, the attorney for Palmer Renewable Energy, that his client will sue if the permit is revoked, Tosado said, “Legally, I think it’s a big question mark. I think we’ve gotten conflicting information” about whether PRE would have the legal right to sue. While the city Law Department has raised concerns about a potential lawsuit, he noted, the Council can legally revoke the permit for just cause.
Fitzgerald has not returned calls from the Advocate.
