News About the Connecticut Expansion Pipeline Fight
There is a lot happening with the Connecticut Expansion pipeline. On January 10th our lawyers attended the hearing in Boston for our Oral Arguments in the federal court. It seems like Tennessee’s argument is that the 401 Water Quality Permit had to be final within one year of it being applied for. We think that is crazy because some appeals take over a year. So the MA Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) issued the permit within a year, but then we appealed so the final permit has not been issued. Tennessee argues that because of the timeline the 401 is waived. By Jane Winn, BEAT Executive Director, January 11, 2017 <more>
Tennessee Gas pipeline may ‘bulldoze’ sacred Native American sites
A letter from a Narragansett Indian Tribal official to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) accuses FERC of understating the “likely” destruction of “ancient ceremonial stone landscape features” along the path of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed new storage loop through Otis State Forest. By Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Edge, January 5, 2017. <more>
Electric Vehicle Bill Passes Mass Legislature
Just hours before the start of the 2017-18 session, the 2015-16 session closed with a major accomplishment. At 11:32 p.m. on Tuesday, the legislature passed the Act to Promote Zero-Emission Vehicle Adoption. This bill, which Rep. Jon Hecht sponsored with State Rep Frank Smizik and State Senator Jamie Eldridge, creates a legal framework for the promotion of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Massachusetts. It will guarantee consumers fair access to charging stations, ensure the interoperability of EV charging billing systems, authorize municipalities to designate EV-only parking spaces, and encourage construction of EV-ready buildings. Combined with state and federal rebate programs, the bill will help make EVs an affordable and convenient choice for Massachusetts residents. From Rep. Jon Hecht, January 6, 2017. <more>
Video Highlights from People’s Hearing Now Available from Delaware Riverkeeper Network
On December 2nd, people from across the country gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, for the first-ever national People’s Hearing to testify on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) biased review and approval process for natural gas pipelines. Video highlights are now available from the day on Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s website. And BEAT was there! <more>
Help Protect Your Family from Lung Cancer:
Test and Know Your Home’s Radon Level
January is National Radon Action Month, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joins with state, tribal and local public health agencies to encourage all Americans to test their homes for radon. Exposure to radon in indoor air is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Test your home and make 2017 a safer and healthier year. “January is the time when we remind everyone to ‘test, fix and save a life.’ That’s because lung cancer due to radon can be prevented by testing, and if needed, fixing your home. EPA Press Release, Jan 4, 2017<more>
Jobs
Volunteer Ambassadors Needed at Notchview – Windsor, MA
Visitor Services Internship – U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Northeast Regional Office – Hadley, MA
2017 SCA MA Forests & Parks AmeriCorps Position – DCR-Wompatuck – Hingham, MA
Trail Team Massachusetts Corps – SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps – Hawley, MA
Plant Conservation Volunteer – New England Wild Flower Society – Western Mass
Hoosic River Revival – Executive Director – North Adams, MA
Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation – Executive Director – Williamstown, MA
News About the Connecticut Expansion Pipeline Fight
By Jane Winn
BEAT Executive Director
January 11, 2017
There is a lot happening with the Connecticut Expansion pipeline. On January 10th our lawyers attended the hearing in Boston for our Oral Arguments in the federal court. It seems like Tennessee’s argument is that the 401 Water Quality Permit had to be final within one year of it being applied for. We think that is crazy because some appeals take over a year. So the MA Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) issued the permit within a year, but then we appealed so the final permit has not been issued. Tennessee argues that because of the timeline the 401 is waived.
The MA DEP feels strongly that the process is going the way it is supposed to. MA DEP did issue within the timeline and the appeal does not count in that timeline. That appeal is going to be heardJanuary 18th at MA DEP in Springfield.
Another big issue on the CT Expansion – the state Attorney General’s office and the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) made an agreement with Tennessee for compensation for the taking of the easement through Otis State Forest. We feel strongly that this agreement is a sellout. The state would receive $640,000 to buy “equivalent” land. Tennessee will also have to pay for remediation they would be required to do anyway – BEAT does not consider this “compensation”. Also, and most horribly, the state is waiving their DCR Construction Permit! One less permit that Tennessee has to deal with.
There will be a hearing in Berkshire Superior Court on February 6th at 2 pm. We will hold a rally in downtown Pittsfield around Park Square on the sidewalks starting at 1 pm, then we want to fill the courthouse for the hearing. For the rally, we would like lots of signs (but not on sticks). For the courthouse – no signs (not even t-shirts or such). Please let Jane know if you plan to come to the courthouse – we want to have close to 80 people to fill the room.
Another big issue on the CT Expansion – the state Attorney General’s office and the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) made an agreement with Tennessee for compensation for the taking of the easement through Otis State Forest. We feel strongly that this agreement is a sellout. The state would receive $640,000 to buy “equivalent” land. Tennessee will also have to pay for remediation they would be required to do anyway – BEAT does not consider this “compensation”. Also, and most horribly, the state is waiving their DCR Construction Permit! One less permit that Tennessee has to deal with.
Remember – we will have a heads up weeks (or months) before Tennessee can do any cutting in Otis State Forest because they have to meet with the Sandisfield Conservation Commission and MA DEP before they can begin. There is also a provision in the 401 permit that the work in waterways (streams and ponds) can only occur in July and August.
Tennessee Gas pipeline may ‘bulldoze’ sacred Native American sites
By Heather Bellow
The Berkshire Edge
January 5, 2017
Sandisfield — A letter from a Narragansett Indian Tribal official to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) accuses FERC of understating the “likely” destruction of “ancient ceremonial stone landscape features” along the path of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed new storage loop through Otis State Forest.
In his Jan. 3, 2017, letter, Doug Harris, the Narragansett Tribal Nation’s deputy tribal historic preservation officer and preservationist for ceremonial landscapes, said FERC’s Dec. 29, 2016, letter to Reid Nelson, director at ACHP, which was copied to preservationists from seven different tribes, “mildly portrays the dire” consequences of “bulldozing” sacred features on the company’s newly acquired easement there.
That sacred Native American sites are along the proposed path is just the latest controversy over the pipeline, which is to run through land granted to Tennessee Gas in court despite it being purchased by the state, and put into high conservation status protected by Article 97 of the state constitution. Tennessee Gas is still tied up in court with environmental groups over potential harm to water and animal habitats; the company reneged on a deal to give the town of Sandisfield $1 million for wear and tear to its roads and reimburse legal fees, and there was more outrage at recent news that the state is to receive $640,000 for what is considered untouchable land with old trees and more in related compensation that adds up to $1.2 million.
Harris says while FERC’s letter does concede that, pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act, the company’s Connecticut Expansion Project will have an “adverse effect on historic properties (multiple ceremonial landscape features in Berkshire County, MA)” but “avoids the destructive truth of desecration and the lack of Tribal participation in the resolution…”
FERC sent a December letter to Nelson asking him to weigh in on the situation since “the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has chosen not to…”
SHPO falls under the aegis of the Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin’s office. Spokesperson Brian McNiff said the office is reviewing the situation and that a statement is forthcoming.
But Harris told the Edge he thinks he knows why Massachusetts is staying out of it. “The SHPO has a problem,” he said, acknowledging ceremonial stones.
Harris also said he is “frustrated” with the process, and said Tribal preservation officers are more than willing to help FERC and Kinder Morgan “resolve the adverse effects issues—we might be able to assist.”
Harris said 73 ceremonial stone landscape features had been identified along the 3.8-mile section of pipeline path through Otis State Forest. Tribal preservationists from different nations spent three weeks “in the woods, hills and swamps…within an extended ceremonial region where, pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act, ‘Indian Tribes…possess special expertise in assessing the eligibility of historic properties that may possess religious and cultural significance to them.’”
“We’ve located 73 but that’s not to say that’s all that’s there,” Harris said by phone.
But on Dec. 5, 2016, Kinder Morgan said it would not avoid the destruction of one-third of the 73 features, Harris wrote in his letter.
Harris also said there hasn’t been a National Register determination about the features nor Tribal participation. “The words are in the law, but where is the implementation of the process for the Tribes?”
He further said all the Tribes want “is avoidance of the 1/3 of the 73. Anything else appears to be a path to destruction and desecration. ACHP, are you prepared to intervene and offer meaningful guidance in correcting these oversights?”
ACHP spokesperson Matt Spangler issued the following statement Friday (January 6) morning, after the agency reviewed Harris’ January 3 letter:
“ACHP is in the process of responding to these concerns. While the ACHP has not formally entered the… consultation, the agency takes these concerns seriously, and will continue to actively advise FERC on the need for it to engage in good faith consultation and coordination as early in the project planning and review process as possible. This will help insure that effects to historic properties of religious and cultural significance to tribes can be identified and the fullest range of alternatives to avoid, minimize, or mitigate can be considered.”
Kathryn Eiseman, director of Massachusetts PipeLine Awareness Network and president of Pipe Line Awareness Network for the North East Inc., told the Edge that, “under that federal law, tribal consultations are supposed to be concluded early on in the process to avoid locking in to a route that is problematic to the Tribes.”
Yet the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians Community was not given that opportunity early on, despite the Nation being the most “culturally affiliated” with this land, said the Nation’s tribal preservationist officer Bonney Hartley.
“We’re not happy that they didn’t include us,” she said, adding that, since the Nation’s November notification of the field report, “relative to other pipeline company projects…that didn’t respect a different cultural viewpoint,” Kinder Morgan has stretched itself to avoid and even engineer the construction plans to work around or over stone features.
Electric Vehicle bill passes
From Rep. Jon Hecht
January 6, 2017
Just hours before the start of the 2017-18 session, we closed out the 2015-16 session with a major accomplishment. At 11:32 pm on Tuesday, the legislature passed the Act to Promote Zero-Emission Vehicle Adoption. This bill, which I sponsored with State Rep Frank Smizik and State Senator Jamie Eldridge, creates a legal framework for the promotion of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Massachusetts. It will guarantee consumers fair access to charging stations, ensure the interoperability of EV charging billing systems, authorize municipalities to designate EV-only parking spaces, and encourage construction of EV-ready buildings. Combined with state and federal rebate programs, the bill will help make EVs an affordable and convenient choice for Massachusetts residents. Broader adoption of EVs is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for over 40% of the state’s GHG emissions. We were in frequent contact with the Baker Administration while working on the bill and are optimistic the Governor will soon sign it into law. If you want to give him some added encouragement, drop him an email at http://www.mass.gov/
Video Highlights from People’s Hearing Now Available from Delaware Riverkeeper Network
On December 2nd, people from across the country gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, for the first-ever national People’s Hearing to testify on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) biased review and approval process for natural gas pipelines. Sixty-five people representing 15 states and the District of Columbia gave testimony on the abuses of power and law being inflicted by FERC. Over 150 people were in attendance of the hearing including reporters and congressional staff members.
The People’s Hearing was organized by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Berks Gas Truth Food & Water Watch, Clean Water Action, Beyond Extreme Energy, EarthWorks, and Catskill Mountainkeeper.
See video highlights from the day. Learn more.
Help Protect Your Family from Lung Cancer:
Test and Know Your Home’s Radon Level
EPA PRESS RELEASE
Jan 4, 2017
WASHINGTON – January is National Radon Action Month, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joins with state, tribal and local public health agencies to encourage all Americans to test their homes for radon. Exposure to radon in indoor air is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Test your home and make 2017 a safer and healthier year.
“January is the time when we remind everyone to ‘test, fix and save a life.’ That’s because lung cancer due to radon can be prevented by testing, and if needed, fixing your home. It’s a simple and important way to help safeguard your family’s health,” said Jon Edwards, Director of EPA’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air. “Testing is inexpensive and test kits are readily available and easy to use. Reducing your family’s exposure to radon provides peace of mind, knowing that you’re doing the right thing to help avoid the toll taken by radon-induced lung cancer.”
Every year an estimated 21,000 Americans die from lung cancer due to radon exposure. There’s only one way to know whether your home has an elevated radon level: testing for it. If the radon level is 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air or more, the U.S. Surgeon General and EPA recommend taking action to fix your home. With a test result of 4 pCi/L or more, you should contact a qualified radon mitigation contractor.
Easy to use do-it-yourself radon test kits are affordable and available online and at many home improvement and hardware stores. You can also hire a qualified radon professional. Testing may show your home to have a high radon level. If so, a professionally installed radon reduction system, using a vent pipe and exhaust fan, will help prevent the radon from entering your home and will discharge it outside. When compared with risk of lung cancer, these systems are very affordable, generally in the price range of many common home improvements.
Reducing your exposure to radon is a long-term investment in your health and your home. A mitigation system in good working order is a positive selling point when placing your home on the market; in many areas radon testing is a routine part of a home sale. Are you buying a new home? Ask the seller if the home has been tested recently. If the results are high, the costs to fix it can be factored into the sale. Thinking of building a new home? Work with your builder to include radon-resistant construction techniques.
Strategies to reduce radon exposure, like those above, are included in the National Radon Action Plan. The Plan was launched in November 2015 by EPA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and nine national non-governmental organizations. This national partnership coordinates radon reduction efforts and resources. The Plan’s goal is to prevent 3,200 lung cancer deaths annually by 2020.
To learn more about testing or obtaining a radon test kit, contact your state radon office at 1-800-SOS-RADON. Visit https://www.epa.gov/radon to find a qualified radon professional, or learn more about the National Radon Action Plan partnership.
Volunteer Ambassadors Needed at Notchview Reservation – Windsor, MA
Volunteers Needed: Help us Help Others enjoy the winter wonders of Notchview. Indoor Visitor Center & Outdoor trail opps. Assist for 2 hrs. on your ski days or join one day/wk. Fun. Social. Family opps. Free ski lesson. Notchview Reservation, 83 Old Route 9, Windsor, MA 01226. www.thetrustees.org/volunteer or 413.532.1631 ext. 3119
Visitor Services Internship – U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Northeast Regional Office, Hadley, MA
The individual will serve as a visitor services and communications intern for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Northeast Regional Office. This will include assisting Service staff with a variety of projects related to public use of national wildlife refuges such as environmental education, environmental interpretation, hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, volunteers, Friends and community partnerships, the Urban Refuge Initiative, and connecting people with nature. On the job training will be provided and there is the potential opportunity for further training regionally or nationally. For more information & to apply, click here.
2017 SCA MA FORESTS & PARKS AMERICORPS POSITION DCR-WOMPATUCK – Hingham, MA
This position is part of the Student Conservation Association Massachusetts Forests & Parks AmeriCorps program. MA Parks is seeking 6 Preservation & Stewardship Crew Members to serve at the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)’s Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, MA. For more information and to apply, click here.
Trail Team Massachusetts Corps – SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps – Hawley, MA
SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps is a residential program based in the Kenneth Dubuque State Forest in Hawley, MA, an 8,000 acre forest located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
During conservation service season, members get to travel the state of Massachusetts working and camping on public lands for 10 days at a time.
The SCA Massachusetts Corps is a partnership between SCA, AmeriCorps, The Massachusetts Service Alliance, and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps members serve the lands and people of Massachusetts for five months through the completion of high priority conservation service projects on public lands. SCA Massachusetts Trail Team members will begin their service in March 2017, joining 18 other SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps members who will have been serving since October 2016.
The majority of the position is dedicated to hands-on, outdoor conservation projects ranging from trail construction and maintenance to habitat restoration and invasive plant species removal. Leadership development is an important component of the program. Each member will serve as a crew leader for at least one 10 day field project. A typical field project or “hitch” will consist of collaborating as part of a five or six-person crew for 10 days at a time, returning to Kenneth Dubuque State Forest for a three or four day break between hitches. A portion of the position is spent earning certifications and attending trainings such as Wilderness First Responder, leadership, chainsaw, rigging, carpentry, and general trail maintenance and construction. Members will also spend time developing teaching skills through presenting environmental education based lessons and engaging volunteers in service activities. Community based living is a large component of this program. The living conditions are simple, rustic, and community focused. The corps is made up of 18 – 25 year olds with diverse backgrounds from around the country.
For more information, click HERE.
Plant Conservation Volunteer – New England Wild Flower Society
New England Wild Flower Society is seeking enthusiastic people who have a commitment to plant conservation and protecting natural habitats to participate in their Plant Conservation Volunteer Program. Plant Conservation Volunteers (PCVs) puts the skills of citizens to work collecting information on rare plants and their habitats across all six New England states. The majority of the work focuses on rare plant monitoring, but there are also opportunities to assist with invasive species removal, habitat management projects and botanical surveys that benefit rare plants. The Society also offers free field trips and some learning opportunities to PCVs. It’s an excellent opportunity to develop your botanical skills and put them to work, learn more about the flora of New England, meet others with similar interests, and help preserve your state’s natural heritage.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend the annual 1-day training session held on a weekend in March/April for each of the New England states to review surveying protocols and PCV guidelines. The schedule is on our website for training sessions.
- Review available surveys and choose ones for your abilities and/or surveys that will excel the New England Plant Conservation Program.
- Complete at least one rare plant survey including research on plant/accessing location, coordinating with other volunteers to survey, conducting the survey and completing and submitting field forms digitally through a secure website.
- Conduct possible seed collections on rare plants following specific protocols.
- Represent the PCV program and conduct work in a professional manner.
- Keep ALL data on rare plant populations confidential.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Good candidates are motivated, independent workers; have some skill in plant identification, good observation skills and are adventurous.
- Ability to collect and organize scientific data and filing field forms in a timely manner.
- Some computer proficiency is required for communication and submitting field forms.
- The physical ability to hike in uneven terrain and varying weather conditions.
- The ability to work independently or with a team of other volunteers.
- Ability to travel some distance to survey sites and endure possible long days in the field.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply visit our website and fill out the electronic application by February 1st, 2017:
http://newenglandwild.org/conserve/saving-imperiled-plants/plant-conservation.html/
Interested applicants with botanical knowledge and are outside of Eastern Massachusetts are encouraged to apply. All who are interested must apply and be accepted into the program before attending a training session due to the sensitive nature of rare plant data and data security agreements we have with each state’s Natural Heritage.
Applications are reviewed during the winter (January – February) to be considered for that field season year. To be considered for the 2017 season, please submit your application via the online application by February 1st, 2017.
QUESTIONS? Contact: Laney Widener, Botanical Coordinator, New England Wild Flower Society, 508-877-7630 ext. 3204, lwidener@newenglandwild.org
If you would like a botanical adventure, join the PCV program. This is a great way to meet new friends, explore a wide range of habitats while contributing to the knowledge of our flora. I joined the PCV program the first year it was in Maine and love it as a way to help our environment. ~ B. G.
Hoosic River Revival – Executive Director
The Hoosic River Revival, based in North Adams, Massachusetts, seeks an Executive Director to lead our river restoration efforts. We are a community-based nonprofit working to contribute to North Adams’ urban renaissance by transforming an unattractive concrete-walled section of the Hoosic River into a beautiful, ecologically-sound and publicly-accessible riverscape. This full-time position provides an opportunity to live in the beautiful New England Berkshires and oversee a project that will benefit local ecosystems and economies. No previous experience with river ecology is required. Our ideal candidate will have strong experience with project management and working closely with a board, as well as navigating government processes. To read the full job description go to http://www.hoosicriverrevival.org/position-opening-executive-director.
Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation –
Executive Director
The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation (WRLF), a 30-year old land conservation trust and education organization in Williamstown Massachusetts, announces the retirement next year of its long-time executive director, Leslie Reed Evans, and the search for her replacement to lead WRLF during an exciting time in its history. Leslie’s tenure at WRLF has spanned 23 years of exemplary service to our community. She was hired in late 1993 as interim director and was offered the permanent position in 1995 at a time when the organization was completing several major land conservation projects under her dynamic leadership and was in the midst of its largest yet, the effort to preserve the south Williamstown farm and forest lands owned by Norris Phelps along Oblong Road and extending to the Taconic Ridge. At that time, WRLF had a 14-member Board of Directors, a supporting membership of about 200 families, and an annual budget of $39,000. There were 268 acres of private land under conservation restriction, and 66 acres in WRLF’s direct ownership.
Today, WRLF annually monitors 288 acres of conservation restriction land and has close to 600 acres under its own management, including its 55-acre Sheep Hill headquarters and 380 acres on Pine Cobble, its largest preserve. Its membership has more than doubled and its annual budget has grown nearly tenfold. It has established itself as a key resource in the community and an important contributor to the beauty and quality of life which Williamstown residents and visitors alike enjoy.
During Leslie’s tenure and with the active participation of an engaged, dedicated Board of Directors, WRLF undertook many innovative projects, including managing the Reynolds limited development/conservation project, making land available for the Williamstown’s first Habitat for Humanity home, and establishing Caretaker Farm as a Community Land Trust to make it affordable to a new generation of farmers. Perhaps what Leslie is most proud of and in addition to the land conservation projects she has overseen is the acquisition and preservation of Sheep Hill and its establishment as a community resource for outdoor education and recreation for families, school children and visitors.
The search for a new executive director will begin immediately. The job posting and explanation of the application requirements are described on WRLF’s website, wrlf.org, under “Job Opportunities” on the home page. For further information contact WRLF or call its headquarters at 413-458-2494.