January 7, 2019

Governor State House 24 Beacon Street Office of the Governor, Room 280 , MA 02133

Dear Governor Baker,

Thank you for initiating your directive calling for a Health Impact Assessment of the Fore River Basin on July 14, 2017.

We, the undersigned, served on the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Advisory Committee for the proposed Atlantic Bridge compressor station in the Fore River Basin. The undersigned Advisory Committee received the final Health Impact Assessment on Friday, January 5, 2019, having had no opportunity to provide comments on the draft. We have serious concerns about the conclusions of this report. It shows that the Fore River Basin is already over the limit on several VOCs and toxins, and that residents, including many in designated Environmental Justice communities, suffer from elevated levels of cancer, respiratory and coronary illnesses. The assessment also ignores additional evidence presented to MAPC on emissions from existing transmission compressor stations. Yet, it concludes that adding another major toxic emitter to the area will have no health impact. The undersigned Advisory Committee members disagree. The Commonwealth must deny the air permit for the proposed compressor station based on the evidence presented but ignored in the conclusions of this report. Should Massachusetts allow the air permit for the proposed Weymouth Compressor Station to be approved, it would set a national precedent that a state is not required to protect overburdened areas when permitting toxic emitters. Further, the compressor emissions would make it impossible for the Commonwealth to meet its statutory obligations under the Global Warming Solutions Act.

To view the HIA report, you can access the executive summary here and the full report here.

Very respectfully,

Rebecca Haugh Frank Singleton Alice Arena Michael Lang Dr. Turner Bledsoe Jennifer Mathien Fay Stringler Ross Edwards

CC: State Senator Patrick O'Connor State Senator John Keenan State Senator Walter Timilty State Representative State Representative James Murphy State Representative State Representative Joan Meschino State Representative Josh Cutler State Representative Patrick Kearney State Representative State Representative Weymouth Mayor Robert Hedlund Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan Hingham Board of Selectmen Weymouth Town Council Quincy City Council Braintree Town Council