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Rivers Protection Act Balances Needs of Development, Environment

Melissa Coady paused before explaining the Rivers Protection Act. Because there’s a lot to explain.
“Of all the pieces of wetlands protection regulations, the section about riverfront protection is the most convoluted,” said Coady, project environmental scientist for Tighe & Bond in Westfield. “There’s so much ‘if this, then this’ that has do with when a parcel was created or when the land was subdivided.”
The Rivers Protection Act, initiated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), was passed into law in 1996 with a number of goals in mind, from preventing water pollution to erosion control; from protecting wildlife to preserving shellfish supplies. It does so by barring or heavily regulating development along the edges of rivers and streams.
“The riverfront area exists to protect the functions and value of those streams and the adjacent areas, in terms of water supplies, groundwater, flood control, prevention of floor damage, wildlife habitat, and fisheries,” Coady said. “It’s trying to roll all these into one area.”
Any understanding of those regulations begins with the riverfront area itself, which is defined as the area along any perennial stream — roughly defined as a stream or river that runs all year, except in extreme drought — between the water line’s annual high-water mark and a parallel line measured 200 feet offshore (except in certain urban areas; more on that later).
“The initial purpose of the Rivers Protection Act was to provide a buffer zone along streams and rivers that are considered perennial — that is, they don’t dry out,” said John Prenosil, president of JMP Environmental Consutling in Springfield. “The idea is to provide wildlife habitat protection, water quality, flood protection, nutrient removal, benefits of that nature.
“A perennial stream,” he explained, “is defined as a stream that’s shown on the most recent USGS [U.S. Geological Survey] mapping as a solid blue line. A dashed line represents an intermittent stream, meaning it dries out.”
And protected property doesn’t necessarily have to be, well, wet. According to the DEP, “riverfront areas may contain wetlands and flood plains, as well as what have traditionally been considered upland areas. As a result, the features of the riverfront area vary by location: from asphalt and landscaped greenways in urban areas to woods, lawns, and farm fields in suburban and rural areas.”

As Coady noted, “even though it can be comprised entirely of an upland, non-vegetated area, it’s still considered a wetland resource area under the act.”
That can make life tricky for developers, and even thornier for individuals who purchase their dream property, only to find out it’s essentially useless to them.

Multiple Goals
The DEP, however, decided 16 years ago that the value of protecting waterways outweighed the needs of developers. It argued that unspoiled riverfront areas prevent pollution by filtering and trapping sediments, oils, metals, and other pollutants, as well as cleaning water through toxic chemical breakdown in soils and plant roots.
It also asserted that riverfronts protect water supplies by removing pollutants that are carried in runoff from nearby commercial sites, roadways, housing developments, and parking lots before they reach surface water, as well as allowing water to seep down into the ground to replenish groundwater supplies and maintain base flows in streams and wetlands. More than 60% of Massachusetts communities are at least partly dependent on surface water as their primary source of drinking water.
In addition, according to the DEP, riverfront areas protect fisheries and land containing shellfish by moderating stream temperatures, reducing erosion, and filtering sediments and pollutants before they reach rivers — important, because these fisheries and shellfish beds are critical for recreational and commercial harvesting, as well as providing food sources to support the aquatic food chain.
Riverfront areas also protect wildlife habitats by providing food, shelter, and water for many plants, birds, and animals; serving as travel corridors year-round and during seasonal migrations; and harboring rare or endangered plants and animals.
Finally, the DEP noted, riverfronts control flooding and prevent storm damage by absorbing and storing water during storms and releasing the water slowly back to the river.
The law does take into account the fact that urban development tends to spring up alongside waterways. The protected area is reduced from 200 feet to 25 feet inland from the high-water mark in cities with a population above 90,000 or areas of smaller communities with a certain population density; in Western Mass., only Springfield merits that distinction.

Prenosil said the 25-foot urban zone “makes sense from a development standpoint; it’s difficult to work in a riverfront area that’s never developed. The point of the act was to protect an undisturbed buffer from the edge of streams and rivers. I think the original intent and purpose was not so much to provide protection along developed areas. It’s for when you go up to the hilltowns and have that proverbial 30-foot-wide trout stream, to provide some protection from development.”
Historically, Coady said, urban areas were built up along rivers to begin with, “so the function and value of undeveloped riverfront areas are virtually absent. But there’s still a need to regulate to a certain extent how those areas get developed.”
However, Prenosil noted, “that being said, the Rivers Protection Act does make development in urbanized areas difficult for sure,” even in municipalities that qualify for the 25-foot protected area.
Of all the resource areas designated by the DEP, Coady said, riverfronts are probably the trickiest to deal with. “The burden is always on the applicant no matter what the filing is — to demonstrate that you’ve met the performance standards, that you won’t have an adverse impact, and if you do have an impact on the resource area, that you’re mitigating it in the way the regulations call for.”

Some Exceptions
But what about properties purchased before the act went into effect? It turns out the law offers a bit of wiggle room.
“If you are working on a parcel of land that was recorded on or before Oct. 6, 1997, then you are allowed to alter 5,000 square feet, or 10% of the total riverfront area, whichever is greater,” Coady explained. However, “you have to keep at least 100 feet of undisturbed vegetation between the high-water line of the river and the limits of your disturbance. So, even though the provision allows for the development of the riverfront area, they’re still trying to protect the corridor along the river.”
And what if someone purchases a previously developed parcel along a river or stream? As it turns out, the state grants some leeway for development, as municipalities and state agencies are always seeking to improve neglected properties while still adhering to the intent of the 1996 law.
“If you’re not looking at a pristine landscape, if you’ve got an area that already has roads, or has an old parking lot, or is devoid of topsoil — dumping grounds, that sort of thing — if you clean that up, you can develop that area,” Coady explained.
“They’re trying to give an incentive to improve the existing conditions,” she added. “But there are some caveats. The total footprint of the work can’t exceed the total amount of degraded area, and you have to provide some sort of restoration of the degraded riverfront area.
“It could be that people have been dumping things there, and you could be removing the dumped material. You could plant native herbaceous or woody species to enhance the existing riverfront area,” she continued. For instance, if the previously developed area encroaches to within 75 feet of the river, but the 50 feet closest to the water line is undisturbed, a developer might provide new plantings over the intervening 25 feet.
“When you’re redeveloping a piece,” Prenosil noted, “as long as everything stays the same footprint, it’s relatively straightforward, as long as you’re getting no closer to the waterfront.”
Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, Coady added. “That’s one of the reasons this set of regulations is so lengthy and complex. It’s very difficult, even with a clear-cut case, to fit these projects into neat little boxes. A lot of headscratching goes into it, and sometimes, there’s a lot of gray area.”

Common Good
The DEP claims that the legislation “took a measured approach to environmental protection — work in the riverfront area is not prohibited, but applicants must demonstrate that their projects have no practicable alternatives and will have no significant adverse impacts.”
With her background in this field, Coady said, it was natural for her to consider flood plains and wetlands and rare species when she purchased property, but not everyone seeks professional help before making a purchase, and many have been stuck with undevelopable land.
“It would absolutely be recommended to have a feasibility study done beforehand,” she said. “If the property has any wetlands or riverfront area, it would be advisable to take into consideration what uses someone wants to get out of that property in the future, because it may not be feasible under the current regulations.”
The law can be particularly thorny in cities that don’t meet the population threshold for the 25-foot exception, Prenosil said.
“This works great up in the hilltowns, but Pittsfield is problematic when working with residential areas,” he noted. “It’s difficult to apply one standard to everyone because there’s always unique situations.
“Basically,” he continued, “the DEP said, ‘look, we need more protections along the streams and rivers.’ The regulations are always changing; they’re dynamic. Maybe the next iteration of this will address some of those problems.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at bednar@businesswest.com

Huntley Associates Takes Pride in Its Diversity and Long History

Huntley Associates, P.C. is a Northampton firm that dates back to 1870 and specializes in surveying and engineering projects. The scope of its work is diverse, but whether the job in question is a multi-million-dollar operation or simply involves giving advice to a municipality, integrity is the company’s cornerstone, said President Michael Schafer.
Specifically, he makes it a point to shake a client’s hand, look him or her in the eye, and give his word that his company will do everything possible to stay within budget and complete the project through carefully orchestrated teamwork. “It all boils down to proper planning and preliminary design. People who see the end product often don’t understand all of the steps that went into it. And in today’s economic times, proper strategic planning is important for a project to be cost-effective,” Schafer said, adding that clients are presented with alternative designs, ideas, and approaches to ensure that they are satisfied.
“When I write out a proposal, it’s very detailed. It lays out every step required from planning to finish. It also allows the client the opportunity to see the cost, which is particularly important because it can determine whether they decide to proceed,” Schafer said. For example, if a residential housing complex will intrude on wetlands, it may become cost-prohibitive or more than a client wants to spend.
“It really depends on the complexity and location, but if a project involves environmental concerns or reviews from state or federal agencies, the scope and fees can become a little fuzzy,” he continued. “For example, if a road has to cut through a swamp, there may or may not be endangered species living there, such as turtles or frogs. Wetlands are a big concern, and you have to work around them, which can mean moving the project or a building to a different location.
“A successful project can no longer be defined in purely technical terms,” he went on. “Regulatory, economic, and administrative issues are now major concerns.”
Therefore, it’s critical to lay out roadblocks to reduce the potential for change orders during construction, Schafer said.
He prides himself on creating a working relationship with everyone who will play a role in or on the job. “I promote a team approach,” Shafer said. “It involves the owner, client, and contractor as well as regulatory agencies, including towns or cities.”
They sit down together, which is important, as it allows different sectors to have input “sooner rather than later, after construction has begun,” Schafer said.
His staff members are not typical engineers. “We’re people who have been in the construction industry, so we understand the complexities involved, which makes it a positive experience for everyone. And if we help each other, the end result is typically an exceptionally constructed project that is completed within budget,” he told BusinessWest.
Schafer said unexpected issues often come to light during the building phase. “But if we work with the contractors, they work with us, so we end up with fewer change orders due to our relationship. And we like to take a project from start to finish to ensure that our clients are truly getting everything they are paying for. It helps that we know the local boards, conservation commissions, and regulations, because we have worked here for 50 years and are surveying the area in which we live.”

In the Beginning
Huntley Associates was founded by E.E. Davis in 1870, and is one of the oldest continuously practicing surveying and engineering firms in New England. “Our employees live in the area, so they are committed to making this a better place to live,” Schafer said.
The company was purchased by Almer Huntley in 1963. “At that time, the company’s main forte was surveying. The first engineering project was done in the late ’60s,” Schafer said.
The additional scope led to growth, and a second office was added in Maine. “By the late ’80s, the company had gone from a two- or three-man show to 80 employees,” he noted.
Huntley reached its peak during the ’70s and ’80s when it was called upon to do a number of projects across Western Mass. A large portion of the work was the civil and structural engineering and mechanical and electrical planning required to build wastewater-treatment plants.
“They were turnkey projects,” said Schafer, noting that the boom continued during the Reagan administration. “There was a lot of money pumped into the economy which was targeted for wastewater plants and infrastructure.”
But after Reagan left office, jobs became harder to get. There was a downturn in the economy, so Huntley closed its Maine office, and the firm stopped doing structural, mechanical, and electrical work, focusing instead on site development via civil engineering and surveying.
When Huntley made the decision to retire, Schafer purchased the firm. He had established Schafer Engineering Associates in Albany, N.Y. in 1994, and the men had worked together.
At that point, Schafer incorporated the services of his two companies. “It was done to consolidate resources and provide a larger capability to clients,” he explained, noting that today, the two companies share resources. “It allows us to keep our rates reasonable.”
Local clients who employ Huntley’s services find they can save time and money when historic records are needed, since their files date back to the mid-1800s. “We have old prints as well as plans and records from subdivisions in many communities, including Springfield and Holyoke. It’s a valuable resource,” Schafer said.

Changing Focus
In 2002, much of Huntley’s work was focused on new residential subdivisions. However, once the recession hit in 2008 and those jobs began to decline, the company’s focus changed again. Today, it’s working on subdivisions in Granby and New York as well as a nine-building apartment complex with 54 units in Amherst.
Other projects include new public-safety buildings in Granby and Montague. “And we are in the final stages of construction of a public-school expansion,” Schafer said.
His two companies have also collaborated on projects for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and they have done work on parks in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York.
Road construction is another forte, and a recent $1.3 million project involved improving a 1.3-mile stretch along Parker Street in Springfield. “There was an overhead railroad bridge which was very narrow, so the street narrowed at that point,” Schafer said.
As a result, the crossing and bridge both had to be rebuilt, which meant the train track had to be temporarily relocated. It was a complex project and involved many agencies, as it was federally funded.
The company was also responsible for the portion of the Manhan Rail Trail that runs through Northampton. Three bridge crossings were included in the initial plan, but a reduction in budget meant it had to be changed to a street crossing. Providing access to the pathway also proved problematic due to elevated stormwater levels and telephone poles which stood in the way and could not be moved. “It took a lot of coordination and communication,” Schafer said.
But these large undertakings are only part of what the company does. “We consider ourselves a multi-disciplinary firm and have always been known as an icon in the area. But most of our work is not recognized. We do structural inspections of municipal and private buildings and a lot of assessments of historic structures,” he explained. There is also storm mitigation work, which has occurred frequently since the June tornado and major rainstorms that followed.
“A major stream bank that collapsed in Whately is threatening the water supply there, so we are helping there,” Schafer said. The company also spends time with officials in municipalities who call on them seeking advice about their treatment systems, grant applications, and landfill monitoring.
“Smaller projects are our bread and butter. We do everything from single-home surveys to surveys of 200 acres or more. And we have worked for many government agencies on the state and federal level,” Schafer said.
The company tries to be creative whenever it can, and uses environmentally sensitive approaches, such as a rain garden it designed for the Amherst apartment project that will divert the runoff of water from the buildings to the garden. “It’s an eco-friendly approach that we can use within the available budget,” he noted.

Back to Basics
The company has evolved continuously during its 142-year history, but through all that change there have been many constants.
“We’re still here and have been here for a long time,” Schafer said. “We have worked in every arena and every county, and are economical.”
But to him, what matters most is the company’s reputation.
“When I shake hands with someone or tell them something, my word is golden,” he told BusinessWest. “I get a real kick of out of helping people and enjoy solving problems. In the end, it’s not just a business. It’s what I believe in.”

New OSHA Compliance Rules for Employers Are on the Way

After years of deliberation, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will soon release a rule requiring employers to develop a written injury and illness prevention program (IIPP). This requirement, already in place in several states, is a proactive measure designed to help employers find and fix hazards in the workplace.
The rule is also likely to include additional requirements, such as developing a system for communicating with employees and conducting employee trainings.
OSHA is the federal agency that administers the Occupational Safety and Health Act. OSHA’s duty is to ensure that workplaces are safe and free of hazards. To that end, it prescribes safety regulations and engages in site investigations. While these efforts have largely been remedial in nature, OSHA’s new rule represents a significant step toward preventative regulation.
Generally, IIPP programs require employers to develop, communicate, and carry out workplace injury-prevention plans. More than a dozen states have adopted such programs, including, most notably, California. Thirty-four states either require or encourage employers to adopt IIPPs (15 require them), and many large organizations have voluntarily done so. OSHA has identified six elements crucial to any IIPP program:
• Management leadership;
• Worker participation;
• Hazard identification and assessment;
• Hazard prevention and control;
• Education and training; and
• Program evaluation and improvement.
OSHA has not yet released a draft of its IIPP program, but it is likely that the federal program will resemble California’s influential program, first instituted in 1991. That state’s IIPP initiative requires that plans be in writing and satisfy the seven following criteria:
• Accountability (identifying the person(s) responsible for administering the program);
• Compliance (creating a system that recognizes compliant employees and requires regular training and retraining);
• Communication (ensuring employee awareness of the IIPP and developing a system for communicating with employees that informs them of their right to complain without fear of reprisal);
• Identification (identifying and evaluating workplace hazards, including scheduled periodic inspections);
• Investigation (implementing a procedure to investigate occupational injury or occupational illness);
• Methodology (developing methods and/or procedures for correcting unsafe or unhealthy conditions); and
• Instruction (providing training and instruction at specified times).
California’s law also contains exceptions for small employers. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees can satisfy the communication requirement by orally informing employees about potential hazards, and businesses with fewer than 20 employees are exempt from certain documentation requirements.
California’s IIPP plan also contemplates, but does not require, the establishment of a labor/management health and safety committee. If California employers have a labor/management committee that meets often enough and satisfies certain requirements, this satisfies the employer’s communication requirement. OSHA’s rule could include a similar provision, or mandate the creation of such a committee.
What will this rule mean for your business? If you don’t already have an IIPP, developing one will certainly cost time and money. But, despite these short-term costs, OSHA anticipates that the rule will produce savings in the long run. A study cited in a January 2012 OSHA white paper indicates that IIPP programs have consistently increased productivity, reduced costs, and improved both employee retention and morale.
The effect of OSHA’s proposed rule on small businesses deserves special note.  This new requirement will be yet another legal hoop for small-business owners to leap through. However, as explained in the OSHA white paper noted above, the rule will likely be procedural and not mandate specific, quantifiable results.  Therefore, small businesses must only develop a plan suited to meet the needs of their specific workplaces (which may be relatively simple).
Small businesses should also be aware of the effect of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA). This law affords small businesses greater input into the regulatory process and eases the burden of enforcement and administrative penalties on small businesses.
When a proposed OSHA rule (such as this one) is expected to have a significant impact on small entities, OSHA initiates a consultation process with the Small Business Administration. A review panel is convened and considers comments from industry representatives. After this meeting, a written report is prepared and submitted to OSHA within 60 days. OSHA then reviews the report, incorporates suggestions, and publishes the rule in the Federal Register for public comment. OSHA’s IIPP rule will undergo this process shortly (it was delayed late last month).
Businesses will be able to weigh in on the IIPP rule. Small businesses may contact the U.S. Small Business Administration’s small-business ombudsman at (888) REG-FAIR in anticipation of, or during, the SBREFA review process.  And once this process is complete and a final version of the rule is published in the Federal Register, any business (or interested member of the public) may submit written comments to OSHA during the rule’s notice and comment period.
OSHA has been pushing for a federal IIPP requirement for years, and it will likely be here before we know it.  Businesses both small and large now have opportunities to offer their thoughts on the rule and to plan for what a written IIPP plan will mean for their organizations.

Daniel W. Morton-Bentley, Esq. specializes exclusively in management-side labor and employment law at Royal LLP, a woman-owned, boutique, management-side labor and employment law firm; (413) 586-2288; dmorton-bentley@royalllp.com

A chart of the region’s environmental services firms

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Rick Sullivan Promotes State’s Ambitious Green Agenda

As secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Richard K. Sullivan Jr. heads up a sprawling mix of agencies that few states have placed under a similar umbrella. But the framework is a good one, he says, as the Commonwealth’s promotion of renewable-energy production goes hand-in-hand with its heavy investment in conservation and agriculture. All those efforts have a common denominator, which is that they make sense from an economic, not just ecological, standpoint. But convincing residents to take part in an energy “revolution” will take a broad, street-level conversation — and that’s something this former Westfield mayor feels comfortable initiating.
When Gov. Deval Patrick, at the start of his second term, brought the state’s various energy, utility, conservation, and agricultural offices under one umbrella, he tapped Richard K. Sullivan Jr. to head the sprawling office.
But Sullivan, who was at the time heading up Massachusetts’ Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), says he would not always have been the right man for the job.
In Patrick’s first term, he explained, “when they were putting together big reforms, particularly around clean energy, I would not have been the person the governor would have selected to be the secretary. In fact, I wouldn’t have been on the short list. Those were big reforms, and you needed people who are visionary in that area. Now that these reforms are in place, it’s time to pivot and implement the plan, to hit those goals that the governor has set.”
That’s where Sullivan, who served as Westfield’s mayor from  1994 to 2007, says he can make a definite impact.
“I have to have a conversation across the Commonwealth,” he continued. “And I need to take that conversation literally city by city, town by town, business by business, home by home, and help people think about where their energy comes from, how they use it, and how we can be smarter about it. When people change their energy use, that will be the revolution. We have to have the discussion on the ground. These, I think, are the job skills of a mayor.”
Sullivan has plenty to talk about these days as the state’s secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). In that role, he oversees six environmental, natural-resource, and energy regulatory agencies: the Departments of Environmental Protection, Public Utilities, Energy Resources, Conservation and Recreation, Agriculture, and Fish and Game. He also chairs the Mass. Water Resources Authority, the Energy Facilities Siting Board, and the Mass. Clean Energy Center.
“The genius of the governor’s vision is that it focuses on decisions that make sense from a cost-benefit analysis,” Sullivan said, adding that incentives for renewable energy and investment in conservation (more on that later) will actually help grow the economy during what is still a tough economic time.
“And those decisions are also good for the environment,” he added. “It’s no mistake that the governor was the first to put energy and environmental affairs in the same secretariat, because he saw how clean-energy decisions are good for the environment and how environmental protection can be good for job growth, not a negative. It’s a reason people are coming to Massachusetts, and it has worked; it’s paying dividends.”

Green Ideas
The state has long provided tax and other incentives for green building and energy-efficient improvements to homes and businesses, Sullivan said, and those efforts were ramped up in the wake of the June 1 tornadoes.
“We made some $8 million available to communities impacted by the tornadoes,” he explained. “We carved that out using money the CEC [Clean Energy Center, one of the agencies under the EEC umbrella] had, as well as stimulus funds from the Obama administration. So as the communities impacted are rebuilding and making repairs, they’re doing it with an eye toward being energy-efficient, and this program provides grants in some cases, no-interest loans in other cases, so people can install the more energy-efficient mechanisms they need in their homes.”
The tougher task is convincing people whose homes are in otherwise good shape that energy-efficient changes make sense for them, too.
“One of the obstacles to deploying clean energy is the initial capital cost,” he said. “Everyone can do the math and knows it’s a good investment that saves money over the life of the investment, but they still need capital up front. By thinking big, we can come out of the tornado a better state than we were before. It’s all part of the equation of thinking about energy use, where energy comes from, and how to be more energy-efficient — saving money on one hand, and on the other doing good things for the environment.”
Over Patrick’s first four years in office, Sullivan said, he and the state Legislature put together what he called a national model for encouraging investment in renewable energy.
“The governor has set high goals for the Commonwealth to install 250 megawatts of solar power by 2017 and 2,000 megawatts of wind by the year 2020,” Sullivan added. “At the same time, he has also authored a clean-energy and global-warming plan for the Commonwealth — again, a national leader — calling for a 25% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020. To do that, the governor has focused on clean-energy investments we could be making.”
What they ask of residents and businesses, he said, is simply to conduct cost-benefit analyses of clean-energy initiatives.
“This was bottom-line. These decisions make sense. The major focus is on energy efficiency, understanding, as the governor puts it, that the most important energy is energy we don’t use,” Sullivan noted, adding that clean energy in the Bay State benefits the entire economy.
“Massachusetts doesn’t have the natural fossil-fuel sources of oil, gas, and coal,” he explained. “We spend, as a Commonwealth, some $22 billion a year in energy costs. Of that investment, about 80%, $18 billion of those dollars, not only leave the state, but leave the country. So, by focusing on energy efficiencies and investment in the clean energies that are here, we can start to keep that $18 billion in Massachusetts, in the region, to create jobs and to really bring down the cost of doing business in Massachusetts.
“Because of where we are in New England, and our lack of natural fossil-fuel resources,” he continued, “our electrical costs are some of the most expensive in the country. While we will never be the cheapest, certainly we have a lot of other things going for us in Massachusetts that make it attractive to do business.”
The efforts are paying dividends, Sullivan said, noting that the state has seen a 65% increase in people working in green jobs over the past several years.
“Energy efficiency makes all the sense in the world,” he told BusinessWest. “I don’t think a day goes by that we aren’t being contacted by a company looking to come to Massachusetts in the field of clean energy, in particular because of the framework the governor and Legislature have set up in terms of rebates and incentives and legislation that encourages the growth of renewable energy.”

The Great Outdoors
Another Patrick initiative has involved the investment of $50 million per year to buy and preserve open spaces — more than 75,000 acres from 2007 to 2010 alone.
“In terms of dollars, that’s absolutely unprecedented,” Sullivan said. “There’s a real understanding that, as part of the quality of life we enjoy here in Massachusetts, we value at a very high level our parks and open spaces. It’s a commitment that a lot of other states, in a bad economic time, walked away from and just said, ‘we’re not going to spend dollars on this.’ The governor and lieutenant governor, on the other hand, made a decision that, in tougher economic times, we can buy more land for the same amount of money.”
Under Sullivan’s leadership, DCR completed several large-scale capital improvements in parks statewide, including a $21.3 million rehabilitation project at Mt. Greylock State Reservation in Lanesborough and a $9 million renovation of the visitor center at Georges Island in Boston. That agency also conducted a Forest Futures Visioning Process to engage residents across Massachusetts in a discussion of forestry practices in state forests, leading to expansion of forest reserves that are protected from commercial logging.
When it comes to the state’s role in conservation, Sullivan thinks on a small scale as well as large. Buying up large tracts of land, such as purchases in Tolland and Sandisfield in recent years, are important, he added, “but so are green spaces in cities, so we’ve focused on developing parks and buying property in urban areas and preserving areas as open space.”
Conservation is important in the Pioneer Valley, Sullivan noted, citing a Brookings Institute report showing that Western Mass. as a region ranks sixth in the nation in green jobs, which include family farms. And EEA has targeted those farms with incentive programs promoting solar, wind, and anaerobic digestion, which uses animal and food waste to create methane gas to generate power.
Those projects “allow farms not only to reduce their operating expenses,” he said, “but generate electricity back on the grid, helping them be more viable and sustainable. It’s a great program — one that’s going to continue — and another example of how energy and environmental affairs have a natural connection.
“We’ve seen a 27% increase in farming in Massachusetts since 2002,” he added. “People are very interested in organics and farming, and they’re also becoming much more conscious of where food comes from. Buying local is becoming more and more important. We certainly have great farms that have done it for generations, there are also a lot of people excited about coming into what is actually a growing industry.”

Word on the Street
Throughout all these efforts, Sullivan says a mayor’s blood runs through him — and always will.
“I think every mayor I’ve ever met is a pretty practical person. They understand how things happen on the ground, and they are willing to listen to people’s concerns and try to make it better. They’re kind of on-the-ground people, and that’s the kind of person that I am. That’s what I can bring to the table.”
He says there’s value in bringing a Western Mass. perspective to a cabinet dominated by commissioners with a metro Boston focus — and, often, little experience in the day-to-day operations of a municipality.
“With all due respect to my state colleagues, I think the best decisions for a community are made at the local level, so you’ve got to listen to where the local community is coming from. For a mayor, that’s natural — that’s what I did for 13 ½ years. You’re so attuned to the community, day in and day out. It’s the best job I’ll ever have in terms of the impact you make on individuals and communities. In some ways it’s the toughest job there is, but in others, it’s the most rewarding.”
Now, he finds different rewards, promoting an agenda that he believes in — but one that will only snowball into that ‘revolution’ he mentioned earlier if it catches on at the grassroots level, with families and businesses realizing that going green often makes as much economic sense as it does ecological.
“To have the faith of the governor and lieutenant governor and be part of their cabinet is really humbling,” Sullivan said. “This is a diverse secretariat, but it’s a really exciting time to be in this position.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at bednar@businesswest.com

Cooley Dickinson Cops National Award for Sustainable Practices

Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton has long taken what it considers a leadership position in terms of green practices and operating philosophies. And now, it has some paperwork to back up those claims.
Indeed, the Volunteer Hospital Assoc. (VHA), a national health care network, recently presented John Lombardi, director of Facilities and Engineering at CDH, with its 2011 Leadership Award for Sustainability. That term ‘sustainability’ means using a resource so it is not depleted or permanently damaged, and the hospital has proven it has a burning desire — exemplified by its wood-burning co-generation system — to protect the environment and the health of the community.
Cooley Dickinson was one of only 13 health care facilities across the nation recognized at VHA’s recent annual conference in La Jolla, Calif. with a Sustainability Excellence/Best in Class Individual Program award.
In fact, its system is so unique and successful that Lombardi was asked to speak about it the week before he accepted the award at the Sustainable Hospitals 2011 conference in San Diego, sponsored by Active Communications International. The purpose of that conference was to help hospital officials understand how creating a sustainable environment can reduce operational costs, improve staff retention, and enhance the patient experience.
“It’s always been a Cooley Dickinson initiative to promote healthy living and a healthy environment,” Lombardi said, adding that it is the first hospital in New England to use woodchips to heat and cool its facility. “Hospitals use a lot of energy and resources to keep up with patient care, and it would be easy to burn oil and use nasty plastics and not be conscious of ecology. But we have been ahead of the game since 1980.”

Firing Up
Cooley Dickinson has been burning woodchips to heat and cool its campus for 25 years. “The hospital applied for a grant to install its first wood-burning operation,” said spokesperson Christina Trinchero. It was approved, and in 1985, the federal government funded half the cost of a new woodchip plant. The chips are purchased locally and consist of scrap wood from milling operations or old trees.
“Our boiler was designed and installed to eliminate the need to burn high-sulfur fuel oil when oil cost less than 50 cents a gallon,” Lombardi said. “The design of the hospital’s power plant has been in the forefront of running on sustainable energy since the ’80s.”
In 1996, a 500-ton steam-absorption chiller was added to provide chilled water for air conditioning. Lombardi explained that the steam supply for the chiller comes from the woodchip plant and reduces the electrical power needed for air conditioning.
In 2006, hospital officials made the decision to continue to expand their green initiative. Before building a new 110,000-square-foot surgery center, they invested in a second woodchip boiler. It was designed with an efficient-emissions package approved by the Mass. Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Northampton.
Lombardi said this was no small investment, as the unit costs about $2.5 million. But it offers many benefits. The wood chips are purchased locally, and since much of the material comes from waste, it reduces the load on landfills. The operation also creates jobs that Lombardi says would not otherwise exist, and the ash produced by the boiler system been donated to farms for fertilizer.
In 2008, the hospital employed an agency to conduct an energy study. As a result, additional measures were implemented to help produce electricity and continue to reduce Cooley Dickinson’s dependence on energy from other sources. Modifications were made to the power plant, which included drilling a new well, and today CDH’s energy-saving measures benefit the environment and save the hospital approximately $450,000 each year.
Recent energy initiatives that began in January of 2010 include installing 4,600 energy-efficient light fixtures, along with new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning controls, and upgrading the steam-distribution system. In addition, the hospital launched a food-waste composting program in February, which reduces costs by taking waste out of the trash system.
“We realize that waste is inefficient and there is a lot of waste in things we do. So, the right thing to do is to minimize our waste,” Lombardi said. “We also believe in a healthy environment, and wood is cleaner to burn than oil.”
The hospital operates its burner under an Environmental Protection Agency permit that requires it to remove dust particles from the smoke. “So the emission from the smokestacks is mostly steam,” Lombardi explained.
He told BusinessWest that the new clean-energy features, along with micro-turbines installed in 2009 and 2010, save approximately 825,000 gallons of fuel oil and prevent 1,534 metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
“That equates to 301 passenger cars not being driven for a full year, or 179 typical households being taken off the energy grid, or 469 tons of waste recycled,” he said.

Winning Idea
When he decided to fill out the application for the award, Lombardi never thought the hospital would win.
“It was a national competition, and there were a lot of other hospitals involved. I thought there would be bigger hospitals with bigger stories than ours at Cooley Dickinson,” he said. “Our story is simple — we burn wood and make electricity and heat and cool with it.”
So he was very proud when he was introduced at the gala. “We were honored to receive the award because it takes a lot of work on the part of our staff members and engineers to maintain the system. There are a lot of components and technology that affect many people at the hospital who have to coordinate their efforts to keep the system running at capacity and efficiently. So it was nice to be recognized nationally.”
During the conference, participants from other medical facilities expressed admiration and awe. “They didn’t understand how we could generate air conditioning out of wood. But to us, it’s easy,” he said.
Lombardi is proud of CDH’s system, and credits hospital officials for their support.
“Our senior leaders had confidence in the facilities team that the investment would pay off,” he said. “The old-school hospital mentality is to spend money on bigger machines and state-of-the-art technology. But that continues to waste energy, which is needed to run the machines. Instead, we are spending our money wisely in regard to sustainability and the environment, and it has paid for itself and also provided jobs for people.”