Framingham's Proposed Birch Road Welfieldl Redevelopment

TOWN OF FRAMINGHAM'S PROPOSED
BIRCH ROAD WELLFIELD REDEVELOPMENT
by A. Richard Miller
visits since 090727; last updated 091030.

Fall 2009 - Framingham's Final Environmental Impact Report

Below this history of the Fall 2009 proceedings, you can read about the Summer 2009 filing of the Draft EIR and its comments. This Fall 2009 history reviews Framingham's draft Final EIR. As before, I'll add comments in the sequence in which folks send them to me.

Public comments on this Final EIR must arrive by October 23nd (I received and posted this electronic copy of Framingham's FEIR on Sept. 22nd, so this time we DO have a month to comment). Note that Framingham's new Final EIR includes all comments from the prior round - and replies to their issues.

Exhibit A. Sept. 15, 2009 Town of Framingham's draft Final EIR (MEPA Project No. 14197) (posted here on Sept. 22, 2009). Read it here, download it (one 8MB .pdf file) from here, or request a printed or CD copy from:
Peter Newton, SEA Consultants, Inc. (1-508/743-7882; Peter.Newton@seacon.com),
or from Eric Johnson, Framingham DPW (508-532-6016; evj@framinghamma.gov).

Summer 2009 - Framingham's Draft Environmental Impact Report

As I create this web page on July 27th 2009, I cannot tell you whether or not this proposal is a good idea.

However, I can tell you that its public review was so flawed, and so many questions remain, that its current Draft Environmental Impact Report (MEPA Project No. 14197) should not be allowed to become a Final EIR at this time. Let me explain why.

This proposal may significantly affect the Sudbury River and Lake Cochituate. The Cochituate State Park Advisory Committee was not notified until July 21st, 2009 that its 30-day comment period would end in three days, on July 24th. The comment period now has been extended one week to July 31st. I spent the next two of those three days attempting to round up the draft report and some comment letters by others.

Now that I see some comments, it is obvious that this project is very controversial. Letters linked below state that it would withdraw more Sudbury River water than all downstream wells combined, that it would expand Framingham's total existing water capacity by more than 50%, and that a major (perhaps the major) Framingham user is a Nestlé water-bottling plant. (These Nestlé operations have achieved a certain notoriety.) Whether there is or will be a legal or political commitment to supply that water (from Lake Cochituate?) in times of drought seems vague. It also is obvious that, for whatever reasons, our CSPAC was dialed out of its obvious role in this comment process (and a prior one in April, 2009).

We're back - but with less than a week remaining, with vast quantities to read and discuss, and with no meeting within that time frame. Probably, individuals will have to comment, instead of the CSPAC as a body.

I am providing this new web page, with links to the DEIR and to some comment letters (in the order that I receive them). A big THANK YOU to those who stepped forward to help inform us in time! And thanks to those of you who will send your questions and comments to the MEPA Office by Friday. E-mail will work; see below.

Exhibit A. MEPA announcement (relayed here on July 21, 2009).

Exhibit B. July 21, 2009 message by A. Richard Miller to CSPAC e-mail list.
Note: My early message erroneously identified Framingham's proposed pipe under the Cochituate Rail Trail as a water line. It would be for wastewater; a sewer.

Exhibit C. June 15, 2009 Town of Framingham's Draft Environmental Impact Report (MEPA Project No. 14197).
Note: This is BIG, a single 21MB file! Read its Executive Summary first. Or request this DEIR on a free CD, from the Framingham DPW or from S E A Consultants in Framingham.

Exhibit D. July 23, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Tom Sciacca, Wayland.

Exhibit E. July 24, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Wayland DPW's Wellhead Protection Committee.

Exhibit F. July 24, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Wild and Scenic River Stewardship Council.

Exhibit G. July 31, 2009 MEPA comment letter by A. Richard Miller, CSPAC Member.

Exhibit H. July 31, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation and Recreation.

Exhibit I. July 31, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Charles River Watershed Association.

Exhibit J. July 30, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Massachusetts Rivers Alliance.

Exhibit K. August 11, 2009 MEPA comment letter by U.S. National Park Service.

Exhibit L. July 30, 2009 MEPA comment letter by Kurt Tramposch.

Exhibit M. July 23, 2009 MEPA comment letter by MWRA's Water Supply Citizens Advisory Committee.

Exhibit N. August 27, 2009 MEPA comment letter by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The bottom line: August 7, 2009 Certificate by Mass. EOEEA Sec'y. Ian Bowles (requiring a FEIR).

And a September 1, 2009 Boston Globe editorial.

Remember: Your comment, if any, must be submitted by Friday, July 31st 2009 to:
Secretary Ian A. Bowles
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Attn: MEPA Office
Anne Canaday, EOEA #14197 (1-617/626-1035; anne.canaday@state.ma.us)
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston MA 02114
Re: Birch Road Wellfield Redevelopment and Water Treatment Plant, EOEA #14197 DEIR

You might also copy:
A. Richard Miller, 61 Lake Shore Road, Natick MA 01760 (TheMillers@millermicro.com).
Than Bogan, CSPAC Chair (Nathaniel_Bogan@alum.mit.edu)