Environmental News

Assabet River Study funded in Supplemental Budget   

Thanks to the efforts of State Senator Pam Resor and State Representative Pat Walrath, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sediment remediation/dam removal feasibility study of the Assabet River will begin this year.  In response to a request from the Organization for the Assabet River (OAR) and the Assabet River Consortium, the two legislators successfully inserted the $500,000 needed for the study into the state’s supplemental spending bill, signed by Governor Romney on Friday, September 17.

The study will benefit the communities of Westborough, Marlborough, Shrewsbury, Northborough, Hudson, and Maynard, by helping them fulfill a requirement of their new wastewater treatment plant permits, recently issued in draft form.  The study is an important step in a long-term plan to clean up the Assabet River, which flows from Westborough to Concord.

“This was a way to help both the communities and the river,” said Senator Resor.  “By taking responsibility for this part of the cleanup, the state will remove a controversial and potentially costly burden from the sewered communities.” 

"I am very pleased to have secured money for the study,” added Representative Walrath. “It is vital to the Consortium’s efforts to protect the river and develop a wastewater management plan.”

The money will be administered by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which will hire the Army Corps to perform the study.  The state’s investment is expected to be matched by the Army Corps with federal funds available for projects like this one.

     Southborough landfill becomes soccer field

A new soccer field bears the name of the former town administrator who didn’t live to see it, but who pushed hard during his life to make the one-time landfill into something the public could enjoy. Once the site of the disused and dilapidated Parkerville Landfill, the John A.

Lundblad Memorial Field was officially dedicated during Southborough’s Heritage Celebration, the Northborough-Southborough Villager reported last month. Lundblad, who died of cancer in 1997, served as Southborough’s second town administrator from 1974 to 1980. He became an environmental consultant that year, but stayed active in town issues.

Lundblad advocated for a more aesthetically pleasing use of the Parkerville site as chairman of Southborough’s school committee.

Computers and fridges and chairs, oh my! 

A partial list of items found discarded illegally on the side of the road recently in a town near you: recliners, refrigerators, computers and air conditioners. Sudbury’s Director of Public Works, Bill Place, lamented the problem last month in the Northborough-Southborough Villager. “It’s becoming an all too common situation,” said Place.

Officials in Marlborough caught one motorist on video dumping a washing machine from his truck. In a sober editorial, the Villager said the only solution to the problem is vigilance by local residents and officials, and stiff fines for violators.

Pam’s Environmental Accomplishments

Senator Resor has received various environmental awards as a legislator. She has been recognized by the Sierra Club and the Massachusetts Clean Water Action group.  She currently holds a 96% rating with the Massachusetts Audubon Society and was recently awarded their Environmental Health Leadership Award.

Links to Groups who have Awarded Pam

Mass Association Of Conservation Commissions                           http://www.maccweb.org/

Mass Audubon                                                        http://www.massaudubon.org/index.php

Sudbury Valley Trustees                                             http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/

Metropolitan Area Planning Council                                                     http://www.mapc.org/

Massachusetts Justice Resource Institute                           http://www.jri.org/indexflash.htm

Massachusetts Wildlife Federation                                           http://www.masswildfed.org/

Clean Water Action Alliance                                              http://www.cleanwateraction.org/

Environmental League of Massachusetts                       http://www.environmentalleague.org/

Stop Handgun Violence                                 http://www.stophandgunviolence.org/home.htm

Acton Police                                                                                 http://tinyurl.com/6za6s

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