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The battle to have the City of Pittsfield not violate the Wetlands Protection Act while doing work at Wahconah Park was a long and frustrating one. In our opinion, the City repeatedly violated the law, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection did not step in to enforce the law. 2010 – the City is at it again! The work at Wahconah Park received a Certificate of Compliance saying all the work was done. But now they are working in the floodplain again without a permit. They are installing a fence and new sod. This work requires going in front of the Conservation Commission because the work is within 100 feet of a wetland, 200 feet of a river, and/or in the 100 year floodplain. It is not that they couldn't do the work. It is that it is illegal to do the work without going before the Commission. Plus they are pumping water from their "bioswale" into the wetland through a filter sock. The city then drives into the wetland to remove the full filter sock. They should not be allowed to place the filter sock IN the wetland! We will bring this to the attention of the Pittsfield Conservation Commission who are responsible for upholding the law – the Wetlands Protection Act – and to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. We'll see what happens. |
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2009 – BEAT is investigating the City of Pittsfield's request for an amendment to the 2004 Notice of Intent filed by Wahconah Park Inc, a private firm that is no longer involved in the Wahconah Park project. In 2007, the City extended Wahconah Park Inc's permit, which BEAT felt did not belong to the City. BEAT objected, but our objections were ignored. When the City later decided to request an amendment to the original permit, we called the principals of Wahconah Park Inc. They had not been informed that the City was using the plans, designs, studies, and permits that they had created and paid for. They sent a cease and desist letter to the City. For more on this, visit BEAT's Blog. Regardless of who owns the permit, this proposed amendment is in BEAT's opinion, not an amendment at all. According to environmental regulations, an amendment is to be used only for relatively minor changes to a project. The changes must result in the same or less impact to the wetland resource areas. This "amendment" has sweeping changes. Here is our analysis (pdf) of the differences between the original project and the project as amended. BEAT also believes that the City is planning many other activities related to this project that they are not including in this application, and we believe some of those project may be currently in progress in violation of the law, since they are not included in the permit. We have reported this to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. return to top |
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Illegal fill Wahconah Park on December 12, 2008 was flooded right up to the paved entrance driveway and the chain link fence behind Pepe's. (Wahconah Park is at 105 Wahconah Street in Pittsfield, MA.) Just outside the chain link fence around the ball park, piles of fill surrounded by water are clearly visible. Before any work could take place here, the Conservation Agent was supposed to inspect the site to be sure erosion controls were in place. Having piles of fill in the floodwater should not have been allowed to happen. More photos of fill in the floodplain at Wahconah Park. |
Visit BEAT's Blog for more on the Wahconah Park story.
