Fighting for Air: Updates on the proposed biomass plant in Springfield

The Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition has been working for 20 years to support families and decrease asthma rates. Two recent court decisions have revived permits for a biomass plant in Springfield, MA, which could reverse the strides made to prevent poor asthma outcomes. Biomass energy involves burning organic matter such as wood, which pollutes our air with harmful particulate matter. Community groups and health advocates have been fighting against this proposed plant for more than a decade.

Now, there's a critical opportunity: state law, proposed by Sen. Adam Gomez and Rep. Orlando Ramos, aims to eliminate state financial incentives for biomass, making the proposed plant less viable.

Join us for a webinar on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 12:00-1:00 pm to understand the health impacts of biomass, how this vital legislation can help block it, and what you can do to make a difference.

Speakers

• State Senator Adam Gomez
• Michael Fenton, Springfield City Council President
• Rusty Polsgrove, Associate Director, Arise for Social Justice
• Dr. Matthew Sadof, pediatrician, Baystate Health
• Sarita Hudson, Senior Director of Strategy and Development, Public Health Institute of Western MA

The webinar will be moderated by Jessica Collins, Executive Director, Public Health Institute of Western MA.

Learn more about our speakers and moderator:

State Senator Adam Gómez (D-Springfield) is a life long native of western Massachusetts. He is the first Latino from The Hampden District to serve in the Massachusetts Senate. As a father of three, a former business owner, and with a family of veterans, Senator Gomez brings merges these perspectives and utilizes them to best serve his constituents.

His personal beliefs and experiences have driven his years of advocacy work for social justice issues such as criminal justice reform, immigrant rights, education issues, and civil rights. He has served as a member of various boards for local organizations in his District, many of which directly serve the Latino community. Prior to becoming a Senator he served as a Springfield City Councilor.

Having just completed his second term in office this legislative session, Senator Gómez has already helped pass several landmark pieces of legislation into law this through bills he sponsored that: ensure membership of the state’s Victim and Witness Assistance Board has equitable and fair representation; improve processes related to the expungement of one’s cannabis expungement records; provide undocumented immigrants the ability to have a driver’s license; and eliminate hair discrimination from our workplace and schools. The most recent legislation to be passed is a ban of the use of animals in circuses.

Senator Gómez proudly serves the Hampden District, consisting of the communities Springfield and Chicopee. He serves as the Senate Chair for the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses and the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, and as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion, the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development. He is also and a member of the powerful Senate Committee on Ways and Means.

Attorney Michael A. Fenton focuses his practice in the areas of commercial real estate, business planning, and commercial finance. Mr. Fenton represents principals in business formation and succession planning, businesses in the purchase and sale of enterprises, lenders and borrowers in commercial financing transactions, developers in the acquisition and permitting of projects. As an attorney with background in tax and a master’s degree in business administration, he provides added value to clients with business planning concerns. In addition, Attorney Fenton has extensive land use experience that includes zoning, subdivision, project permitting and environmental matters. Michael is an adjunct professor at Western New England University School of Law.

When he was first elected in 2009, Michael was the youngest person ever elected to the Springfield City Council. Michael has served Ward 2 on the City Council for sixteen years and served as Council President for five of those years. Councilor Fenton has been fighting against the proposed East Springfield biomass facility since he was first elected and has led the Council on these efforts. Michael served as the City Council’s first legal counsel in the filing of the first appeal. Since then, he has recruited local pro bono legal counsel and the Conservation Law Foundation to assist the City Council with its appeals, working closely with them on the arguments presented to the court.

Rusty Polsgrove, Associate Director, Arise for Social Justice- bio coming soon!

Dr. Matthew Sadof, Pediatrician, Baystate Health - bio coming soon!

Sarita Hudson brings experience managing programs, developing coalitions, and building community capacity on issues including environmental health, climate action and resilience, sexual violence prevention, women's rights, and social justice. As Senior Director of Strategy & Development at the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, she leads Coalition Building and Convening, and her responsibilities include resource development, planning, program development, and organizational communications. She currently directs the Healthy Air Network, Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, and the Springfield Healthy Homes Collaborative. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership and the board of Massachusetts Public Health Association. Sarita holds a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School.​ Sarita was awarded the 2024 Luminary Award from the City of Springfield, which is awarded to recipients who have demonstrated leadership, excellence, and a commitment to improving community health in the City of Springfield. Other awards include the 2020 Partners Asthma Center Asthma Achievement Award and under her leadership, the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition was awarded the 2019 EPA Region 1 Environmental Merit Award for Children’s Health.

Jessica Collins has dedicated her career to collaborative efforts that build equitable communities and sustain programmatic, policy and infrastructure change that supports quality of life. Ms. Collins is the Executive Director of the Public Health Institute of Western MA which does research assessment, evaluation, and convening of initiatives that address health inequities that stem from racist and unjust systems and policies. Ms. Collins was recently appointed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Behavioral Health Commission and also served on Governor Baker’s Special Commission on Behavioral Health Promotion and Upstream Prevention in 2017; Ms. Collins served as the Co-Director of the BeHealthy Partnership, the ACO made up of Health New England, Baystate Health, and Caring Health Center (2018-2023). She was awarded the BusinessWest "Women of Impact" award in 2021. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Human Service Forum and was elected to the South Hadley Board of Health (2017-2024). She was President of the MA Public Health Association (2017-2019). Before moving to Western MA, Ms. Collins led the nationally recognized childhood obesity prevention effort "Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart. Play Hard." Ms. Collins has a master's degree in Food Policy from Tufts University and is a proud graduate of Wellesley College.