WORCESTER Last week, the City Council faced a tricky intersection between economic development and environmental protection.
Etel Haxhiaj District 5 Councilor had an order placed on the council agenda asking for a “environmental hazards” report at 150 Blackstone River Road. It is a massive complex measuring 630,000 feet that includes Imperial Distributors.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), announced recently a $65,000 consent order for 150 Blackstone River Road LLC to settle violations on the property related soil removal and a 2,000-gallon spillage of oil that occurred before the current owner.
Haxhiaj stated that she is grateful for projects like 150 Blackstone River Road. However, she said that she wanted to know if there are any potential actions or remediation that the city could pursue on its own under the 15-year tax increment financing (TIF) agreement with the company, which was in effect in 2017.
A TIF is used to finance commercial projects in the state’s Economic Development Incentive program. With the approval of the City Council and a TIF, developers can receive local tax relief on a portion or all of the new real-estate taxes generated by an investment in a property.
The developer will still have to pay full taxes on the property’s old assessment, but can get an exemption based upon a negotiated percentage increase in the property’s value over a certain period. The average annual exemption from the TIF plan for 150 Blackstone River Road LLC is 44%.
Haxhiaj stated that it would be helpful to know what is covered by the current TIF, especially when it comes to safety of workers and environmental impacts.
George Russell, District 3 Councilor, said he was open to Haxhiaj signing on to his request. However, Russell added that “these people should be congratulated for what they did with the former U.S. Steel plant, which later became “one the dirtiest sites” as an auto recycling facility. The new facility represented a complete turnaround in that area.
Russell stated that Imperial is among the few organizations in the City, if not the sole, that have a TIF and contact him regularly about job openings. He said that they are always looking for employees, “without the TIF on them.”
At-large Councilor Khrystian King demanded a report to show how much attention the city has paid to the matter. Mayor Joseph M. Petty said that while looking forward to a DEP settlement report, he noted that Imperial was at one point going to move into Auburn.
The mayor said he would like to see “the whole picture” and stated that the company had done a great deal in keeping the property running.
The DEP announced this month that it had assessed 150 Blackstone River RoadLLCof Boston with $65,571 to settle violations of waste site cleanup at the company’s warehouse in Worcester.
The company must address oil contamination in groundwater and soil at the site that borders the Blackstone River. The DEPreviewed the cleanup activities at the site over the past years and found that the company had not met the requirements of a Deed Restriction, failed to take adequate remedial actions to address oil spillages at site, and failed deadlines to submit required documents and documents to the DEP.
The consent order stipulates that the company must pay all penalties and continue to clean up the property.
According to the DEP a “notice activity and use restriction” deed restriction was placed upon the property in 1996. It required a plan for managing contaminated soil, and a worker health-and safety plan if any construction work took place on the property. The DEP stated that new oil releases in 2010-2013 required soil excavation, groundwater monitoring, and oil recovery. However, the company did not do this work.
In 2016, the company began construction activities without the necessary soil management and safety plans. It also did not clean up soil contamination. The consent order requires that the company conduct an assessment of the site, and then develop and implement a plan for oil recovery.
The company responded to a request to comment last week with a statement in which it attributed many of the problems to what it inherited from the site when it acquired it and began redeveloping the site in 2015.
According to the company, it had hired a licensed professional site manager (or LSP) in order to manage ongoing cleanup operations at its site in compliance with DEP regulations. The statement stated that all work took place under the watchful eye of the LSP.
The company stated that MassDEP can sometimes audit a site and come up with a different professional opinion from the developers LSP. This was the case with this particular situation. “To resolve these differences the Developer entered into a Consent Order (MassDEP) while denying any fault.”
According to the company’s statement, the consent order will enable timely completion of all activities required under an aggressive schedule.
According to the statement, “The site is currently in complete compliance with all requirements and there is no current danger to the health or the environment of any employees.”
Jackie Bart, spokesperson of the company, stated that the majority of the work required to clean up this site, which dates back into the 1800s was completed since 150 Blackstone River Road LLC bought it.
Bart stated, “The site is cleaner and safer today than it was in decades.” “We know that it is the MassDEPs responsibility to monitor such situations. We look forward working closely with them in order to ensure that our site remains as safe as possible and that any environmental issues are addressed promptly.
The TIF police of the city and 17 active TIF agreements don’t go into detail about environmental impacts. Indirectly, the agreements stipulate that projects must be beneficial to a ‘blighted open area, a ‘decadent or substandard area, and that they comply with all local and state licensing, permitting, and regulatory requirements.
Hearings of the election commission are on hold
It’s been just over a year since the last time we had a A group of organisations and groups filed a suit allegingThe School Committee’s all-at-large structure was in violation of the Voting Right Act.
If you thought that the City Council Refusing to fight the lawsuitYou would be wrong to think that the process was just humming along; signing a consent decree; holding citywide hearings; electing a new six-district School Committee model election model; and filing legislation amending the city’s charter.
There have been hiccups at nearly every step of this process. Last week, the court-ordered process that could be taken from the city by a federal judge if it goes further awry hit another snag. The Board of Election Commissioners cancelled a series of public hearings it planned to hold to solicit public input as it draws new School Committee district maps.
The decree requires that those maps be drawn by an independent election expert who has been mutually agreed to. Officials from the city have stated that they had hoped that Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford professor, would be that expert. He recently assisted Lowell through a similar process.
However, without this expert, there will not be maps to consider. Therefore, public hearings on this matter won’t have any material for the public to view.
OrenSellstrom, a lawyer representing plaintiffs, stated in an email statement that Friday his clients agreed that it was sensible to postpone public hearings until the expert has been appointed. He was optimistic that the process would continue on its current course.
Sellstrom stated that the city and plaintiffs are continuing to work together to implement the consent decree in an thoughtful, deliberative way. “Plaintiffs believe that an independent expert will be appointed soon and that the parties can then move forward with implementation in a time frame that allows for ample community input in the line drawing process.”