MAPC releases statement about compressor and HIA

MAPC, the agency that conducted a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for the compressor station, has released a statement about the HIA process and the compressor station. We applaud MAPC for speaking out against the compressor station proposal but we are disappointed in their final conclusion that the compressor station would not have any significant health impact on the surrounding community. MAPC ignored data that showed high levels of benzene and formaldehyde in the Basin, so we find it perplexing how they could come to the conclusion that the compressor wouldn’t have any significant impact.

There needs to be a real, comprehensive, independent health impact assessment done before anything else moves forward with this proposal.

You can read MAPC’s full statement here: http://foreriverhia.com/

We encourage you to leave on comment on their site!

Excerpt: “MAPC recently facilitated and drafted a Health Impact Assessment (HIA), studying a proposed natural gas compressor station in the Fore River area of Weymouth, Massachusetts. MAPC facilitated and drafted this HIA for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

Our HIA focused on the potential public health effects of the proposed station under normal, or typical day-to-day, operations. The purpose of the assessment was to paint a picture of likely health impacts if the station is built, making key decision-makers aware of potential health implications. …

MAPC does not support increased reliance on natural gas or expansion of the infrastructure used to extract, transport, distribute, and deliver natural gas. WE believe the region (and the Commonwealth) must rely instead on more renewable and zero carbon sources of energy, while at the same time reducing energy demand.

Since the publication of the HIA, we have been asked if we support this natural gas compressor facility. The answer is that we do not. We base that opposition on the climate implications stated above, as well as ongoing public safety concerns.

Furthermore, we believe that the current regulatory framework unduly limits the ability of local governments and the Commonwealth to address issues of public safety and climate change, bu leaving much of the authority in the hands of federal authorities who do not, at the current time, even recognize that climate change is a very real and present danger to our national health and the future of the planet.

We are committed to expressing our concerns about public safety and climate, along with our opposition to the compressor station proposal, to regulatory officials at various levels of government in the course of the ongoing review of this proposal.

The process of facilitating and drafting the HIA - along with the controversy that followed its publication - only deepen our commitment to working through challenges at the intersection of energy, land use, public health, and climate change. We are focused on enhancing the region's environmental protections and accelerating our transition to renewables.” (MAPC)