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The Bay Club at Mattapoisett and The Coalition for Buzzards Bay Agree to Improve the Health of New Bedford Harbor, Ensure Public Access to Tinkham Forest February 24, 2003
CONTACT: Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director The Coalition for Buzzards Bay 508-999-6363, ext. 201 State Representative William Straus 617-722-2263
NEW BEDFORD, MA—The Coalition for Buzzards Bay today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Bay Club at Mattapoisett (a new residential and golf course community) over open space protection and water quality issues. Through the agreement, the Coalition and Bay Club will work together to advance their common commitment to the preservation of the region’s extraordinary environment and the quality of life that we all treasure in the Buzzards Bay watershed. State Representative William Straus, who assisted in the development of the agreement between the Coalition and the Bay Club, commented that “ I was pleased to help the Bay Club and The Coalition for Buzzards Bay work through what really were a complex set of environmental issues.” A cooperative relationship began in 1995 when Bay Club partner David McIntire, Jr. asked the Coalition to thoroughly review the project’s delineation of wetlands on the site – one of the largest undeveloped blocks of land in the Bay watershed. “A request from a developer for us - an environmental advocacy group - to scrutinize their wetland delineation is not something we get very often,” remembered Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director of The Coalition, “It immediately said to us that this developer was not interested in destroying the environment in order to get their project built. These guys wanted to try to do it right – protect important wetland resources and develop an environmentally-sensitive project.” Coalition staff and environmental scientists reviewed the wetlands and made a number of recommended changes. All of which were accepted. As the Bay Club project was developed over the following years, dialogue continued and resulted in important environmental improvements such as how the development would treat stormwater runoff from new roads and lawns, keep construction clear of wetland areas, provide permanent protection to forested open space areas, and minimize pollution related to operation of the golf course. Mark Rasmussen commented, “It is impossible to design a project the size of the Bay Club to prevent any alteration of the natural environment. What we think has happened here, however, is a design that greatly reduces that impact and protects the most important natural resources. We believe that the Bay Club has set a new standard for environmentally-sensitive development in the region.” Despite the significant achievements that had been made, two issues had separated the Coalition and the Bay Club in recent months – the future of Tinkham Forest and the treatment of wastewater from the project’s proposed 189 homes. Both issues were resolved earlier this month in an agreement signed by the Coalition and the Club. Tinkham Forest In the agreement, the Bay Club has agreed to grant a permanent public access easement across land owned by the Mahoney family to the Town of Mattapoisett for the public to access Tinkham Forest without restriction. The path to the forest will provide the same types of walking, biking, and other non-motorized access to the Forest that have existed since long before the land was granted to the town by former Conservation Commission member Nelson Floyd Tinkham in 1967. The path will be defined in cooperation with the town and will be located mostly on 238 wooded acres that will be permanently preserved through a conservation restriction. The decision also terminates, for the time being, the idea of a land swap by the Bay Club for Tinkham Forest. The Coalition had expressed opposition to the Tinkham Forest land swap previously proposed by the Bay Club as inadequate to compensate for the release of conservation land, as such transfers should only be considered where the public benefits of the transfer are truly extraordinary. “It was very important to The Coalition for Buzzards Bay that the development of the Bay Club not isolate Tinkham Forest forever or swap it for inferior land elsewhere in town. Permanent open space protection – which is what Floyd Tinkham believed he was providing for the Forest at the time he gifted it to the Town - must be honored.” noted Rasmussen. Wastewater and New Bedford Harbor The Bay Club has sought approval for 100,000 gallons per day (gpd) of sanitary wastewater to be discharged from the proposed development to the Mattapoisett Municipal Sewer System. This wastewater would flow to the Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and ultimately be discharged to Inner New Bedford Harbor. As the Fairhaven WWTP does not provide adequate removal of nitrogen within its treatment system, new sewer connections have the potential of increasing pollution in the Harbor. The Coalition for Buzzards Bay and others originally called on the Bay Club to construct their own on-site wastewater treatment facility. Such an alternative would also leave existing Mattapoisett homeowners with the ability to tie-in their homes (many of which utilize inadequate septic systems in sensitive coastal areas) to the town sewer system someday. For a number of reasons, this option had become too difficult to implement for the Bay Club. “At that point, we said, well either the Bay Club can treat its own waste on-site in Mattapoisett or they should commit to working with the community, the Coalition, and others to see that any possible impact on New Bedford Harbor is mitigated.” commented Rasmussen. “What we ended up agreeing to do together will really jump-start the resolution of many of the nitrogen pollution issues in the Harbor.” Under the agreement, the Bay Club will provide up to $675,000 in financial support for a number of wastewater improvements in the Harbor and in Mattapoisett. 1. To compensate for the use of 100,000gpd of Mattapoisett’s sewer capacity, the Bay Club will pay for the capital cost of providing the same amount of new sewer capacity to existing homes in Mattapoisett (estimated at $200,000) either through the purchase of additional capacity at the Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment Plant or through neighborhood on-site systems. Most of the existing homes in Mattapoisett in need of sewer service are in low-lying coastal areas; sewer connections for these homes will serve to improve local beach and shellfish bed quality. 2. In the event that future pollution discharge permits from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the MA Department of Environmental Protection for the Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment Plant require physical improvements to the Plant to remove nitrogen pollution, the Bay Club will pay for the entire Mattapoisett share of those improvements – a commitment of up to $300,000. 3. In order to expedite the clean up of nitrogen pollution in New Bedford Harbor, the Bay Club will pay $150,000 to The Coalition for Buzzards Bay. Of this amount, $100,000 will be granted to the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology to fund the completion of a comprehensive water quality analysis of the Harbor. Such a study is fundamental to developing a water quality restoration plan for the Harbor, and had been delayed due to lack of funding. The remainder of the funds will be used by the Coalition over the next five years to educate the general public about nitrogen pollution in the Harbor and undertake advocacy with local, state and federal agencies to advance water quality improvements. 4. Finally, the Bay Club will support the work of the Whaling City Rowing Club (WCRC) and the Community Boating Center (CBC) to educate and involve the general public in using and enjoying the Harbor. The WCRC and CBC will each receive $12,500 over the next five years to continue their recreational programs which are developing a direct connection between people and the need for a clean Harbor. “What the environment of New Bedford Harbor has been lacking for so many years is a constituency of people concerned about its health and its future. The Rowing Club and the CBC are at the forefront of developing public support for a clean Harbor. We were very pleased to be able to support their important work through this agreement,” commented Rasmussen. Bay Club principal Joe Bruno commented on the plan, “My father keeps his boat in New Bedford Harbor and I know that a lot of Bay Club members do the same. So I am personally interested in seeing the Harbor cleaned up. I’m proud to say to our members and the community that the Bay Club is part of the solution in the Harbor and not part of the problem.” “As a total package, this agreement really moves the restoration of water quality in New Bedford Harbor forward. We commend the Bay Club for their commitment to environmental protection, not just at the Club site, but elsewhere in the region,” commented John K. Bullard, President of the Board of Directors at The Coalition for Buzzards Bay and former Mayor of New Bedford. —###—
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