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The Patriot Ledger |
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BLUE HILLS RESERVOIR: Bill would force MWRA to replace lost wetland By JESSICA VAN SACK QUINCY - A bill filed to force the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to replace wetlands it has destroyed has gained the support of several area legislators. Rep. Bruce Ayers, D-Quincy filed legislation to reverse what he called a dangerous precedent set by granting the MWRA the first-ever exemption from the Wetlands Protection Act, allowing them to destroy more than 8 acres of wetlands within the Blue Hills Reservation without having to replace them elsewhere as the act requires. The MWRA has billed the plan for two emergency water supply tanks as a critical measure in a post-Sept. 11 world and has already begun draining the Blue Hills Reservoir in preparation for construction. Signing on as co-sponsors to the bill were Robert Coughlin, D-Dedham; Geraldine Creedon, D-Brockton; William Galvin, D-Canton; and Walter Timilty, D-Milton. The bill calls for halting construction on the project until the MWRA agrees to recreate wetlands somewhere else within the Blue Hills Reservation, essentially reversing the exemption from the Wetlands Protection Act. Still in the early stages of deliberation, the bill would take effect immediately if passed on Beacon Hill. MWRA spokeswoman Ria Convery said only that the agency is aware of the bill and would nevertheless move forward with construction on the water tanks. The Blue Hills Covered Storage project would provide two emergency supply water tanks on what is now the 15-acre Blue Hills Reservoir. The manmade reservoir, which hasn’t been used for more than 20 years because of contamination from animals, was built in the early 1950s. The tanks would contain a secure, covered supply of water for 100,000 ratepayers in Quincy, Milton and parts of Boston that would last 24 hours. Billed as a post-Sept. 11 security measure, the project was granted an exception to wetlands laws by the Department of Environmental Protection, which overturned decisions of local conservation commissions as well as that of an environmental appeals judge. Ayers said the DEP’s decision surprised him. ‘‘This plan does not need to supercede federal, state and local laws,’’ Ayers said. The MWRA has criticized the conservation group, Friends of the Blue Hills, as the only hitch in their plan to move forward, but Ayers is among what has emerged as a chorus of opposition to the agency’s refusal to replace wetlands being destroyed and the Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to support that stance. In April, Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, along with Galvin, Timilty and Sen. Brian Joyce, D-Milton, urged Robert Golledge Jr., commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, to reverse its stance on the project. Late last year Mayor William Phelan requested the MWRA recreate the lost wetlands somewhere in Quincy. He was rebuffed. Thomas Palmer, president of Friends of the Blue Hills, said the group has filed a civil complaint in Norfolk Superior Court against the MWRA for allegedly causing unlawful damage to the environment. In December, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Charles Hely denied the Friends’ request for an injunction to halt the draining of the reservoir on Chickatawbut Road in Quincy. ‘‘There is a substantial public interest in creating, without further warranted delays, a safe emergency public water supply,’’ Hely wrote. Jessica Van Sack may be reached at jvansack@ledger.com. Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger |
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