“The state is only allowed to use this land if they minimize all negative impacts to the land,” said Schluntz, of the Conversation Law Foundation, about the land along the Charles River.
The environmental group doesn’t always get what it wants. But it can be a powerful ally — or a formidable foe. Its final role in this waterfront saga remains to be seen.
CLF says the new settlement is the first of its kind to require a redeveloped base to get a federal sewer permit, or to mandate pilot treatment technologies for PFAS.
The Boston-based environmental law firm contends this unimpeded flow of nutrients into these water bodies must be regulated under the Clean Water Act, which imposes much higher standards of pollution control than the state permit. Nutrients such as nitrogen spur rapid algal growth, destroying pond and bay ecosytems, rendering them unfit for swimming, fishing or marine life.
“Stormwater pollution is one of the greatest threats to the health of Great Bay,” said Tom Irwin, vice president and director of CLF New Hampshire. “This historic agreement ensures that the Pease Development Authority will be playing by the same rules as communities throughout the Seacoast and will comply with the Clean Water Act. The health and safety of our waters is essential to our communities and our economy. No one has a right to pollute them.”
At a hearing before the state Energy Facility Siting Board, Jerry Elmer, a lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation, used an analyst’s words to argue that Chicago-based Invenergy’s $1-billion, two-turbine Clear River Energy Center is not needed.
“Coal’s sharp-dressed cousin is continuing us on a path to irreparable and costly climate damage,” said Greg Cunningham, who works on clean energy and climate at the Conservation Law Foundation.
Dozens of these private composting operations have sprouted up across the country in recent years. They’re helping to encourage the public conversation about composting and meeting a demand that could lead to continued growth, says Kirstie Pecci, a senior fellow at the Conservation Law Foundation.
CLF’s New Hampshire director Tom Irwin says federal regulators aren’t responding fast enough. “We do think that there’s a real opportunity for states to collaborate, as opposed to having each state try to invent a new wheel on their own,” Irwin says.
“There’s no reason why single-use plastic bags need to be a part of our daily lives,” said Kirstie Pecci, Director of the Zero Waste program at CLF. “Most bags end up filling our landfills, littering our communities and waters, and polluting our air when burned up in incinerators.”
