Groundwork Somerville

The outcome of this November’s gubernatorial election could have profound effects on the Massachusetts environment, given the obvious importance of the state environmental agencies under the Governor’s control. Groundwork Somerville and other environmental organizations are planning a gubernatorial forum for Tuesday, June 29, to ask the candidates about their views on environmental issues. Governor Patrick and Green Party candidate Jill Stein already have confirmed, and all candidates have been invited. This will be a fascinating event in an historic setting with opportunities for Q&A.

When: Tuesday, June 29, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Where: Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, Boston

RSVP: This is a free event, but seating is limited. RSVP to smoser@environmentalleague.org

Sponsored by:  Appalachian Mountain Club, Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Charles River Conservancy, Charles River Watershed Association, Clean Water Action, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Business Council, Environmental League of Mass. (ELM), Friends of the Blue Hills, Greater Worcester Land Trust, Green Decade/Cambridge, Groundwork Lawrence, Groundwork Somerville, Home Energy Efficiency Team, Mass. Association of Conservation Commissions, Mass Audubon, Mass. Energy Consumers Alliance, Mass. Interfaith Power and Light, Mass. Land Trust Coalition, Mass. League of Environmental Voters, Mass. Rivers Alliance, Neponset River Watershed Association, North & South Rivers Watershed Association, Old South Meeting House, Organization for the Assabet River, Safer Waters in Mass., Sudbury Valley Trustees, Taunton River Watershed Alliance, The Trustees of Reservations, Walk Boston; and ELM Corporate Council members: Aggregate Industries, Grossman Marketing, Legal Sea Foods, Millipore, The Saunders Hotel Group (The Lenox; Comfort Inn & Suites Revere; and Hampton Inn Norwood), and Shawmut Design & Construction.

(this from the state):

Green Line Extension Friends –

Our appreciation to everyone who participated in Saturday’s Land Use Workshop in Somerville. Despite the rainy weather, attendees brought lots of positive energy, good ideas, and interest in both the Green Line Extension project and the SomerVision process. We will be documenting the results and will let everyone know when the write-ups are posted to the Green Line Extension website. We will also shortly be posting the presentations given on Saturday.

We are pleased to announce that the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Green Line Extension project is now available on the project website. You can view a copy of the document here. The FEIR is also available at area libraries, City Clerk’s Offices, and by request to Regan Checchio at 617-357-5772 and rchecchio@reginavilla.com.

We also want to remind you that a public meeting on the FEIR will be held on Wednesday, June 30th at 6 PM at the Somerville High School Auditorium. The meeting will provide an opportunity for members of the public, agency representatives, and other project stakeholders to learn about changes to the project and ask questions.

The comment period for the document will be for 30 days; all comments will be due to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Office by July 23, 2010. All written comments must be submitted by the deadline to:

Secretary Ian Bowles
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
MEPA Office, Attn: Holly Johnson, MEPA Analyst
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Fax: 617-626-1181
Email: Holly.S.Johnson@state.ma.us

You may have also received a postcard announcing the FEIR, which provided an incorrect email address for Ms. Johnson. Her correct email address is provided above. We apologize for our error.

An updated conceptual map for the Community Path can also now be found on the project website here, under Current Materials/Relevant Documents.

Finally, we wanted to provide you with an update on the field work scheduled for the next two weeks:

Boring Program:

Weeks ending 6/18/10 and 6/25/10:

• Within the MBTA Fitchburg Commuter Rail right-of-way from Medford Street to Prospect Street in Somerville.
• Within the MBTA Lowell Commuter Rail right-of-way from Washington Street to School Street in Somerville.
• Within the MBTA Fitchburg Commuter Rail right-of-way from Red Bridge to Medford Street in Somerville.

Boring typically occurs between 7:00 AM and 3:30 PM on weekdays.

Field Survey:

Weeks ending 6/18/10 and 6/25/10:

Congratulations, Tai! We’re so proud of you for joining this prestigious group.

Please check out the ELP website for more information.

Posted June 15, 2010 10:04 AM

By Danielle Dreilinger, Globe correspondent

Shudder at the mess produced by your average dinner party? Think about the Taste of Somerville event June 8, which drew about 750 guests, according to the Somerville Chamber of Commerce.

But about 35 Somerville Climate Action volunteers, spearheaded by Maureen Barillaro, managed to reduce what would’ve been 45-50 bags of trash to only eight through assiduous sorting, recycling, and composting on-site.

According to a Climate Action announcement, the volunteers sorted five carts of recyclables plus over seven carts of compostable waste. They completely filled the Holiday Inn’s cardboard dumpster. They also reduced trash up front by asking the bar to use glasses instead of disposable cups, and by reminding food vendors that they didn’t really need to offer to-go gunk like plastic lids.

It could be somewhat easier to be green in Somerville, though. At the June 10 Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderwoman Rebekah Gewirtz gave an update on attempts to provide centralized composting facilities for city residents. The Department of Public Works doesn’t have room in its yard for containers, she said, and people had raised concern about rodents.

The city is looking into providing day-of composting bins at farmers’ markets – ideal for dumping those inedible garlic stalks and other such roughage. As for private options, the teen-run SoilCycle weekly compost pickup service, part of Groundwork Somerville, recently expanded its capacity. However, it can still handle only a limited number of households, in part due to … limited space in the city for compost barrels.

Additional green activities are sprouting this summer. Somerville Climate Week runs from June 22 to 27 and includes the Living Green Festival/Festival Vivir Verde, an evening of food, activities, and resources to promote sustainable living, energy efficiency, and environmental cleanup. July 25 is the annual Somerville Garden Club tour, focusing this year on “incredible, edible” gardens.

For more information, visit somervillegardenclub.org and somervilleclimateaction.org.

Press Release Contacts: Catherine Williams — 617-626-1809 or catherine.williams@state.ma.us ; Lisa Capone — 617-626-1119 or lisa.capone@state.ma.us

Patrick-Murray Administration Announces Four Grants to improve water quality in the lower Mystic River

BOSTON– June 11, 2010 – Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles today announced $1 million in grants for four projects aimed at improving conditions in the lower Mystic River. Serving the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford and Somerville, these projects will improve water quality and wetland areas of the lower Mystic River.

“Revitalizing the Mystic River will benefit residents living in more than 20 communities, and is a part of Governor Patrick’s ongoing support for water quality improvement projects across the Commonwealth,” said Secretary Bowles.

The grants were funded by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET). Under a settlement agreement with the United States, ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. paid $1 million to the trust as a community service payment. In October 2009, MET awarded $508,500 of that total in grants to municipalities and non-profit organizations to improve public access to the Lower Mystic River, with the goal of drawing more people to the waterfront and increasing advocacy for the river’s restoration and protection. Today’s round of grants will further the Patrick-Murray Administration’s goal of improving river conditions for wildlife and people.

The Mystic River flows through 22 cities and towns, including some of the most densely populated urban communities in Massachusetts. The lower Mystic River has a long history of industrial use and suffers from high levels of bacterial, nutrient and chemical contamination.

The MET was established in 1988 and is governed by a nine-member Board of Trustees appointed by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The board is currently chaired by James R. Gomes, Director of Clark University’s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise.

“Urban waterways play an important role in the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of people in the Commonwealth,” said Gomes. “These investments will bring many more people to the water and enhance the quality of life in the communities that make up the Mystic Watershed.”

“This investment is part of a watershed restoration initiative that Governor Patrick and Secretary Bowles supported from the beginning,” said Arleen O’Donnell, chair of the Mystic River Working Group. “Thanks to their leadership, our initial investment has leveraged private funding and court settlement funds for this important environmental project.”

Since its creation as part of the Boston Harbor cleanup, the Trust has awarded over $18 million in grants to municipalities and non-profit organizations for environmental education, research and stewardship activities statewide. Grant funding comes through two sources: environmental enforcement actions such as this, and sales of MET’s three environmentally themed license plates, which together generate close to $1 million annually for the trust.

“This grant is a big boost for our efforts to be more responsible stewards of our environment,” said Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash. “We remain especially appreciative of the work of Secretary Bowles for personally working with our partnership to advance our goals for the Mystic to the benefit of the entire commonwealth.”
“The environmental well-being of the Mystic River is essential to Somerville,” said Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “For too long, the river has been cut off from the rest of the city by highways and heavy industry. With the impending Assembly on the Mystic project, we’ll see increased parkland as well as boating and fishing, and the last thing we need is to see the Mystic choked off by weeds. This money from the state and the hard work of the people at Groundwork Somerville will ensure the river continues to be a vital recreational resource for our community.”

“We are truly excited about the attention the Patrick Administration is showing towards the Mystic River Watershed communities” said Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn. “In improving water quality, our goal is to bring people back to the river that has been ignored for years. It is vital not only the river, but for the whole economic base in our region. This new round of grant funding will dramatically boost the efforts by the cities of Malden, Medford and Everett to improve the water quality in the rediscovered Malden River,” said Malden Mayor Richard C. Howard.

Today’s grant awardees:

Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) – $350,000
The CRWA, with the city of Chelsea and the Mystic River Watershed Collaborative, will construct and monitor two stormwater improvement projects in the Chelsea Creek sub-watershed. A series of tree box filters will be incorporated into a reconstruction of Chester Avenue and a network of rain gardens will be constructed to control runoff at the Mace Apartments. These stormwater management applications will reduce strain on municipal stormwater systems by enhancing natural infiltration processes and will remove many pollutants from stormwater runoff before water enters the river.

Groundwork Somerville – $150,000

Groundwork Somerville will engage local youths in its green jobs training program and AmeriCorps volunteers to remove invasive water chestnut from the Mystic River, opening up 10 acres of water for boating and wildlife. Water chestnut is an aggressive aquatic plant that impairs navigation and chokes out many native species in the river. This is the beginning of a long-term effort to control these weeds, the seeds of which can remain viable for 5-12 years at the bottom of the river. Left unchecked, this species can decrease light, dissolved oxygen levels in the river, and reduce food sources for native species. Dense stands of the plant also foul boat propellers and impede small craft.

Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) – $325,000

The MyRWA will implement an integrated water quality monitoring and improvement program in the Lower Mystic River Watershed. The monitoring program will play an important scientific role in documenting water quality issues (bacteria, nutrients, chemicals) and inform watershed stakeholders on how to reduce pollution inputs and improve water quality. The grant will support and expand upon two existing MyRWA programs, “Find-it and Fix-it” and Baseline Monitoring, and extend the monitoring work to address harmful algal blooms, nutrient loading and the impacts of large storms.

Mystic Valley Development Commission – $175,000

The Mystic Valley Development Commission is the local coordinator of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to restore the Malden River ecosystem to the highest quality that it can reasonably support and sustain. The project includes efforts to remove invasive species and root matter along 14.9 acres of river bank; create 5.4 acres of emergent wetland within the existing oxbow; place 4,400 cubic yards of sand/gravel to create 2.8 acres of fish spawning habitat; remove and dispose of debris within the proposed construction area; and study operational changes at the Amelia Earhart Dam to improve fish passage. This grant will be matched by $325,000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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Follow Secretary Bowles on Twitter: www.twitter.com/secbowles

View downloadable photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/masseea/sets/

Visit the Energy Smarts blog: www.mass.gov/blog/energy

Visit The Great Outdoors blog: www.mass.gov/blog/environment

Visit our website: www.mass.gov/eea

100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114-2119 — (617) 626-1000 office / (617) 626 1181 (fax)

Catherine Williams

Assistant Press Secretary

Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114

(617) 626-1809 (office)

(617) 571-6235 (mobile)

(617) 626-1027 (fax)

Follow Secretary Bowles on Twitter: www.twitter.com/secbowles

Visit The Great Outdoors blog: www.mass.gov/blog/environment

Visit the Energy Smarts blog: www.mass.gov/blog/energy

View downloadable photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/masseea/sets/

Visit our website: www.mass.gov/eea