By Paul Leighton Staff Writer Dec 24, 2020
Feb 26, 2021
JAIME CAMPOS/Staff file photoThe former Varian site on Sohier Road in Beverly, where a hazardous waste cleanup has been going on for nearly 30 years. Jaime Campos
BEVERLY â New testing found no evidence that contamination from the former Varian site is impacting nearby homes, according to a report released this week by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. But the report indicated that chemicals from the site could be seeping into a commercial building on Tozer Road, though not at levels that pose a significant health risk.
In a 10-page report, the DEP said its scientists tested the indoor air in 47 homes and two commercial buildings over three days earlier this month to determine whether chemicals were traveling underground from Varian, located at 150 Sohier Road, and getting into the nearby homes and businesses. The report said low
Sens. Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren oppose Springfield biomass project by Palmer Renewable Energy
Updated Dec 24, 2020;
Posted Dec 24, 2020
Various organizations are opposing changes in renewable portfolio standards, which some say would aid a proposed biomass project in East Springfield. Here, is an artists conception of the proposed Palmer Renewable Energy biomass project
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SPRINGFIELD Massachusetts’ two U.S. senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, have asked the state to suspend and reassess the approval it gave 12 years ago for a still-unbuilt Springfield biomass plant that would take wood chips and burn them for electricity.
Developer Palmer Renewable Energy said Wednesday it has already begun work at the site, 1000 Page Blvd. in East Springfield.
Wheelabrator Saugus to install improved silencer system
Wicked Local
Wheelabrator Saugus plans to have a new silencer system in place this spring that will reduce the noise coming from the trash-to-energy plant when steam must be vented.
Wheelabrator Vice Preisdent of Environmental, Health & Safety James Connolly informed the Wheelabrator Subcommittee that the drag valve silencer system is expected to result in a direct and significant improvement for noise levels when steam is vented at the facility.
As part of the process of converting waste into energy at Wheelabrator, high-temperature steam is produced and directed to the turbine to generate electricity for the local power grid.
Credit: (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
File photo: Entrance to the George Washington Bridge
A regional plan to reduce carbon pollution from vehicles is off to an inauspicious start with only a trio of states and the District of Columbia agreeing this week to take part while eight states, including New Jersey, are holding off on joining the collaboration.
The Transportation & Climate Initiative would establish a cap on greenhouse emissions from cars, trucks and buses and require fuel distributors to pay for the right to bring gasoline into the region, a step likely to increase pump prices by at least 5 cents a gallon. The money raised would fund cleaner transportation alternatives, such as public transit and transition to zero-emission vehicles in participating states.
LENOX â It appears to be the final answer: The Environmental Protection Agency is going ahead with the Rest of River settlement requiring General Electric to clean up the Housatonic River from the toxic PCB pollution it deposited there over four decades ending in the late 1970s.
The EPA unveiled the plan last February, at an event in the Lenox railroad station. A hue and cry followed when some, probably many, Lee and Lenox Dale residents saw that the less-toxic sediment would be stored in the grandly titled Upland Disposal Facility, aka The Dump, as opponents called it.
Despite months of meetings and public comment, the final revised plan is basically the same as the cleanup permit released then. The Housatonic River Initiative, led by Tim Gray, plans an appeal to an EPA review board in Washington, D.C., with the help of attorneys working pro bono, seeking a better deal that takes more PCBs out of the river and ships all the toxins out of Massachusetts. The opposition is also