The Berkshire Environmental Action Team was formed about 6 years ago in response to the problems caused by an ineffective Pittsfield Conservation Commission. Actually, we felt at the time that the commission was working to circumvent the Wetlands Protection Act so that favored projects would be allowed to proceed. One of the solutions implemented by BEAT was to bring television cameras into the commission’s meetings and to file in rapid succession a number of requests for information under Massachusetts’ freedom of information act (Public Records Law) that made it clear that we were paying attention. For a while, all went well (relatively). But recently, BEAT has noticed a change in the meetings of the conservation commission; basically, if you blink, you miss them. Commission meetings, which begin at 6:00, used to go until 10pm or later. Now they are often over in less than an hour. We have reason to believe that the shortened meetings are a result of the commission choosing not to review projects in their jurisdiction.
On January 31, 2003 an article entitled “State to require impact report on waste transfer station plan” appeared in The Berkshire Eagle. For most of the people living around the proposed site, this was the first time they had heard that “Valley Mill Corp. of Lee planned to construct a 12,600-square-foot processing building, a two-story office building, a truck scale, an access road and a rail spur for the facility, which would handle up to 250 tons a day of construction and demolition debris, including asphalt, brick, concrete, wood and scrap metal.”
A neighborhood representative contacted BEAT. There were a number of environmental regulations (not to mention some points of common sense) that should have killed this project at its inception. But this being Pittsfield, the project not only survived, but the applicant for the building permit was none other than former mayor Gerald Doyle. With the help of BEAT, the neighborhood organized, and the state Department of Environmental Protection eventually put a stop to the project on environmental grounds.
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October 9th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
The new owner on Industrial Drive is putting up a storage shed that the neighbors will support. Our concern is that they follow the law and go through the Conservation Commission as required. The owner still has not met all the order of conditions that were agreed to last year. We will be looking for the owner to install native trees in the mitigation restricted conservation area.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Thanks for the post, Ray. BEAT’s concern is basically the same as yours. It’s all about process. The Conservation Commission should be reviewing this and all other projects that may have an impact on wetlands. This project may be fine, but it has to go through the regulatory process.
March 8th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Amazing site! love the easy layout