Health Impact Assessment Meeting Recap

FRRACS would like to sincerely thank all who came out on what became a snowy night for the public Health Impact Assessment meeting. We would especially like to acknowledge our elected officials who attended tonight and have supported us all along: Sen. Pat O'Connor, Councilor Brad Croall, Councilor Becky Haugh, and Councilor Chris Heffernan. Additionally, Solicitor Callanan from the Town of Weymouth was on hand to hear some of the results of the ongoing study.

Thanks to Mothers Out Front for their amazing and continuing support. Their communication about and presence at this meeting helped to pack the room.

Thanks to our member Andrea for requesting a true public meeting that allowed all to hear and to participate in this process. We have a lot further to go, Fore River Campers, so stick with us!

Scroll down for the news coverage of this meeting!

Media Coverage

“Fore River residents raise questions about compressor station study” - The Patriot Ledger: “Glenn Keith, a deputy director with the state Department of Environmental Protection, said Thursday night that the current levels of volatile organic compounds in the air in the Fore River Basin are similar to other testing sites in Boston, Lynn and Chicopee.

“Most chemicals were below reporting limits,” Keith told dozens of Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree and Hingham residents who gathered in the Quincy High School cafeteria on Thursday night.

But the chemical formaldehyde measured above the toxic exposure level — a concentration intended to protect the general population from adverse health effects other than cancer — in 7 of the 14 testing days at the Weymouth MWRA pump station. The recommended threshold for formaldehyde is 2 micrograms per cubic meter, while the MWRA site averaged 2.8 micrograms per cubic meter during the 14 testing days, with a high of about 7.5 micrograms per cubic meter on Aug. 6. …

Curtis Nordgaard, a pediatrician from Newton who practices in Dorchester and sees many South Shore patients, has worked with residents to conduct independent air-quality testing. He said tests show that hazardous pollutants already exist in the Fore River Basin that Algonquin has not accounted for, including benzene and formaldehyde. Nordgaard said health indicators like asthma and heart attacks are already higher in Weymouth, Quincy and Braintree based on data from the state Department of Public Health.

“We haven’t even begun to address that health in this area is significantly worse that state average,” Nordgaard said. “People here are already sicker, and there’s going to be another source of air pollution if this facility is permitted and built.”’

“Formaldehyde Levels Raise Concerns For Fore River Residents” - Patch

“The amount of the chemical formaldehyde in the air near Fore River has Braintree, Quincy, Hingham, and Weymouth residents concerned, considering that energy company Algonquin wants to build a massive natural gas compressor station on the river banks.

A public meeting was held to discuss current environmental factors that could be further affected by the proposed 7,700-horsepower facility. The basin for the Fore River is already highly industrialized, so the state required a health assessment study to determine air quality.”

“Public Meeting Addresses Gas Compressor Station Health Impact Assessment (Audio Story)” - WATD FM