… A Tuesday letter from the Conservation Law Foundation notifying the commission and MassDevelopment of its intent to sue alleges that both violated the federal Clean Water Act by failing to apply for and obtain a permit to legally discharge the water. Stormwater is runoff from rain or snow melt that picks up chemicals, toxins,… Continue reading Devens hit with lawsuit over Clean Water Act violation
“Fort Devens should be setting the gold standard for building a thriving, ecologically sound community from the ground up,” said Christopher Kilian, Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Healthy Forests program. “Instead, these developers are putting neighbors at risk by allowing unrestricted, unpermitted pollution into the already-distressed Nashua River. It’s time to make Fort Devens a key feature of this vital river’s road to recovery rather than a barrier in its way.”
“It is a refreshing change of pace to see a Trump Administration appointee who gives New England climate and public health advocates reason to cheer,” said CLF president Bradley Campbell. “Alexandra Dapolito Dunn is a superb choice to lead EPA’s programs in our region. Her leadership of the Environmental Commissioners of the States (ECOS) restored its role as a constructive, nonpartisan voice addressing the most significant environmental issues facing our states and our nation. We look forward to working in partnership with her office to chart a course of science-based policies that will protect New England’s economy, natural resources, and the health of our communities for decades to come.”
Over the past year, high levels of toxic chemical pollution have been found in Berry’s Brook, near the Coakley Superfund Site in North Hampton, New Hampshire. While the N.H. Department of Environmental Services has recognized that the problem of pollution migrating from the site is unacceptable and must be addressed, the EPA – while committing… Continue reading We Need Real Solutions Now to End Toxic Pollution from New Hampshire Superfund Site
We’re not giving in. Yes, approaching a year after President’s Trump’s election, he seems intent on undermining decades of work to protect public health and the environment and fostering an ideology that denies and denigrates the basic facts of science. But we’ve been here before. In the 1970s, oil companies were intent on drilling for… Continue reading One Year Down: Fighting Back and Fighting On for New England
We are faced with a federal administration that wants not only to halt decades of hard-fought progress on clean water but reverse them altogether. But today, the impacts on our public health from blue-green algae outbreaks and chemical pollution are as serious and urgent as ever. We cannot and will not stop fighting for clean water as a fundamental right for all Americans.
We are at a defining moment in the effort to avert the threat of climate catastrophe. President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord has put the United States on the wrong side of history. With renewed urgency, CLF is escalating our work to develop legally binding climate laws, like the one we helped create and enforce here in Massachusetts, in every New England state.
Vermonters see firsthand the disastrous impacts of too much phosphorus pouring into Lake Champlain when favorite swimming beaches close and toxic blue-green algae coats portions of the lake in a stinky slime. So why does the state Agency of Natural Resources want to let towns dump more phosphorus pollution into the lake?
“The last thing Lake Champlain needs is more pollution, yet that is exactly what state officials are allowing with these permits,” said CLF Vermont Director Christopher Kilian. “The cavalier attitude with which our leaders are willfully defying their obligation to protect our waters is indefensible, irresponsible, and illegal. Lake Champlain is at a critical juncture, and if these permits are allowed to stand, the frequent blue-green algae outbreaks and beach closures we’ve seen this fall will be just a precursor of things to come.”
A bill currently before the Massachusetts state legislature would shortchange and clean water protections in the state.
