Community Organization Protests BWH Expansion

Residents of Millions Hill, a neighborhood adjacent to the Harvard-affilated Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), objected yesterday to the hospital's plans to construct a 16-story research facility, citing possible environmental and traffic hazards to the community.

Five members and an attorney for the Mission Hill Planning Commission (MHPC) told the Boston Redevelopment Authority that the research tower's size will induce a "down-wash" effect, deflecting downward hazardous nitrous oxide exhaust from Harvard's Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP), two blocks away.

The MHPC also said the hospital's plans for traffic control would not accommodate the large number of personnel and patients in the building.

Two Buildings

The research tower is one of two buildings--the other a far less controversial ambulance service building--that BWH hopes to open in 1984. During yesterday's hearings MHPC proposed that the ambulance building be approved but further studies be conducted on the environmental and traffic impact of the taller structure.

BWH hopes to expand the boundaries of the Medical Area, which the hospital and the MHPC set in 1976. Also, BWH wants to exceed a local ordinance limiting the ratio between the floor space of the tower and the land it rests on.

James Crawford, a Mission Hill resident and a member of the MHPC ad hoc committee that wants to reach a negotiated settlement with BWH, testified yesterday that MATEP's exhaust could create an obvious health hazard if it were directed toward the community. Crawford added that chemical damage could occur to buildings, specifically a local church that already suffers from industrial pollution.

William E. Hassan, acting president of BWH, said yesterday an environmental study completed by the firm of HMM Associates as well as approval of MATEP's operation by the Masschusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering should demonstrate that downwash is harmless. But Jerome Aaron, MHPC's attorney, questioned the rigor and method of both the private and state examinations.

Crawford and MHPC president Les Cain both said the research building's large capacity would augment a parking problem BWH employees have caused in Mission Hill for years. Between 800 and 1500 personnel and their patients would use the facility each day.

Charlotte Ploss of Mission Hill anticipated in her testimony that BWH's payments in lieu of taxes on the new buildings would not reflect their actual value and social cost. After the hearings Ploss said BWH's payments would probably duplicate "the MATEP swindle" under which Harvard will annually pay Boston one-half of one per cent of the facility's value. Hassan refused to comment on the negotiations determining the size of BWH's payments.

Crawford also said MHPC harbors ethical concerns over Harvard conducting recombinant DNA research in the facility. Hassan replied that the hospital would abide by any Boston regulations on DNA research that were active when the facility opens.

The Redevelopment Authority voted unanimously to take the proposed amendments under advisement and will probably issue a ruling at its next public meeting in two weeks. The amendments then must pass a Zoning Commission and an Appeals Board hearing before construction begins