From: Theresa Evans & Jacki Cunniffe Date: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 1:14 PM Subject: BOH update To: concernedforchelmsfordsfuture@gmail.com

Hello Everyone.

On Tuesday evening, I went to the BoH meeting with a handful of other concerned citizens. Overall, the meeting was a disappointing experience.

First, some background to keep in mind as you read this. Our Board of Health consists of three elected officials. These are: Dr. Ernest Wu, Mr. Peter Dulchinos, and Ms. Annamarie Roark. Mr. Richard Day is the appointed Health Director.

Ms. Roark set the tone for the discussion of the power plant. She said on a couple of occasions when citizens in attendance tried to give input that this meeting was "not a hearing". She said that all of the BoH members were present at the BOS meeting and that they had all of the information. Ms. Roark also said that she had several pages of notes from the BOS meeting. She said that she was able to extrapolate 21 points made by the opposition, most of which were "silly, groundless, and designed to incite hysteria". I was offended that a public official would characterize the concerns of constituents in this manner. Most of us who participated at the BOS meeting put an extraordinary amount of time, thought, and energy into the crafting and delivery of our public statements. This was, in my eyes, a disrespectful comment on the public outcry regarding the power plant. Ms. Roark went on to say that a couple of the points were worth discussion. These were the points regarding air and water quality.

Richard Day went on to say that there will be no impact to our water in Chelmsford. In short, he said that we have not drawn water from the Concord River and that our wells were not deep enough to be affected by the plant. This is directly opposite of what we were told by the East Chelmsford Water District. He said that the water quality issue doesn't compare to the "obvious" air quality concerns.

Dr. Wu expressed many concerns, especially with regard to air quality and childhood asthma. He said that in 20+ years of practicing pediatric medicine in this area, he saw a significant increase in childhood asthma, one that mirrors the nationwide trend. In 1984, he saw very few pediatric asthma cases. When he left private practice almost a year ago, he did not have one day when he wasn't dealing with a patient struggling with asthma. He said that when he first saw the information about the power plant, it was a "no brainer" that it would have negative consequences.

Roark said that opposing the plant is futile. She wanted to know how the pollution could be reduced instead of trying to stop the plant completely. Peter Dulchinos said that we should request no "grandfathering". That is, the plant should have to keep current with new technologies rather than be held accountable only to today's standards.

In the end, the Board decided not to oppose the plant. Instead, they will write a letter of concern to Billerica and the appropriate permitting agencies.

Here are some requests they decided to address in their letter: air quality monitoring stations in Chelmsford assurance that the plant will not be "grandfathered"...that it would instead be held accountable as air quality standards are amended state of the art technology in use at the plant, rather than doing just enough to prevent pollution All of this looks pretty good at first, but who will be in charge of overseeing these requests?

I have requested a copy of the meeting minutes, but they will not be available until after they are approved at the next meeting in April. The meeting was not televised. I also requested a copy of the letter when it is completed.

If you have questions for the board and/or are unhappy with the result of their discussion, please continue to contact them. Here is the link to the BoH on the town's website: http://townofchelmsford.us/Board-of-Health.cfm Scroll down the page for contact information.

Thanks so much for your continued support, concern, and action. Jacki

-- Theresa Evans and Jacki Cunniffe