Dear 'Links,

Little did we know that our fundraiser last night would be timed so

Lolli Leeson, Linda Weltner, Lynn Nadeau and Representative Lori Ehrlich

amazingly - our lawsuit against Dominion was settled only a few hours before the party! Jane Bright of HealthLink and Shanna Cleveland of Conservation Law Foundation were able to announce this exciting news to over 60 guests at Jody and Rick Howard's house. (photos)

Our lawsuit, its conditions and monetary award has far reaching implications for coal-fired power

Anne and Bruce Egan, Rev. Jeff Barz-Snell (SAFE) and Fred Schlicher (MCAN)

The major provisions of the settlement are:

1) The dates for the plant shut down are binding. Units 1 and 2 must close by Dec. 31, 2011 and Units 3 and 4 by June 1, 2014

2) No owner of the property will be permitted to use coal at the site for power generation in the future.

Shana Cleveland, attorney with Conservation Law Foundation discusses the terms of the lawsuit

3) A required settlement of $275,000, representing $1,000/opacity violation, will be awarded for clean energy projects to local communities, which is meant to help mitigate the effects of the opacity violations. (The distribution of this award has yet to be decided, but communities such as Salem, Swampscott, Beverly, Marblehead and Manchester will be considered.) Future violations will cost Dominion, automatically.  

This lawsuit was brought with the help of your funds and energy; if you have not contributed this year, please do. You may contribute on line or by check to: HealthLink, P.O. Box 301, Swampscott, MA 01907.