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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 69
“Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will — his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.”
— ALBERT SCHWEITZER
75 cents
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017
Regional Hazmat Team responds to spill By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – Around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, the Southwick Fire Department received a call that there was a possible mercury spill inside a home on Knollwood Rd. Before arriving on scene, the fire department called the District Four Regional Hazmat Team, who handles situations like mercury spills. The fourth regional hazmat team consists of firefighters throughout Western Massachusetts. According to Southwick Fire Chief Russ Anderson, the homeowner was doing renovations on the house and discovered the possible chemical. Once entering the home, the hazmat team mitigated the area of the floor where the spill was located. Some of the carpeting was cut out in order to retrieve the entirety of the spill, and
then neutralizers were added to the process. Anderson said that the cause was most likely due to an old mercury thermometer that could have gotten trapped in the plumbing, before the current residents lived in the house. It was determined that the mercury probably didn’t arrive into the drain recently, but rather over time. “It was probably sitting in the drain all these years,” said Anderson. With the Southwick Fire Department overseeing the situation, the Mass DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) was also on scene to help confirm it was safe for the homeowners to return into their home. Anderson is urging homeowners throughout Southwick that if they find an old mercury thermometer, to take it to a household hazardous disposable facility. The nearest facility is in Westfield on 190 East Main, right on Route 20.
Members of the District Four Regional Hazmat team prepare to enter a home that had a mercury spill. (Photo from Southwick Fire Department)
Huntington receives Municipal Small Bridge grant award
Members from Westfield Bank present a check to members of The Athenaeum. From left to right: Jayne Mulligan, Susan Kingra, Kevin O’Conner, Dan Paquette, Jim Hagan, Linda Saltus, Joe Flahive.
Westfield Bank makes donation to Westfield Athenaeum By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–The Athenaeum received a much-needed donation yesterday to help continue the renovation efforts at the library. Westfield Bank President and CEO Jim Hagan donated $100,000 to the Athenaeum located on Elm Street, from the bank’s Future Fund yesterday, and in the process also received a portion of the library that will be named after the bank. Renovations at the library have been ongoing, and has included modernizing the fire sprinkler system, adding restrooms, improving portions of the library and making the building more handicap-
accessible. “We felt as a community leader we wanted to set leadership challenges for others in the community,” Hagan said of the donation made. “People in the community need education and this is where they come.” According to Linda Saltus, who is chairperson of the Athenaeum’s building commission, the total raised with the amount given by Westfield Bank is now “just under $1.3 million.” Even with the donation though, Saltus said that more is needed. “This is a great boost, but we continue to need to raise $300,000 to $400,000 more,” she said. Thus far, renovations at the
Athenaeum have included the removal of asbestos, the addition of foam insulation and a new fire sprinkler system. Still to come, a new wheelchair ramp and improved handicapped access point, improved parking and more handicap bathroom access, as well as a large reference and quiet study room, which will help to improve the limited access library-goers currently have to such. Additionally, a children’s library resource center will be created, which will be named “The Westfield Bank Children’s Library Resource Center.” The bids for the next portion of construction are expected to be opened in early April, with construction starting as early as the first week of May.
Local Emergency Planning Committee prepares for open house By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – The LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) held a work session at the Southwick Town Hall on Thursday morning. Run by Emergency Management Director Charlie Dunlap, the focus of the work session was to prepare for the public safety open house that will take place on April 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Southwick Police and Fire Departments. Being the first time that the LEPC will be participating in the open house, the committee wanted to draw up a plan that would fulfill the questions the See Open House, Page 3
By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle said the news was confirmed on Wednesday that the town would receive a grant of $300,000 from the MassDOT’s Municipal Small Bridge Grant program to repair the Searle Road bridge over Pond Brook. “I was shocked it went through,” Dazelle said. The bridge needs it. Dazelle said the ends of the beams are rotted, and it’s down to one lane. Searle Road is also the only main road into Norwich Pond, with about 25 houses and 100 cabins on the other side of the bridge that would be cut off from fire, police, gas, and oil if the bridge went down. Dazelle said that he will be going to Boston on Wed., March 29 to accept the grant. Next steps will be to get engineering quotes, and consult with Mark Devyider, the engineering contact with MassDOT. “He’s in charge up there, I’ll work closely with him,” Dazelle said. Dazelle said this is a new category for him as well as everyone else. He’s done a lot of work with Chapter 90 and CDBG highway projects, but not bridge work, which he said is so much See Grant, Page 3
Huntington Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle. (Submitted photo)
Agawam power plant operators sentenced to pay more than $7M
The Risk Management sub-committee of the LPEC discussed ideas for the upcoming public safety open house. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
SPRINGFIELD (AP) - The operators of a western Massachusetts power plant have been sentenced to pay more than $7 million after pleading guilty to tampering with emissions equipment and submitting bogus reports to regulators in violation of the Clean Air Act. Federal prosecutors say Berkshire Power Company- the owner of Berkshire Power Plant -and its management company Power Plant Management Services were sentenced Wednesday in Springfield to pay a combined $3.25 million in criminal fines and $1 million to the American Lung Association. They will also pay more than $3 million in civil fines to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Prosecutors say the companies altered an oxygen monitor on a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System to save money, delay repairs and avoid reporting that the Agawam plant was releasing pollutants above hourly legal limits.