The petition
We strongly oppose the proposed facility by United Waste Management, Inc. at 686 Main Street, Holyoke, MA. This facility will produce fumes, exhaust, debris, dust, and odor pollution by processing 150 truck loads and up to 750 tons of waste a day. Holyoke has the 8th highest rates of asthma hospitalization in the state, and this facility would be close to City's largest and most popular park and local schools.
• UWM proposes to develop a 750 ton per day (maximum) transfer facility
• UWM proposes to construct a 22,575 square foot steel building to handle Construction & Demolition Debris and Municipal Solid Waste from cities and towns in the area.
• This facility will generate at least 1SU daily truck trips to 686 Main Street
• This facility will bring more pollution to an already polluted area.
• This facility will adversely impact the traffic patterns in the Holyoke, Springdale and South Holyoke areas and including 391.
• Communities of color and low-income community are most likely to have polluting facilities and use such as incinerators, landfills, and toxic chemicals hi their neighborhoods. Yet, these neighborhoods have had the fewest resources to confront or prevent these threats.
• The current percentage of people with asthma in Massachusetts is higher than the national average (9.4% vs. 7.1% in 2001).
• The top ten communities for Asthma hospitalizations in Massachusetts grouped by zip code are the following: Dorchester Souh/02124; Roxbury/021 19; Brocton /02301; Dorchester NorthIO2l2l; Dorchester North/02125; Dorchester South /02126; MedfordIO2l55; HOLYOKE/01040; Jamaica PlainIO2l3O; and Everett /02149.
• The communities above have a population with more than twice the percentage of Blacks and Latinos than the Massachusetts average ( 27.02% vs. 12.2% using 2000 U.S. Census data).
• The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPI-I) has indicated that ambient air quality is a factor leading to higher rates of Asthma in some cities over others. They cite improving air quality as one of their goals to reduce the burden of asthma in Massachusetts.
• Massachusetts FY 2002 charges for inpatient asthma hospitalizations alone totaled $55.5 million. Inpatient charges for Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care totaled over $12 million while free care charges were $1.5 million.
• Construction and demolition debris (C & D) is generated from many different sources. Generally, C & D can be separated into thee main categories:
1) Building construction, demolition and renovation
2) Transportation (roads, bridges, landscaping) construction and demolition
3) Land clearing debris. Another category is disaster debris, which requires alternative management strategies by federal, state and local officials. There are a wide range of materials generated in these three categories; including, asphalt. Concrete, wood (clean, painted and pressure treated — all requiring different management techniques), gypsum, drywall, ferrous and non ferrous metals, asphalt shingles, and land clearing debris. Although most of the C & I waste stream does not contain hazardous waste, some hazardous waste or potentially harmful material are encountered as a result of C& D activities. These materials can include lead based – paint asbestos, mercury, pressure treated lumber and other potentially harmful materials and /or chemicals.
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