Trucks and Trash
Dear Editor:
Residents should try to attend the meeting on Monday, January 25th, 7pm at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 545 Medford Street, regarding a proposal by Casella Resources to operate a trash transfer station. Currently their recycling business uses their facility at 24 Industrial park and they are looking to bring trash from Boston and surrounding communities.
This would entail 120 trash trucks as well as 20 tractor trailer trips coming to the facility 6 days a week between the hours of 4am and 8pm.
Do we in Charlestown need this additional traffic in addition to the proposed 20,000 cars that the casino will bring?
The roads surrounding Charlestown are already congested and affecting our quality of life.
A recent study by researchers at Tufts Medical School and the and the Boston University School of Public Health found that particle pollution from tailpipes of vehicles on highways can harm the people who live nearby. This study involved residents from Somerville living as few as a hundred feet and more than a half mile from Interstate 93 and Route 38.
The American Lung Association, in over 700 studies state that people living near highways, or even being in traffic, have increased health problems and mortality due to vehicle emissions.
Past studies have shown Charlestown has a higher mortality risk for dying of lung disease than other communities. Pulmonary, cancer and heart disease are affects from air pollution and continue to be a problem in Charlestown.
Truck exhausts contribute significantly to particle pollution.
Charlestown does not need additional truck trips to compromise our quality of life and health.
Your input is needed to let our City Council, Legislators and the Mayor know that we are concerned about the air we breathe.
Charlestown cannot be a depository where trash from Boston as well as surroundings communities is brought to be transferred and hauled to its final destination.
Ann T. Kelleher