 |
Environmental Groups Victorious in Securing Riverfront Protection March 13, 2006 CONTACT: Korrin N. Petersen Esq., Advocacy Director The Coalition for Buzzards Bay; (508) 999-6363 x206 Gay Gillespie, Executive Director Westport River Watershed Alliance; (508) 636-3016 NEW BEDFORD, MA—A Massachusetts superior court judge has established clear environmental protections for riverfront areas by upholding the decision of the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that the West Branch of the Westport River is in fact a river. The result of the decision is that riverfront areas along the West Branch are afforded the environmental protections of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and associated regulations, which include protection of a 200-foot area from the river inland. Superior Court Justice John J. Cratsley cited to the DEP Commissioner’s expertise, discretion, and regulatory authority in concluding that the West Branch of the Westport River is a river as it passes the property that was the subject of the case. This case arose in 2000 over a dispute as to the proper wetland delineation on property owned by Kathleen Kamionek along the West Branch of the Westport River. In 2002 the Coalition for Buzzards Bay led an alliance of environmental groups into the fight and intervened in the proceedings. The groups included the Westport River Watershed Alliance and the Westport Fishermen’s Association. Following an adjudicatory hearing, the DEP Commissioner concluded that the West Branch of the Westport River exhibited riverine characteristics and that Ms. Kamionek’s property had riverfront area. Kamionek appealed the Commissioner’s decision to superior court, claiming that the water body adjacent to her property failed to meet the regulatory definition of a river. The Boston environmental law firm of Moehrke, Mackie & Shea, P.C. represented the intervenor groups in the administrative and court proceedings. “The judge gave appropriate deference to DEP in affirming that the West Branch exhibits the characteristics of a river,” said Michelle N. O’Brien, Esquire, who handled the case. She also credited the work of Brian L. Howes, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and David S. White, Ph.D., also of SMAST, who provided expert testimony in the case. “This decision reinforces the important precedent that deference be given to the DEP and its expertise when defining protected resource areas under the Wetlands Protection Act,” said Korrin N. Petersen, Esquire, Advocacy Director for the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. “This is a great triumph for river protection not only in Westport, but throughout the state,” added Gay Gillespie, Executive Director of the Westport River Watershed Alliance, “We would also like to thank all our members whose support made this effort a success.” While the Kamionek case was pending, on March 1, 2005, the DEP adopted new regulations establishing the mouths of coastal rivers. The mouth of the Westport River is approximately at the knubble after the confluence of the East and West Branches. —###—
|
