Amendment Is Proposed, Later Withdrawn

Environmental Faculty Warn BCC Administrators

In September of 2000, environmental faculty became concerned about the amount of fill that was being added to the soccer fields. On September 28, they told college administrators that they would report what they considered to be illegal fill to the Department of Environmental Protection. One week later, the college hired an engineering company, SK Design, to advise the college on environmental problems related to the soccer fields and to perform related environmental engineering work.

BCC Requests Amendment to Order of Conditions

SK Design immediately realized that the environmental faculty had been correct in their criticism of the project's lack of a wetland delineation (the Pittsfield Conservation Commission had accepted the college's Notice of Intent without a wetland delineation), that work may have been done in the floodplain (requiring the college to compensate for the loss of floodplain), and the work may have deprived the vernal pool of water. The remediation work being proposed was not covered by the original Notice of Intent or by the Order of Conditions. The college and SK Design decided that an application for an Amendment to the Order of Conditions be submitted to the Pittsfield Conservation Commission. They submitted this application asking the Pittsfield Conservation Commission to approve a number of changes to the Order of Conditions. The changes seemed simple, however the college would later contend that the changes to the Order of Conditions allowed the college to add fill to the soccer fields (the college already had been adding fill to the soccer fields).

Endangered Species Program Was Not Informed

Meanwhile, the environmental faculty informed the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program of the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Law Enforcement, of the illegal work being done by the college in endangered species habitat. Up until this point, NHESP had not objected to the project. But also, NHESP had not been informed of the scope of the project. Of all the maps submitted to the Conservation Commission by the college, only the original S-1 and L-1 had been sent to NHESP. This meant that NHESP had not been informed of the enlargement of the fields or of the added fill. NHESP also had no way of knowing the distance between the work and the vernal pool and believed that the wetlands had been delineated and that the delineation had been reviewed by the Pittsfield Conservation Commission.

Endangered Species Program Responds

NHESP responded to the environmental faculty's information with a letter to the college that said in part, "Based on a review of the information that was provided and the information that is currently contained in our database, as well as new rare species observation forms recently submitted, the NHESP has determined that this project occurs within the actual habitat of the Xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx (Xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx) and the xxxx xxxxxx (Xxxxxx xxxxxx). The Xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx and xxxx xxxxxx are both state protected species listed as "Special Concern" pursuant to the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (M.G.L.c. 131A) and its implementing regulations (321 CMR 10.00)" (emphasis is NHESP's).

On the basis of NHESP's concerns, the Department of Environmental Protection advised Berkshire Community College to withdraw its Amendment to the Order of Conditions, which it did.