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justhefacts
Member
51 Posts |
 Posted - 01/14/2007 : 12:09:07 PM
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For the second time, Everett officials are trying to persuade the Boston Water and Sewer Commission to reopen the state filing process to allow for public comment for a proposed waste facility on the Charlestown- Everett line.
Officials also want the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office to review the certificate it issued for the project.
Despite public statements from state Senator Jarrett Barrios and a spokeswoman from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs that commission officials had verbally agreed last month to refile a project change application, commission officials announced at a community meeting Jan. 4 that no agreement was reached and there are no plans to refile.
A refiling would have given Everett and Somerville residents the chance to comment on an application filed by the commission last September asking MEPA to allow it to change the location of the proposed handling facility from Frontage Road in Boston to Alford Street in Charlestown, on the Everett line. It wasn't until after MEPA agreed to the changes that Barrios and Everett officials learned the handling facility would be moving there, and have since lobbied the state to reconsider its approval.
The facility is proposed to look like an office building, with a state-of-the-art air filtration system where about 140 tons of wet catch basin, sewer, and trench material a day would be dried and then trucked out of state to be used as fill, according to the commission.
Barrios issued a statement on Dec. 27 announcing that former Environmental Affairs Secretary Robert W. Golledge Jr. had received word from the commission that it would voluntarily refile the project change application. A spokeswoman for Golledge later confirmed the announcement. At a meeting of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council in Charlestown on Jan. 4, the commission denied ever agreeing to refile.
Everett budget director Janice Vetrano said that since the Jan. 4 meeting, Mayor John Hanlon has reached out to commission executive director Vincent G. Mannering requesting that he consider reopening the MEPA process. Hanlon was unavailable for comment due to a death in the family.
"Whether Mr. Mannering decided to change his mind or whether Secretary Golledge didn't get the right impression, we really don't know," Vetrano said.
Michael Parker , the lawyer hired by the city, said Everett officials are exploring all administrative avenues before considering legal action. In addition to the lack of communication from Boston to Everett regarding the project change, Parker noted a portion of the certificate that used information about the Frontage Road site instead of the Charlestown site to conclude that no state Department of Environmental Protection wetlands impact review was necessary.
"There's just a lot of questions of the impacts that this facility will have on these [surrounding] communities," said Parker, of the firm Fitzhugh, Parker & Alvaro LLP in Boston. "I'm not saying that the lack of transparency is intentional, but I am saying that there are serious questions that have not been answered."
Everett has many avenues to explore if an agreement with the commission is not reached, said Parker, including filing a third-party notice of project change with the state, outlining what the city believes are discrepancies in the application. Everett also has appealed a Boston Conservation Commission order of conditions , arguing that there is a possibility that a portion of the property is in Everett, thereby under the jurisdiction of the Everett Conservation Commission , Parker said.
Chris Keohan , an Everett resident who organized the community campaign "Stop the Sludge," said the commission "basically sandbagged us " when it denied agreeing to reopen the process at the Jan. 4 meeting.
Keohan said he was scheduled to meet last Friday with a "well-known environmental group " to discuss a plan of action.
Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com.
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michael
Senior Member
195 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 07:00:06 AM
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| "just the facts" are you sure this sludge is not a done deal and we as citizens are just venting. My understanding about this is that it's a "Done deal" please let me know. |
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justhefacts
Member
51 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 12:51:30 PM
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I don't know who is telling you that this is a "done deal", but they are wrong. I am not saying that this will be an easy fight, but Boston has already lost this same fight to BC High (the first location they wanted it near). Anyone that knows me knows that I do not do things to "vent". The group we have assembled so far is very active, we have gained the support of Toxics Action Center, an environmental group that serves the entire New England Region, and will be having a meeting with them this Thursday night at 7 in the Parlin Library meeting room. I suggest you come by.
We had 40 people come to our first organizational meeting, over 200 come to Charlestown to help fight, and we plan on just getting bigger. Like I said before, this won't be easy, and I won't make any promises that we will definitely win, but this is a fight worth fighting and can be won only if we ALL come together. |
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Lynda
Advanced Member
1282 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 1:43:45 PM
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justhefacts...
Your doing a great job and I would like to personally Thank you. Keep up the good work and I WILL be at the Parlin tomorrow night! |
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justhefacts
Member
51 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 8:18:13 PM
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| Thank you for the kind words Lynda. Remember, the meeting is on Thursday though. I look forward to seeing you there. I hope many more from the blog come as well. |
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Masterful1
Senior Member
421 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 8:39:31 PM
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| Unfortunately, I work in the evenings during the week, but my hopes and prayers are with you all. Has anyone seen the Banner on Linden st.? Impressive, I would say!! |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 8:50:10 PM
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| I have not seen it. What's it about? |
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Masterful1
Senior Member
421 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 10:05:15 PM
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| Big Yellow one on the front of a house that says something about the mystic river. Prevent the sludge I think. |
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City pushes state on waste plant
