The Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has reached an agreement with a Springfield scrap metal company to settle allegations of illegal pollution.
According to a consent decree that is pending a judge's approval, Joseph Freedman Company fell into non-compliance with a federal permit by discharging polluted industrial storm water into a tributary of the Chicopee River.
“This company was illegally polluting the Chicopee River and the City of Springfield’s storm drain system with dirty industrial stormwater, potentially posing a threat to our aquatic ecosystems and to public health, in a community already burdened with environmental injustices,” AG Healey said. “This settlement will benefit the community by improving the water quality of the Chicopee River watershed and supporting health equity programs in an underserved neighborhood.”
The A.G.'s office says the neighborhood surrounding the facility, which has been designated an environmental justice community, will benefit from a payout of about one-hundred-thousand dollars.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)