Press Release - Health Impact Assessment Community Advisory Committee addresses MAPC audit

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2020 

Media Contact: Alice Arena, nocompressor@gmail.com

Health Impact Assessment Community Advisory Committee addresses MAPC audit

Members of the Advisory Committee disappointed with MAPC audit

Weymouth, MA—Members of the Community Advisory Committee have reviewed the audit performed by Public Health by Design for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) released on Monday September 14, 2020 in regards to the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the Weymouth compressor station published in January of 2019.  This audit was precipitated by public scrutiny and outcry after the original release of the HIA.  The public criticism of the HIA is borne out by the audit findings.

The audit was commissioned by MAPC in order to investigate the claims made primarily by the Advisory Committee.  The Committee pursued the issues of safety as a factor in health and the question of the existing ambient air quality in the Fore River Basin as a primary factor in disease within the communities. From the audit: “Sufficient weight was not given to the existing high levels of air pollution and the existing health status of communities in the project area.” (page 57) The MAPC did not allow the discussion of safety factors to be explored during the HIA process by claiming that it was outside of the proposed scope.  The inclusion and discussion of ambient air quality was disallowed by the Department of Environmental Protection as it is ignored as part of their standard permitting procedure.  The audit states, “However, this practice is not aligned with standard practice in HIA, where background/baseline levels of air pollution must be considered when assessing and rating impacts.” (page 12)

While the undersigned members of the Advisory Committee agree with most of the audit findings, we find the conclusion of the audit that “much of the HIA process was undertaken in line with what is generally considered good international practice” (page 57) to be in contradiction of the audit itself.  Advisory Member Frank Singleton, retired Director of Public Health for the City of Lowell, said, “The release by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) of their audit of their original incomplete and flawed Health Impact study on the Weymouth gas compressor was equally flawed. Their comments on the study destroy their overall conclusion that this was a good HIA. The scope set up the study to fail to reach a full analysis and allowed conclusions not supported by a full review because important factors such as safety could not be considered. The audit is simply an attempt for a self-serving coverup by MAPC of their release of their flawed original study that gave the Governor the green light to proceed with state approval of the compressor site.”

Rebecca Haugh, Councilor-at-Large, Town of Weymouth

Frank Singleton, Conservation Commissioner, Town of Weymouth

Michael Lang, Environmental Coordinator, East Braintree Civic Association

Lori Hayden, Attorney, resident of Germantown (Quincy)

Alice Arena, associate member, North Weymouth Civic Association