Spring Internship: Herring Monitoring Program Coordinator

The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) seeks a Herring Monitoring Program Coordinator to assist in a scientific study on river herring populations from March 2nd to July 1st, 2015.

The Herring Monitoring Program Coordinator will assist in the volunteer-run Herring Monitoring Program that will gather data on one of the most significant spawning runs for river herring in Massachusetts. The program is designed to collect data on the presence, absence and temporal data that yields needed information on population size and health. The intern will also learn about efforts that a watershed association undertakes to advocate for water quality improvements.

Primary duties include herring monitoring at the Upper Mystic Lake Dam in Medford, coordinating and interacting with more than 70 volunteer monitors, and conducting public outreach and data entry. The intern may also develop education and outreach materials for the program and organize and recruit volunteers to monitor herring.

The intern will work both in and out of the office, and must be able to work independently and as a team. Experience in public speaking, Microsoft Excel and strong organizational skills are required, and experience in Microsoft Access would be a plus. This is a part-time position, approximately 15-20 hours per week. The candidate should be available remotely 4-5 days per week.

An interest in science, environmental education and advocacy is encouraged. Having reliable transportation is preferred and mileage will be reimbursed. Candidates must be 16 years of age or older. Exact dates can be flexible depending on the candidate. This is an unpaid position.

If interested, please send your letter of interest and resume to HMInternship@MysticRiver.org. No phone calls please. Deadline for application: January 16, 2015.

J.P. Noonan Transportation Penalized for 9,600-Gallon Oil Spill into the Mystic River in 2013

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued the following news release on November 12, 2014.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has reached two settlements, totaling $55,100 and $7,187 respectively, with J.P. Noonan Transportation, Inc. of West Bridgewater for Natural Resource Damages (NRD) and Clean Water Act violations that resulted from a 9,600-gallon home-heating oil spill into the Mystic River on May 31, 2013.

The spill occurred on Route 60 in Arlington when an oil tanker truck crashed while going around a rotary on the Mystic Valley Parkway. As a result of the crash, the 10,000-gallon compartment of the tanker was breached, dumping nearly all of its contents onto the roadway, which then flowed into storm drains and subsequently into the nearby Mystic River. Emergency response crews from Arlington, Medford, other nearby towns, MassDEP and a private contractor hired by J.P. Noonan were able to contain and clean up virtually all of the oil that spilled during the ensuing days and weeks.

"The recovery of the Mystic River and its continued protection will not be set back by this unfortunate incident," said MassDEP Commissioner David Cash. "The NRD Trust will use the settlement to directly assist in repairing the damage done to natural resources there, and the funds will help MassDEP continue our important work protecting the environment from a host of hazardous materials."

"We are very happy that MassDEP has successfully pursued Natural Resource Damages in response to this spill," said Mystic River Watershed Association Executive Director EkOngKar Singh Khalsa. "Support for the restoration of the Mystic River provided through this settlement is an important component of strong state and local response to the accident. MassDEP emergency response and local fire and DPW personnel also deserve much credit for fast action that prevented more catastrophic impacts from this oil release."

In April 2014, J.P. Noonan submitted documentation stating that all necessary remediation responses had been completed and a permanent cleanup had been achieved along the river in the Arlington and Medford areas. The cost of that cleanup was borne by J.P. Noonan as the responsible party, and its insurance company.

The $55,100 settlement for NRD damages will be deposited in to the NRD Trust, which is administered by MassDEP, and will eventually fund projects that will restore natural resources that were damaged by the oil spilled into the Mystic River. The restoration projects are expected to improve water quality within the river in the area of the spill. The $7,187 penalty is to resolve the Clean Water Act violations that occurred as a result of the spill.

MassDEP is responsible for ensuring clean air and water, safe management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites and spills and the preservation of wetlands and coastal resources.

Support MyRWA while shopping at Amazon.com

Did you know you can support MyRWA while shopping at AmazonSmile - at no cost to you? The next time you visit Amazon, be sure to designate the Mystic River Watershed Association as the recipient organization of AmazonSmile's donations. Just visit AmazonSmile to start. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to MyRWA with no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Mystic River Watershed Association.

Planning for Climate Change, Dec. 2

On Tuesday, Dec. 2nd please plan to attend Mystic River Watershed Association’s monthly Committee Meeting to hear from John Bolduc, Environmental Planner for the City of Cambridge from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

John Bolduc has been the City’s environmental planner in the Community Development Department since 1997. During John’s tenure he has played a key role in alerting the City to the dangers posed by climate change and helping to fashion the City’s response: the City’s Climate Protection Plan. He will also be reviewing the recently released report, The Urban Implications of Living with Water.

John’s presentation will be followed by the Policy and Clean Water Campaign meetings. This meeting is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Join us on December 2, 7-9 p.m., at Tufts University, Lincoln Filene Center, Rabb Room.

Chelsea Creek, Malden River Receive Funding

The Patrick administration awarded nearly $239,000 in grants to projects in the Chelsea and Malden/Medford areas that will help to repair damage done to natural resources from past oil spills into the Lower Mystic River Watershed and open up these restored areas to the public.
The funds, awarded through the Massachusetts Natural Resource Damages (NRD) Trust, will provide $220,205 to the Chelsea Collaborative, Inc. for a project to repair damage done to Chelsea Creek and Mill Creek, and provide $18,505 to the Mystic Valley Development Commission to repair damage done to the watershed that includes the Malden River and the Lower Mystic River in Medford.

Silver Maple Forest Update

As you may know, the Silver Maple Forest in Belmont has been the site of a controversial development for some time. In the last week the developer has cut down many of the trees. This has been met with civil disobedience and has resulted in 13 people being arrested on trespassing charges. A temporary restraining order against tree-clearing in the Silver Maple Forest went into place late Monday morning (10/20), after a weekend in which developers went on cutting as a judge mulled the issues. The restraining order was then reversed on Tuesday.

In light of all that is going on with the forest, the City of Cambridge Committee on Health and Environment will hold a hearing on the impact of the Silver Maple development on the Alewife flood plain on Tuesday, Oct. 28th at 3 p.m., 831 Massachusetts Avenue, Basement Conference Room, Central Square, Cambridge. EkOngKar Singh Khalsa, Executive Director, Mystic River Watershed Association will be on the panel with many qualified scientists.

MyRWA Executive Director EkOngKar Singh Khalsa recently wrote an opinion piece, Forest Preservation versus Development along the Alewife, which you can read here.

The Cambridge Day newspaper has several articles on recent events. Photo from Cambridge Day.

We'll be sure to keep you updated on this situation!

hearing on the impact of the Silver Maple development on the flood plain

The City of Cambridge Committee on Health and Environment will hold a hearing on the impact of the Silver Maple development on the flood plain on Tuesday October 28th at 3 p.m., 831 Massachusetts Avenue, Basement Conference Room, Central Square, Cambridge.

Hear expert testimony from:

Dr. Bruce L. Jacobs, Vice President of HydroAnalysis, Inc., has 20 years’ experience as an environmental engineer, in groundwater hydrology and containment transport, storm water management and surface water quality.

Dr. Charles Katuska with 25 years as a Certified Wetlands Scientist, has focused on this Forest, in addition to serving on many State conservation commissions.

EkOngKar Singh Khalsa is Executive Director of the Mystic River Watershed Association, with 25 years professional experience in environmental affairs, low impact development and brownfields restoration.

Dr. Amy Mertl, Assistant Professor of Biology at Lesley University, specializes in Entomology.

Dr. David Morimoto is Associate Professor of Biology, Director of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Natural Science and Mathematics program.

Forest Preservation versus Development along the Alewife

By EkOngKar Singh Khalsa, Executive Director, Mystic River Watershed Association

Over the weekend a stand of mature silver maple trees were felled in the Town of Belmont.  While this event was enormously important to local activists that have worked for ten years to preserve this small forest, for the most part few people noticed. 

The trees are being removed to make way for a 300 unit apartment building being constructed under Chapter 40B – the Massachusetts Law intended to promote affordable housing in the Commonwealth. This law allows developers to ignore the land use restrictions and environmental protection provided by local zoning bylaws.  In this case, Chapter 40B creates a pathway for the construction of extraordinarily dense development in an already over-stressed ecosystem. 

The parcel on which this project is proposed is located adjacent to Alewife Reservation, a tiny remainder of green space in a former wetland long ago filled for residential and commercial use on the border of Cambridge, Belmont and Arlington.  Once constructed, the new project will send stormwater runoff into local waterways, including Little River and Alewife Brook, where leaking and overflowing stormwater and sewer systems cause significant water quality impairment.  The entire sub-watershed in which these 300 units will reside is also subject to significant flooding during moderate to severe storm events – all predicted to worsen as climate change impacts become more intensely felt in New England.

Environmental advocates are continuing efforts to prevent the development.  Recent protest actions resulted in the arrests of thirteen local residents (read more here). There is still a chance that the land can be placed into conservation – but from the start this has been an uphill battle. 

Why is this project being constructed? Why were none of the efforts to preserve this land successful so far?

The answer is simple.  As a result of the number of housing units permitted under Chapter 40B, the price of the property moved out of reach from even the most avid conservationists.  Without these permits, the land value is substantially reduced, acquisition becomes possible and sellers become more willing as their development options become more limited.  The fact is that the forest is being removed so that the goals and objectives of affordable housing and transit oriented development advocates can be realized.  Unfortunately in cases such as this, much is sacrificed when impacts to the local natural environment do not receive appropriate consideration or accurate assessment under the law.

This is an important concern in the Mystic River watershed.  Unless there is more attention to and funding for the preservation of open space in urban areas such as ours it is certain that the next generation will be working to unwind the impacts of the poor planning decisions we make now.

The intense development pressures along Route 2 in the Alewife Brook sub-watershed are not the only major challenges looming for the Mystic.  The Metro North Land Use Priority Plan, a collaboration between the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the Executive Offices of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) and Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA), and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), proposes to construct more than 40,000 new housing units in the next 15 years in East Boston and Charlestown in Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Revere, Somerville and Winthrop – all communities in the Mystic River watershed.

While there is consideration given in this plan to what are called Priority Preservation Areas, stronger measures must be taken to protect, preserve and restore local waterways and open space.  If not mother nature will once again lose out to the need for additional jobs and housing in Mystic River communities north of Boston.

I am certain it is not the intention of these planners or housing advocates like the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, the Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association, or the Massachusetts Housing Alliance to preside over the destruction of the last of a flood plain forest.  Unfortunately this is the result when public policy ignores the long term value of vital environmental resources like the Silver Maple Forest.

It is time to rewrite the conditions associated with Chapter 40B permitting to make sure that stronger consideration is given to project impacts upon wetlands, stressed waterways and flood plains and more intensive review is provided of environmental impacts in general.  Over the last 40 years, the work of the Mystic River Watershed Association and others has brought great improvement to the local natural environment.  We know that affordable housing and environmental protection need not be at odds. Now is the time to take a new look at environmental conditions in densely developed communities so that sensible decisions are made when we locate new development – especially development designed under Chapter 40B.

Oaktree Appellants Award Mystic River Watershed Association

EK Khalsa, Carolyn Mieth & Minka vanBeuzekom.On October 7, 2014 the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) was grateful to receive $30,000 from the Oaktree Appellants, a group of local activists. This funding will be used to restore environmental conditions in the Alewife Brook sub-watershed which includes parts of Cambridge, Belmont, Somerville and Arlington, MA.

The history and source of this funding will define the work Mystic River Watershed Association undertakes through this grant. In the early 2000’s the Oaktree Appellant activists objected to a proposed residential development adjacent to the Alewife MBTA station based upon the excessive size of the project, the high levels of traffic it would generate and the lack of sufficient flood storage on site. An appeal to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection approval of the development plan was filed by Oaktree Appellants and subsequently a lawsuit was filed by the developer against these individual litigants. Funding provided to the Mystic River Watershed Association under this grant is derived from the settlement of these suits, totaling $135,000. This funding, under the terms of the settlement, must be used for improvement of the Alewife floodplain. The Mystic River Watershed Association’s expertise and experience in the Alewife area will ensure that is how the funds are deployed.

Wynn Resorts Development on the Mystic, By EkOngKar Singh Khalsa

For the past eighteen months, the Mystic River Watershed Association has closely followed proposed plans for hotel/casino facilities on the banks of the Mystic River in Everett. Now that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has voted to award a casino license to Wynn Everett it is important to reflect upon the ways that this enormous project may change the Mystic River Watershed.

From our very first comments, the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) has encouraged both the proponent and the Gaming Commission that Wynn Resorts has an extraordinary opportunity and an obligation to make significant contributions to the revitalization of the Mystic River waterfront and to restoration of natural habitat, including water quality, as part of its efforts. It remains our position that the Wynn Resorts team can make a big difference – there are certainly many opportunities for good work.

MyRWA pointed out in its comments on the Environmental Notification Form (ENF), for example, that emergence of new salt marsh adjacent to the project site gave evidence that restoration of river bank and tidal habitat was feasible at the Wynn property. MyRWA recommended a more naturalist approach to site development and to the water’s edge. At the same time, we recommended substantial increases in public open space and access and urged that off-site connections be made to allow for improved pedestrian and bicycle circulation along the waterfront. The Wynn Resorts development team embraced these concepts and substantially modified their design. Expanded public open space along a new “Living Shoreline” was included in subsequent iterations of the Wynn development plan.

We applaud these efforts to expand and enhance public open space and to restore nearby tidal and wetland areas. This innovative approach can serve as an important model for future development and salt marsh and habitat restoration along the Mystic River. The “Living Shoreline” will provide greater capacity for storm surges and sea level rise and will allow these to be more naturally attenuated. Proposed improvements of area bicycle and pedestrian pathways will help connect visitors to the local natural environment and to the Mystic River.

Restoration of this long vacant Brownfield to productive use can provide substantial benefit to Mystic River communities and to water quality and natural life. It is important however that Wynn Resorts continues to do more to protect and preserve the Mystic River and its watershed and MyRWA will steadfastly advocate for those results.

There will be many things to consider as this project moves forward through the permitting process – traffic, impacts on local businesses and surrounding communities and apprehensions about expanded gaming in the Commonwealth. We respect the concerns our members and residents of Mystic River communities have with regard to these issues. Our focus will remain on the health and well being of the Mystic River. From our perspective, the size and scope of the development warrants that proponents ensure this project produces overwhelmingly positive results for the Mystic River and the local natural environment.

The Mystic River Watershed Association will continue to closely monitor plans for the Wynn Resorts development and will remain in close contact with the development team and with relevant authorities during the permit stages.

We are encouraged by improvements to the site plan made to date, by proposed mitigations and by the stated commitment of the Wynn Resorts development team to set high standards of excellence with regard to site design and environmental protection. We will certainly keep our members and concerned stakeholders closely posted.

Sincerely,

EkOngKar Singh Khalsa, Executive Director