skip to Main Content

In the News:

Williamstown’s voters to make environmental decisions

Tuesday, May 16th, at this year’s annual town meeting in Williamstown, voters will have a chance to decide on proposals that include tax breaks for fuel-efficient cars, support for laws against genetically modified food, and wetlands protections that go further than the state Wetland Protection Act. It may only take a small number of people to make a difference. According to a Berkshire Eagle article, in 2005, only 198 out of 4,304 registered voters turned out, and in 2004, 325 of 4,321 voters.

This year there are several environmental issues on the warrant. One proposal would have the town set aside $10,000 in grants to cover 75 percent of the motor vehicle excise tax on passenger vehicles with an EPA fuel -economy rating of 50 miles per gallon. It would go to 50 percent of the tax on a vehicle with a fuel-economy rating of 30 mpg in the city or of 35 on the highway. The idea came from COOL, the town’s CO2 Lowering Committee, which was created in 2001 to help the town reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The proposal was changed to cover fuel efficient vehicles, not alternative fuel vehicles, thus excluding some hybrid SUVs. It is possible that, by encouraging drivers to get newer, more expensive cars, the credit may actually bring in more excise tax revenue.

Two articles concerning genetically modified foods were submitted by citizens’ petition. The first asks legislators to place a moratorium on growing genetically engineered crops until there is “credible and independent scientific evidence that these products are not harmful to our health, the environment and the survival of family farms.” The second
calls for labeling genetically modified foods.

Another article proposes a wetlands bylaw extending the Conservation Commission’s oversight to vernal pools outside protected areas, to isolated vegetated wetlands, and to a wider area around intermittent streams. According to the Berkshire Eagle, this would make Williamstown one of only two towns in Berkshire County to have such an important tool to protect their biodiversity.

Also on the warrant is a proposal introduced by the Planning Board, to adopt a “right to farm” bylaw.

return to top
Kids release salmon fry in Becket

Becket-Washington Elementary School and Trout Unlimited volunteers participated again this year in the Atlantic Salmon Egg Rearing Program (ASERP). The children learn not only about anadromous fish*, but also about the importance of protecting their habitat, which means maintaining clear, cold, free-flowing streams and rivers. Part of this protection includes protecting well vegetated riverbanks and buffers.

The Richard Cronin Atlantic Salmon research and breeding station is in Sunderland, MA. There are fish ladders or lifts in Westfield, Holyoke, and Turners Falls where you can see fish working their way upstream. (See Berkshire Eagle story)

*anadromous means fish that are born in freshwater streams, swim out to the ocean for part of their lives, and return to the freshwater stream to breed. Atlantic Salmon, unlike their Pacific relatives, do not necessarily die after breeding. They may go back out to the ocean return again.

return to top
Pittsfield Ordinance and Rules supports selling part of Burbank Park

Pittsfield doesn’t do a very good job of protecting its “protected” property.

First the Mayor was apparently thinking about selling a conservation property along the banks of the Housatonic River for use as a parking lot. Not an appropriate use of riverfront land, not to mention land given to the city as conservation land.

Next, the Mayor is proposing selling part of Burbank Park. Granted, the parcel is across Valentine Road from the rest of the Park, but so far, no restriction has been placed on the sale to ensure any proceeds would go to acquiring a parcel with higher conservation value, or some such conservation cause.

Legislation has been introduced to require No Net Loss of conservation land. This legislation is supported by the Environmental League of Massachusetts, Mass Audubon, BEAT and many others.

Below are:
1)
part of a Berkshire Eagle article about the proposed sale,
2)
MassPIRG’s information on how easily the state allows our conservation land (called Article 97 land) to be sold off for development,
3) Article 97 of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
4) a link the the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) own policy for their lands for No Net Loss

According to the Berkshire Eagle article:

The [Pittsfield City] council’s ordinance and rules subcommittee this week voted 4-1 in favor of the recommendation after debating whether the city should restrict use of the land before it considers whether to send the measure to the Legislature. Chairwoman Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Councilors Gerald M. Lee, Anthony V. Maffuccio and Linda M. Tyer voted in favor, while Jonathan N. Lothrop was opposed. If the Legislature allows the city to sell the land, the City Council will have to declarethe parcel as surplus property so that it can be sold to the public at auction.

According to MassPIRG (pdf):

Public lands in Massachusetts have increasingly become the target for private development.
Although the Massachusetts State Constitution was amended in 1972 to guarantee basic
environmental rights to the residents of the Commonwealth, today, these residents can no longer
assume that the state actively protects publicly owned preserved land. In fact, in the past 13 years,
over 90 times has the State Legislature approved our public land to be sold to private developers,
often at a bargain price.

Article 97, the Constitutional Amendment passed almost thirty years ago, intended to protect
open space by requiring that a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate approve the land
transfer. The last three decades have demonstrated, however, that a two-thirds majority has not
been difficult to obtain. Since 1989, the Legislature has approved 280 land transfers. Fifty five
percent of those transfers have converted publicly owned open space into privately developed
land and the road and water infrastructure to support it. Simply put, we, the people of
Massachusetts are losing our land to private commercial interests.
——————————

Article 97 of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

“The people shall have the right to clean air and water, freedom from excessive and unnecessary noise, and the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic qualities of their environment; and the protection of the people in their right to the conservation, development and utilization of the agricultural, mineral, forest, water, air and other natural resources is hereby declared to be a public purpose.

The general court shall have the power to enact legislation necessary or expedient to protect such rights.

In the furtherance of the foregoing powers, the general court shall have the power to provide for the taking, upon payment of just compensation therefor, or for the acquisition by purchase or otherwise, of lands and easements or such other interests therein as may be deemed necessary to accomplish these purposes.

Lands and easements taken or acquired for such purposes shall not be used for other purposes or otherwise disposed of except by laws enacted by a two thirds vote, taken by yeas and nays, of each branch of the general court.”

Mass. EOEA’s policy on Article 97 lands the own
——————————

Environmental League of Mass. (ELM) page on No Net Loss bill
Mass Audubon’s page on No Net Loss bill (pdf)

return to top
ALEXANDRA DAWSON HONORED BY EPA

Anyone who know Alexandra Dawson will agree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s decision to honor her with an Environmental Merit Lifetime Achievement Award! Congratulations Alexandra!

The New England Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
selected Alexandra Dawson to receive an Environmental Merit Lifetime
Achievement Award in recognition of her exceptional work and commitment to
the environment. This award recognizes outstanding environmental advocates
who have dedicated their lives toward preserving and protecting our region¹s
natural resources. The award was presented at a special ceremony held at
Faneuil Hall in Boston on May 4 by EPA Administrator, Stephen Johnson. The ceremony also commemorated
EPA¹s 35th Anniversary.

return to top
PCBs and Dioxins possible culprit for changing human sex ratios?

Professor Shanna Swan of the University of Rochester, New York, not far from Sarnia Reservation, says that levels of contamination on the reservation are “incredible” and that the “first assumption” must be that they are to blame for far fewer male babies that expected being born. She believes that changing sex ratios may often provide an indication of dangerous pollution, and that low levels of exposure to such ubiquitous chemicals as dioxins and PCBs may explain the decline in boys in industrialised countries.

See full article

return to top
Truck Drivers beware: Turn Engines Off When Not Rolling – Cars, too!

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced today that it has cited 10 truck operators – nine companies and a hospital – for keeping stopped vehicles running in violation of a state law that limits most engine idling to five minutes or less.

This law applies to cars, too! ( Local Idle Free Campaign)

MassDEP inspectors identified the violators during an enforcement sweep of neighborhood streets, shopping centers, truck terminals, and distribution facilities last fall in 10 communities – none in the Berkshires.

Twelve of 50 trucks observed were found to be idling too long during stops. Given weather conditions and how the trucks were being used at the time, MassDEP inspectors determined that running their engines for more than five minutes was “unnecessary” and therefore in violation of the idling law.

MassDEP is requiring the 10 truck operators it cited for violations to provide driver training so their employees will know what the law requires and how people’s health can be affected by excessive idling:

Diesel exhaust contains fine particles that can penetrate deeply into the lungs and cause breathing difficulties, respiratory infections, and attacks of asthma and chronic bronchitis.

Gasoline exhaust contains toxic carbon monoxide and a range of pollutants that contribute to smog.

State law and MassDEP regulations limit vehicle idling to no more than five minutes in most cases. A vehicle may idle longer only if absolutely necessary. The law applies to both diesel and gasoline vehicles. It includes exceptions for vehicles that are being serviced, making deliveries that require power for refrigeration, and operating power accessories. MassDEP, police departments, and local boards of health are empowered to enforce the state’s idling restrictions.

Last spring and the previous fall, MassDEP conducted a statewide crackdown on engine idling violations by school bus operators, observing 651 buses at 56 elementary, middle, and high schools. Three companies were cited for repeated violations, and a number of non-compliance notices were issued, but excessive idling dropped significantly between the first and second rounds of inspections in part due to training the agency provided to school bus operators across the state. The agency has also developed an Idling Reduction Toolkit to help Massachusetts’ towns and cities combat air pollution from unnecessary vehicle idling.

MassDEP is planning a second round of truck inspections over the next couple of months. The agency is also working to reduce smoke from buses, trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles by requiring them to undergo emissions testing every other year and by requiring new diesel engines sold in Massachusetts to meet stringent California emission standards.

return to top

Great Barrington Fairgrounds MEPA review

The Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) has issued a Certificate (pdf) on the Environmental Notification Form (ENF) for the $38 million proposal to develop the Great Barrington Fairgrounds. The Certificate requires the proponents to file an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). An EIR is a much more thorough report detailing the environmental impacts of the proposed development. BEAT applaud’s the Secretary’s decision.

Below is background information on this project:

F Group LLC, a group of New York City investors, has proposed construction of a 100-room hotel, 60 condominiums, an events facility and retails space on the fairgrounds property. The property includes about 57 acres of floodplain along the Housatonic River.

See related Berkshire Eagle story.

The developers have prepared an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) that triggers a Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) review of the environmental impacts of the proposed development. The public is welcome to comment as well. For copies of the developer’s ENF call
Eric Bernardin (413) 452-0445 x4430. Comments may be sent to MEPA reviewer, Briony Angus until March 14. (see submittal information below) The state will issue its findings in a “Certificate” by March 24.

The purpose of MEPA is to bring to the table all the important information about the site and the proposed development. The review can find that the ENF (and subsequent submittals by the applicant before the Certificate is issued) was insufficient to determine the environmental impacts – in which case the proponent would have to start all over again. Or the Certificate can require a more complete environmental review, by calling for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) – usually done in two phases; a draft and a final report. Or the Certificate can find that the ENF adequately describes the potential impacts and the other reviews can proceed.

The company’s principals are Anthony Errico and Anthony Fauci. Fauci is married to the former Elaine Ward, whose family owns Ward’s Nursery. The company has a contract to buy the property from fairgrounds owner Henry D. Vara of Boston.

The engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill prepared the report, which indicates potential impact on rare plant and animal species on the property as well as close proximity to the flood-plain area. There will also be an increase in traffic with an estimated 8,594 car trips per day going in and out of the complex. The fairgrounds project will require layers of review by town boards, but no zoning variances. The will be a review by the town’s Conservation Commission, and a special permit is required from the Selectmen.

EOEA No. 13735, The Fairgrounds Mixed-Use Development Project, Great Barrington
For copies call
Eric Bernardin (413) 452-0445 x4430
MEPA analyst
Briony Angus (617) 626-1029
The comment period is closed, but for future reference – email comments to Briony or mail comments to : Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Attn: MEPA Office EOEA #13735, MEPA Analyst Briony Angus, 100 Cambridge St. Suite 900, Boston MA 02114

return to top

Environmental Investing makes money and enemies

Last year, Goldman established an environmental policy, vowing to take steps to protect forests and curb development that boosts emissions of greenhouse gasses. The firm pledged to invest US$1 billion in renewable energy, form an environmental think tank and post research on environmental issues.

Yet following a year of record earnings and revenue last year, with strong gains in every business line, Paulson spent much of Goldman’s annual shareholder meeting in Manhattan responding to two shareholder groups who opposed the environmental policy.

See full artilce

return to top

Great Barrington Paper Company Assessed $19,250 Fine
For Discharges into Housatonic River

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized Fox River Paper Company, LLC of Great Barrington for violating the state’s Sanitary Sewer Discharge regulations. The two violations, which both occurred in the summer of 2005, resulted in discharges to the Housatonic River.

On June 14, 2005, Great Barrington Wastewater Treatment Plant operators observed a red effluent plume at the confluence of the treatment plant outfall and the Housatonic River. The red dye, ultimately traced to Fox River Paper Company, was the result of a color pass through incident attributed to residual dye that washed through Fox River’s effluent waste stream.

On Saturday, August 20, 2005, the Great Barrington Wastewater Treatment Plant experienced another “color pass through incident” caused by the discharge of red dye from Fox River Company. The red dye entered and passed through the treatment plant and into the Housatonic River, causing a red plume that extended over 600 feet downstream of the treatment plant.

In addition to paying a $12,000 penalty, the company will implement operational improvements to its equipment and processes in order to prevent future discharges. An additional $7,250 was suspended pending compliance with these provisions.

In 2002, MassDEP cited Fox River for a similar discharge, which the company paid a penalty.
“Thankfully, the impact of these incidents was primarily aesthetic. Companies using the sanitary sewers must not allow their discharge to upset the operation of the facility designed to treat that discharge,” said Michael Gorski, director of MassDEP’s Western Regional Office in Springfield.

return to top
EPA won’t make GE clean up Newell St. parking lot

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said at a March 15th Citizens Coordinating Council meeting, that it will not ask General Electric Co. (GE) to investigate what is under the Newell Street parking lot. There is continuing remediation at the Western Mass. Electric Company property abutting the parking lot, with 583 crushed or partial barrels, 371 drums worth of capacitors, and 34 barrels containing some liquid or solids having been removed so far. EPA estimates the removal is 70% complete. GE will follow any “vein” of capacitors or barrels they find into the parking lot, but they will not go looking for what else might be under there. The EPA feels that the percentage of PCB oil that would be found, compared with the amount they know is 40 or so feet below this site is so small that it is not worth the work.

BEAT thinks that is depressing! Why not clean up what you can relatively easily reach. If it were in a “clean” area all those contaminated barrel remnants and capacitors would be considered a major problem. It is just in comparison with the bigger mess that this seems small.

EPA estimates that there is probably 100,000 gallons of dense PCB oil below the site. So far, GE has pumped out over 36,000 gallons of this oil. The pumping stopped in June of 2005 while the WMECo property is being worked on, but the pumping will resume when the remediation work permits.

There are monitoring wells that extend down about 15 feet below ground level into the water table. Ground water flows toward the river and these wells allow EPA to see what concentration of PCBs are being detected flowing toward the river in the location of the wells – between the Newell Street dumping areas and the river. On several separate occasions levels of PCBs above the GW3 standard have been detected. GW3 is the ground water standard that sets what is an “acceptable” level of contamination for water in the river.

return to top
PCB Blood Tests for students, teachers, and parents?

PITTSFIELD 4/11 According to a Berkshire Eagle article — Members of the Allendale Elementary School community will soon be able to have state-funded tests to determine the PCB levels in their blood.

The DPH announced last December that it would offer free blood tests to children, teachers and parents. The department has been working to develop a protocol that would provide accurate analysis and put the results in context so that the subjects can understand what the numbers mean.

Allendale Principal Ann Kuhn said yesterday [4/10] that she expects the school to send a letter to parents and teachers this week, informing them of the program and providing a Department of Public Health number to call if they are interested. <more>

previously Pittsfield’s Pediatricians Protest PCBs

Two Pittsfield pediatricians, Dr. Richard Rosenfeld and Dr. Siobhan McNally urged the City Council and Mayor James M. Ruberto to stop the dumping of PCB-contaminated waste at two toxic waste sites right behind Allendale Elementary School.

Rosenfeld told the council that a letter addressed to Mayor Ruberto(pdf) summarizing recent PCB research and detailing the reasons why the pediatricians believe the children and staff at Allendale School are at risk. All of Pittsfield’s pediatricians signed a letter to Mayor James M. Ruberto urging the community to speak out against the two PCB dumps.

McNally, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts American Academy of Pediatrics Environmental Health Committee, gave a three-minute presentation detailing the risks of PCB-contamination.

“I think it’s important to emphasize that PCBs have no margin of safety and given the fact that PCB levels at Allendale Elementary School have been above background level, I think we need to take this under serious consideration,” she said.

State and federal officials have maintained that tests conducted at Allendale have shown little or no detectable levels of PCBs and that the school is safe, but McNally said that prenatal research has shown that exposure to low levels of PCBs have been linked to very serious health effects that have been documented in medical journals. Based on this documentation, McNally said the state Department of Public Health has received funding to do an environmental tracking study on developmental disabilities in Berkshire County children to see

if there are any links to PCB contaminant data.

Rosenfeld said he and McNally had also decided to address the council to advocate on behalf of the Allendale Task Force, a group of parents and teachers from the elementary school.

“The Allendale Task Force believes that every child has the right to attend an environmentally safe school,” Rosenfeld said. “Despite the assurances from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Public Health, we believe that this is not possible.”

Rosenfeld and McNally advised the city council and the mayor to call on GE and the EPA to stop the dumping and cap the dump sites, “until a safer alternative for the disposal and/or treatment of PCB residues and other toxins can be found.”

For more on this issue see BEAT’s GE and PCBs web pages

return to top
New Species of Millipede Discovered by BCC Student

During a recent field trip to northeastern Costa Rica, Kate Edwards, an 18-year-old Berkshire Community College (BCC) student discovered a new species of millipede. Edwards, a recent graduate from New Lebanon (N.Y.) Central High School, was on a January field trip to Costa Rica as part of BCC’s tropical ecosystems course, taught by professors Tom Tyning and Tim Flanagan. A total of 10 students participated in the trip.

During the trip, the class went out to explore the Caribbean slope. Edwards, who has a deep interest in herpetology, was looking for elusive low-laying pit vipers when she spotted a familiar shape crawling along a rotten log. Edwards’ species will be the third new species of millipede to be found in Costa Rica in recent years. The other two were discovered by Edwards’ friend and colleague Mike Boston, an Irish biologist, who also acts as a naturalist guide on the Osa Peninsula, where he discovered his species. The Osa Peninsula is located in the southwest corner of Costa Rica, miles from the Caribbean slope. The two geographies produce different habitats for the millipedes: Boston’s were found in dense untouched “primary” forests, while Edwards’ find was in a less dense secondary forest.

“It really ticks me off when an 18-year-old, second-semester, BCC student looks down at the ground and says, ‘Hey, I think these are something different,’ ” joked Tyning at a recent presentation to the college’s Board of Trustees. He added that he was very proud to have Edwards as a student. In addition to being an environmental science professor, Tyning is a well known herpetologist, having authored several books and worked with Mass Audubon for nearly

25 years.

return to top
Lakeside Restaurant violation

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) and a penalty assessment notice totaling $27,300 to Lakeside Restaurant Inc. for violation of the Massachusetts Clean Water Act.

The order requires the closed Route 8 restaurant to immediately pump and then abandon the existing failed Title 5 sewage disposal system, to upgrade an existing second system and to pay the penalty.

Mass DEP investigated a complaint and found sewage flowing from a tank that was supposed to have been abandoned into an adjacent wetland. A second system built in 2002 was undersized, improperly installed, improperly maintained, and not properly permitted – it was installed in a public water supply protection zone.

Thank you to whoever turned in this violation!

<Berkshire Eagle story>

return to top
Adams Greylock Glen proposal moves forward

Greylock Glen, the 1,063-acre site at the foot of Mount Greylock in Adams, could be developed by the town if it is chosen as the “designated developer” following a public meeting tentatively scheduled for March 30, at 6:30 p.m., at the town library.

The town submitted plans including a multi-use trail system, an environmental education center, a performing arts amphitheater, a camping area, and a lodging and meeting facility, for Greylock Glen to the state in September 2004. In addition, nearly 1,000 acres would be permanently protected. Mass Audubon, Appalachian Mountain Club, Mass MoCA, and Mass. College of Liberal Arts have all shown support this proposal.

The plan needs approval from state agencies such as the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Mass Development and the Division of Capital Asset Management, along with a review through the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, and the town needs to reach disposition, development, and lease agreements with the state, which owns the land.

For more than two decades, Greylock Glen has been the subject of debates between the town and the state and between development supporters and environmentalists. Earlier plans for the site included casino gambling and a golf course.

return to top
Filters with possible PCB evidence, thrown awayThe filters from the air exchange machines at the Allendale Elementary School have apparently been thrown away. Tim Gray, Director of the Housatonic River Initiative, said Board of Health Director Philip Adamo reiterated last week, when the state Department of Public Health held a meeting at the school, that these filters would not be changed.

According to the Berkshire Eagle article: Superintendent of Schools Katherine E. Darlington said that the air filters inside the school were supposed to be changed in December, and that school custodians changed them during school vacation last week as part of their regular maintenance. “It was part of the routine maintenance that was going to be done,” Darlington said. Darlington, who did not attend last week’s meeting, was unaware of any agreement to save the filters.

David Martindale of California Avenue, whose daughter attends Allendale, said he was both “angry” and “incensed” that the air filters had been disposed of. “This is a travesty,” he said. “Everybody talks about data, and now the last piece has been thrown out. It seems very convenient that this happened. It’s not like it was a big secret that we didn’t want the filters changed.”

School staff members known as the “Allendale Safety Committee” released a written statement yesterday expressing their frustration at the most recent turn of events.

“We are frustrated and disturbed by the lack of communication between our city officials and state agencies,” the committee’s statement read. “There is no one person overseeing the PCB issue at Allendale school. As a result, different groups are unaware of what others are doing.

For more on this story check BEAT’s Allendale School page.

return to top

Back To Top