Environmental Toxins: Proposed Power Plant May Increase Pollution

A proposed power plant in Chelsea Creek, Massachusetts may make the already bad pollution in the residential area even worse. In 1996, Chelsea built a new school complex for more than 1,300 public elementary school children, expecting that the air pollution in the neighborhood would not get any worse. However, the new power plant would be only a few hundred feet from the school and consequently could expose vulnerable lungs to even more dangerous particulate matter.

To Limit Chelsea Pollution

The developer of the proposed plant says that the plant would burn only the cleanest diesel oil and actually improve air quality because it would reduce the need for the dirtier power sources in the area. It is questionable if this would be the true scenario. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, diesel exhaust in Chelsea is five times higher than the national average. Chelsea's diesel exhaust levels exceed the EPA's level at which carcinogenic effects occur by 20%. Chelsea also has much higher rates of asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases than other areas in Massachusetts. The new power plant has potential to make Chelsea an even less healthy place in which to live.