|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The New Bedford Board of Health appeared split on a controversial waste transfer station proposal Monday evening during the board’s first public discussion since a raucous public hearing last month.
Board members Dr. Elizabeth Blanchard, Alex Weiner, and Michele Tsaliagos met on Sept. 8 in a virtual meeting to deliberate on Parallel Products’ (doing business as South Coast Renewables) proposal to build the state’s largest waste transfer facility at 100 Duchaine Blvd., weighing potential public health risks from air pollution to vermin to fires at the facility.
Although no vote took place, Weiner said multiple issues with the company’s proposal steered him towards denying the project, particularly South Coast Renewables’ plans for traffic mitigation, rodent control, and fire safety.
“There absolutely is going to be a fire at this facility if it’s built,” Weiner said. “We don’t know what materials are coming in. Both experts said that, so this seems like a huge unresolved danger to public safety.”
Earlier this year, a fire at the E.L Harvey & Sons waste transfer station on Shawmut Avenue led to a neighborhood-wide rat infestation, prompting the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to fine the station nearly $30,000 for failing to control the rodent outbreak. Citing that incident, Weiner said he was also “very unimpressed” with South Coast Renewables’ rodent control plans.
“This is one of the biggest things for me in terms of denial,” Weiner said.
Tsaliagos agreed, pointing to the fact that South Coast Renewables did not invite a pest control expert to testify on the subject.
Throughout the meeting, Blanchard played devil’s advocate, highlighting the ways in which the city could mandate more robust plans to control traffic, fires, and rodent infestations while still approving the project. However, Blanchard did take issue with the potential air quality impacts of the site given that New Bedford residents have higher self-reported rates of asthma, COPD, and other respiratory illnesses compared to state averages.
During the Aug. 6 public hearing, South Coast Renewables’ air quality expert Sonja Sax stressed that potential air pollutants would not exceed EPA standards. Blanchard acknowledged that state and federal air quality standards may not be strict enough to protect sensitive groups.
“I don’t think we can go beyond the current EPA and [Mass]DEP standards,” Blanchard said. “Are we asking to go beyond those standards? Is that a fair thing to do?”
Over 80 residents attended the virtual meeting, which was closed to public participation. At one point, Board of Health attorney Adam Brodsky asked that attendees stop signaling their approval or disapproval via emoji reaction.
Neighbors and activists have pushed back on the project since its early stages in 2022, citing concerns about traffic safety, noise, air quality, rodents, fire safety, and property values. Although the first of four public hearings on the issue last month had been sparsely attended, hundreds gathered to protest the proposal at the last and most recent hearing on Aug. 26.
South Coast Renewables meanwhile estimates that the station will bring 75 jobs and roughly $800,000 in annual revenue for the city.
The board will meet virtually again to discuss the proposal at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16 before issuing its decision by Friday, Sept. 19.
Brooke Kushwaha is an environment reporter and can be reached at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.
At the start of the meeting, Cheryl Sbarra, from the Mass Assn of Local Board of Health, assured the Board that they have the authority to make local decisions . That authority has been delegated to them by the legislature. They have the power to make stricter requirements but they cannot make lesser standards than the existing state ones. That answers Dr Blanchard’s question of whether the BOH can require stricter guidelines for air quality than the EPA given the prevalence of asthma, COPD and heart disease in this environmental justice community.
I thought that the Board of Health asked probing questions and was very much aware of gaps in the data presented by SCR. The hard questions were the ones about traffic, fires, air quality, rats, and noise. Both fire experts, one on each side, agreed that it wasn’t IF a waste transfer station caught fire, but WHEN. Fires have become more frequent due to lithium batteries. The unknown contents of the baled trash greatly increases the risk. My biggest fear is how would I and my neighbors evacuate should a fire require that step? I asked the Mayor in a Ward 1 meeting about whether there would be an evacuation plan if a fire were to occur should this facility be built. That question was dismissed as if it wasn’t a valid concern and didn’t require an answer. I asked the same question to previous Fire Chief Kruger and he tried to reassure me that the fire dept would monitor air quality. I told him that wasn’t my question, how would the neighborhood evacuate if there was a large fire? Again, no answer. When Fire expert Mr Kunze suggested that an evacuation plan would be the responsibility of local fire department, I already knew that there wasn’t a plan. He stressed that New Bedford has an excellent department, I agree, and is larger than most cities the size of NB. The FACETS study commissioned by the City remarked the reason for that is because the City is long and narrow. The Business Park is the farthest from the fire station and response time would take twice as long to respond as other areas of the city. In 2015, that time was estimated at 8 minutes. How large can a fire in filled rail cars become in 8 minutes or longer? Will there be 9-18 filled rail cars on the rail spur? Those figures were used in SCR’s proposal. Mutual aid is not available according to the report. The report was published in 2015 and the area has become more densely populated in the past 10 years. And the mayor has threatened bownouts of the fire department which have happened in the past so not an idle threat.
The recent EL Harvey fire and its resulting rat infestation is a recent memory. The fine imposed by DEP on that facility doesn’t mitigate the rats that escaped. I read in Successful Farming that one pair of rats can create 15,000 descendants in their one year lifetime. These are just a few of the potential nuisances, health and safety threats, that need to be explored before the Board of Health renders its decision next week.
The Board will conduct their vote during the Sept. 16th meeting. Also, it is important to note that someone from the MA Association of Health Board gave a presentation prior to this discussion, to provide the BOH with guidance on their capacity and limitations with regard to making this determination. She very clearly stated that with regard to state and federal regulations, the BOH can strengthen them, but not weaken them.
In my opinion and as a taxpayer of New Bedford, both of the hearings (at Pulaski School and Health Board Zoom Meeting) were horrible. I found it to be a total injustice that public input was limited at Pulaski School and no allowed at the Zoom meeting. This is not a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. New Bedford deserves better and it’s time for new leadership in City Hall.
Did the board discus prohibiting diesel trucks hauling waste and instead mandating all trucks be electric?
Re “… Board of Health attorney Adam Brodsky asked that attendees stop signaling their approval or disapproval via emoji reaction,” Chairman Blanchard terminated the Chat function which was being used by the citizenry for reasonable, respectful and informed discussion of what was being discussed by the board and its attorney. Chairperson Blanchard, on the other hand, derisively dismissed the chat as being of no value and characterized it as nothing more than people arguing about sports.
So much for public participation in the deliberations, for public input at this critical juncture. This was much more than simply banning emoji expression.
Ms Kushwaha, Thank you for your great stories on this matter. Things have changed since you first wrote it. The BOH deliberations meeting is at 6 PM, not 6:30 as mentioned in story. In addition to Zoom meeting, there will now be a public meeting at Pulaski elementary school. Here is the agenda and zoom links
9/11/2025 11:23:06 AM CITY CLERK’S
1213 Purchase Street• NEW BEDFORD, MA 02740 • TEL. (508) 991.6199 • FAX (508) 991.6291
CITY OF NEW BEDFORD
Jonathan F. Mitchell, Mayo
Regular Meeting of the Board of Health
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2025 AT 6:00 PM
Board to Convene Via Hybrid Participation
Means of Public Access Provided: In Person/Zoom Meeting/ Telephone Conference Call
Pulaski Elementary School
1097 Braley Rd.
New Bedford, MA 02745
TO JOIN ZOOM MEETING:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86902904785?pwd=zYeZXx6i4nD5gSadtBgIhzL21t0U6u.1
Dial-In: 1 646 931 3860 US Meeting ID: 869 0290 4785 Passcode: 889692
Join instructions:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meetings/86902904785/invitations?signature=pQagY6n2x3akchKfYL6AgSdeOIjr
LYa8QoPJ8D8WM10
1. Call To Order
2. NEW BUSINESS
A. Discussion and Vote on Southcoast Renewables Site Suitability process.
Invitees: Adam Brodsky, Drohan Tocchio & Morgan, P.C.
Mark Tocchio, Drohan Tocchio & Morgan, P.C.
Stephanie Sloan, Director of Health
Alyssa DaCunha, Assistant Director of Health
3. ADJOURN
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), if any accommodations are needed, please
contact Stephanie Sloan at 508-991-6199 (Stephanie.Sloan@newbedford-ma.gov) or MassRelay 711.
Requests should be made as soon as possible but at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled meeting
Any Board of health members That don’t put a stop to this transfer station project are not looking out for the health and welfare of our residents and our children.
For those who wish to prepare for Tuesdays Board of Health meeting, it would be very good if they had a copy of the most informative slide presentation that was made by the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards at the beginning of the meeting as well as the recording of the whole Zoom session. And given the critical nature of the proceedings and the fact that a final vote on the proposal will be made at this coming Tuesday night’s meeting, this should be done ASAP to allow people to prepare for this meeting and to communicate with city and state officials prior to this meeting. It would be most helpful if, in the interest of informing the public and maximizing citizen involvement in the decision-making process, the New Bedford Light involved in self in ensuring that this material is made available ASAP. Approving this Parallel Products / South Coast Renewables proposal would be a disaster for New Bedford.
Here is where you can find the slides you asked for Mr Leary. Go to the City website, look for health under City Offices, then Parallel Products, then SCR Docs for Public. The title of the document is Authority- Site Assignment CS & MH New Bedford FINAL. It was just posted today. Wendy who commented previously found this for all of us. It’s a PDF file.