new FBH pages and NepRWA event

Posts to the Friends of the Blue Hills email list are now archived at our new blog, which is at:

http://friendsofthebluehills.blogspot.com/

Comments on the postings are allowed but will be moderated. Thanks, Jenn!

We've also posted six pages of the photos we've featured on our main or 'splash' page in recent years. They're at this link:

http://www.friendsofthebluehills.org/splash/06.htm

Last but not least, below are details for the Neponset River Watershed Association's annual meeting at Reebok HQ in Canton on June 14. If you like water, be there!

Neponset River of the Past & Future
Please Join Us for the Neponset River Watershed Association’s 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting!

On the evening of June 14th, we’ll spend a festive evening in the modern, light-filled building of the Reebok International Headquarters in Canton, celebrating 40 years of environmental protection in the Neponset River Watershed. We’ll hear two special presentations, enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and participate in a raffle for an EMS kayak and a Kohler high-efficiency toilet.

Local historian Anthony Sammarco will explore the Neponset River’s industrial past and James Hunt, III, Boston’s Chief of Environmental and Energy Services, will broach the Neponset’s future. Mr. Sammarco has written 50 books about Boston and produces a history column for the Milton Times. He also serves as the curator of the Milton Historical Society and frequently lectures on local history. Mr. Hunt is Mayor Thomas Menino’s lead advisor on Environmental and Energy policy and oversees several City agencies including the Environmental Department, Parks Planning and Boston’s Recycling Program. He is especially interested in how parkland, restoration and economic redevelopment projects along the Neponset River can increase river protection while also improving public access.

EVENT DETAILS:

WHEN: 6:30PM, Thursday, June 14
WHERE: Reebok Headquarters, Canton
RAFFLE: Win a 2007 Perception Prodigy Kayak from EMS-Canton or a Kohler high-efficiency toilet. (It’s not necessary to be present at the event to win the Raffle.)
ADMISSION: Event tickets are $40 per person. Raffle tickets are 1 for $6, or 3 for $15.
FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO BUY TICKETS: Click here (www.neponset.org), or contact Carly at 781-575-0354 or rocklen@neponset.org.

This event is made possible through the generous support of our presenting sponsors, Kohler Co. and Reebok International Ltd., and through the donations of many NepRWA Friends.

Carly Rocklen
Outreach Director
Restoration Manager
The Neponset River Watershed Association
2173 Washington St., Canton, MA 02021

2004 photo gallery

Annotated photos from March, May, and October 2004 have been moved here

letter to Governor Patrick re: Blue Hills Reservoir

Governor Deval Patrick:

You are hearing from hundreds of Friends of the Blue Hills members and others who are concerned about the Blue Hills Covered Storage Project, an MWRA plan to fill over half the Blue Hills Reservoir on Chickatawbut Road in the Blue Hills Reservation in Quincy in order to build massive concrete storage tanks.

The project has been consistently misrepresented by MWRA
The project has no public support
The project will cost hard-pressed ratepayers $40 million
The project is outrageously out of proportion to the risks it addresses
The project breaks with the long-standing no net loss of wetlands policy, first applied by Governor Dukakis and upheld by four Republican governors prior to the project
The project will do major and permanent damage to the Blue Hills Reservation

Today we are mailing you a letter about the project (short version/long version). It asks you to take specific action to protect the Blue Hills. We have done our best, but we need your help. Please help us show that citizens can make a difference in Massachusetts.

The Friends of the Blue Hills
http://www.friendsofthebluehills.org/index.htm

Please Contact the Governor

Please help us convince Governor Deval Patrick that the Blue Hills Reservation is not the place to violate the state’s wetland protection policies.

Please contact the Governor to urge him to stop construction in the Blue Hills Reservoir until the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority agrees to replace the 8.7 acres of clean open water it will destroy.

You can contact the Governor simply by sending him the postcard we recently mailed to you. You can also use the talking points and the Governor’s contact information that we’ve included below.


Background

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is proceeding with its plans to permanently destroy more than eight acres of wetlands in the Blue Hills Reservoir.

Local legislators, government officials, conservation commissions, and many others have objected to this $40 million project that would provide one day’s emergency water supply primarily to residents of Quincy.

Despite the project’s unpopularity with the very people it is meant to serve, state environmental agencies have refused to intervene.

The Governor, however, can still require the MWRA to uphold the state’s 15-year old ‘no net loss of wetlands’ policy.


What you can do

Please contact Governor Deval Patrick and urge him to stop the project until the MWRA agrees to replace the 8.7 acres of clean open water it will destroy.

Let him know that the MWRA must not violate state wetland protection standards in the Blue Hills.


How to Contact the Governor

Please take a moment to contact the governor using any of these methods.

1. Send the postcard that was mailed to you. (If you didn’t receive one, just send us your U.S. Postal address, and we’d be happy to send you one.)

2. Send an email through the Governor’s website. Go to www.mass.gov and click on Governor Deval Patrick’s photo. Under Citizen Services, click on ‘Send us your ideas!’ and scroll down to send an email.

3. Write your own letter and send it to:

Governor Deval Patrick
State House, Room 360
Boston, MA 02133

4. Call the Governor’s office directly: 617-725-4005


Talking Points

• The MWRA will permanently destroy over 8 acres of wetlands when it builds two 10-million gallon tanks in the Blue Hills Reservoir to provide emergency water supply for residents of Quincy and a few surrounding towns for one day.

• The project has no support from local legislators, local conservation commissions, the mayor of Quincy and over 15 community and environmental organizations.

• When the Commonwealth is faced with such serious budget concerns, how can the Governor justify burdening rate- and taxpayers with this unwanted $40 million project? MWRA proposes raising Quincy's water/sewer assessment by 9% this year.

• This is the first time the Commonwealth will violate its ‘no net loss of wetlands’ policy. For over 20 years, all public and private construction projects have been required to create wetlands comparable to those they eliminate. You do not want this to set a dangerous precedent for losing wetlands throughout the state.

• Please require the MWRA to suspend the water tank project until it agrees to replace the clean open water it will destroy.