On April 8, activists will take a bus from Holyoke to Hartford to hold a rally at the office of the owner of the Mount Tom coal power plant. The coal plant is in Holyoke. “In the past few years, my wife has gone to the emergency room several times for asthma caused by the coal plant,” Carlos Rodriguez told the Valley Post. He lives in Holyoke and plans to take the bus to the rally.

Kim Finch lives in Easthampton, Masssachusetts, near the Holyoke coal plant. “I suffer from asthma and the plant is contributing to it,” she said. “I'm concerned about climate change.” She also plans to be at the rally.

The plant burns 1,200 tons of coal every day. That's according to:

www.firstlightpower.com/generation/mttom.asp

Vilma Vazquez lives in Holyoke. “People fish in the river and eat the fish. They don't know that the fish are contaminated with mercury from the plant,” she said.

At the rally, people will ask the plant's owners to close the plant, clean up the site properly, and provide generous severance packages to plant workers who are near retirement age, and training for younger workers to help them find new jobs.

On March 21, from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m., there will be a dinner and dance party to raise money to pay for the bus to Hartford. Dinner ends at 8 p.m. There will be Puerto Rican and U.S.-style food. The music will be Irish and Puerto Rican. The party will be at 300 Appleton Street in Holyoke. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for people under age 17. People under 17 must be accompanied by an adult.

On April 8, the bus will leave Holyoke at 10 a.m. and return by 3 p.m.

For more information about the party, the bus, and the rally, contact Lena Entin. She works for www.n2nma.org and can be reached at lena@n2nma.org or by phone at (413) 210-4217.

Carmelo Diaz of Holyoke said, “The plant pollutes the water, the ground, and the air. It's time to close it.”