Springfield activists urge Supreme Judicial Court to hear appeal over biomass plan
SPRINGFIELD — Advocates who have been fighting a proposed wood-burning biomass plant are urging the state's Supreme Judicial Court to take up the case and finally put an end to the 15-year battle.
The Palmer Renewable Energy proposal has been shot down by some courts and city boards and restored by others so many times it is now being called the zombie project — and the licenses that allowed it "frankenpermits."
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled in early May that deadline extensions designed to prod development during the Great Recession in 2008 meant the permits allowing the building are still good. The city has long argued they expired years ago because of the inaction of the developer.
After the ruling, the City Council voted in late May to file an appeal with the Supreme Judicial Court. Unlike other courts, the judges have the option of deciding if they will hear the case or pass.
"At this point, this is what the case is all about: These permits in Massachusetts are supposed to be for six months," said City Council President Michael Fenton, a lawyer who has been fighting the plant since he was first elected in 2010.
But with various rulings and special acts those permits have been allowed to remain active for years, he said.
The justices select cases they will hear with a focus on those that have a significant legal or public interest. That the City Council filed the appeal alone seems to put it under the category of important to the public interest, he said.
Naia Tenerowicz, a lead organizer with the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, said she hopes a letter recently submitted to the court will show how the case will affect many people in the city.
The Springfield Climate Justice Coalition has been trying to block the plant, planned for 1000 Page Blvd., since it was first proposed. It has continually pointed out that more harmful pollutants will spew into an area that already has been listed on and off over the years as having the highest asthma rate in the country, she said.
Officials for Palmer Renewable Energy have not responded for requests for comments in months.
The letter is signed by more than 30 Springfield organizations and people, including state legislators who represent Springfield, at least three neighborhood councils, the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition and the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Tenerowicz said.
"We are trying to protect our city. It would be a catastrophically polluting plant," she said.
Over the nearly two decades since the plant was proposed, policies protecting the environment, fighting climate change and encouraging clean energy have changed. Allowing the permits to live on flies in the face of that work, she said.
The coalition says that biomass plants emit more carbon dioxide than modern coal plants and natural gas plants, which are now being shunted aside for greener energy, such as solar, hydro and wind. They also emit large quantities of particulates into the air, the letter notes.
"The Springfield community is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, as are many low-income environmental justice communities. Many households in our community cannot afford to install or pay the bills for air conditioning, so they have no choice but to suffer through the extreme heat, often with windows left open for air circulation, which allows outdoor air pollution in," the letter said.
In addition, the city, like most urban areas, faces the phenomenon of having heat islands, areas of extreme heat, in the summer months. That, combined with increased pollution, will create more heat-induced medical emergencies, the letter said.
Caletta Renewable Energy and Palmer Paving Corp., which owns the proposed project site, are partners on the Palmer Renewable Energy project.
Palmer Renewable Energy biomass plant
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