By Jamie McGonagill
On Thursday November 2, leaders in the Logan Community Clean Air Coalition met with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Chief of Staff Tiffany Chu, Environment Commissioner Dr. Alison Brezius, and Director of Stakeholder Engagement Mohammed Missouri to discuss East Boston’s proposed Haul Road project. The goal of the meeting was to establish a productive partnership between the coalition and the City through shared interest in preventing development of unhealthy land uses. The meeting’s tone was friendly and collaborative.
In an official statement the Coalition stated that: “Environmental costs are real costs. And we are thrilled that Chief Chu and the Wu administration are taking environmental and climate justice seriously. We are excited to continue to support the city’s efforts to protect low-income communities from further disproportionately negative environmental and health burdens.”
Coalition members expressed their opposition to ongoing irresponsible expansion of Logan Airport, by Massport and the state. Afterwards, AIR Inc. issued a statement saying, “As we explained to Mayor Wu, when we met in March, we are not asking the city to oppose Logan Airport. We are asking the city to demand that Massport, travelers, and the state share the environmental and economic costs of this polluting infrastructure and work earnestly and collaboratively to create sustainable and equitable growth plans.”
Chief Chu’s team willingly engaged in the dialogue and the meeting went smoothly. Afterwards community leader and organizer, Valinda Chan said, “Our discussion was not only insightful but also meant a lot to our coalition of community members and organizations in building a partnership with the City of Boston. We are excited about the potential opportunities we explored and the alignment of our “Parks Over Pavement: No Haul Road” campaign with the City’s initiatives.”
The Logan Community Clean Air Coalition hopes that Mayor Wu’s next step will be to communicate the Wu Administration’s position on the proposed Haul Road and the Administration’s support for the positive alternatives described in the PLAN: East Boston draft to Governor Healey and the current acting MassDOT Secretary Tibbets-Nutt. The Coalition would also like to establish regular meetings with members of Wu’s staff, to help meet the City’s goals and support our communities.
Jamie McGonagill for the Logan Community Clean Air Coalition.