Organized because of the threat of a large development in Boxborough, known first as Towermarc, since bought by CISCO, CPRH has been an opposing voice in at least seventeen other developments viewed as threats to the citizens of Harvard over the past thirteen years. Not all were as overwhelmingly in need of citizen support as the BRAC decision to close Ft. Devens, or the proposal of a Second Major Airport at Devens. But each one has seemed worthy of our speaking out in one way or another.
CISCO'S plan to incorporate one of Harvard's most narrow scenic roads into an access and egress road has been opposed from the start by citizens. An earlier Selectmen's approval for this use is now being questioned by an Appeal by the Selectmen of Harvard and Littleton as a threat to public safety. The case is presently in the courts. The proposed 10,075 vehicle trips per day projected by CISCO'S development will continue to be a regional concern.
A less publicized project over the years has been our concern that Devens be as clean a site as possible considering it was declared a Super Fund Site and thus entitled to special efforts to return it to a non toxic situation. Federal funds transported the most toxic materials to an appropriate location. Remaining were tons of material, not bad enough to haul away, not good enough to leave in place. This remainder has become the contents of the large landfill on Patton Road. Selectmen, Ruth Miller, and I toured the original sites and the empty landfill prior to filling last summer. We have been reassured it is a "state of the art" design. That it will require continual monitoring including protection from burrowing woodchucks, is a committment from the federal government.
Another site we have been concerned about is called Area of Concern # 57, Cold Spring Brook along Barnum Road, adjacent to North Harvard. Ruth Miller provides this summary of our efforts.
For nearly two years, CPRH has been actively monitoring the Army's plan for cleaning up AOC 57, an area bordering Cold Spring Brook and included in the newly designated buffer zone between Harvard and Devens which may be used for recreation in the future. Contaminated with petroleum derivatives, PCBs, and other chemicals, AOC 57 has already polluted the wetlands of Cold Spring Brook. Questioning whether the Army's proposed partial cleanup was sufficient to protect the aquifer, we gathered 250 signatures urging a complete restoration of the area. Four selectmen and many other elected officials signed the petition. Subsequently, CPRH urged the Board of Selectmen to submit a strong letter supporting the citizens' petitions. Three selectmen responded to the CPRH request. (The other two selectmen who declined to sign the letter had signed the petition.)
Responding to Harvard public opinion, the Army changed its plan and agreed to excavate additional contaminated materials from AOC 57. The army stated that these changes "were due to comments from the community." According to Ben Goff, the Devens BRAC environmental coordinator, "Concerns raised by community comments on the proposed plan were incorporated in the selected remedies." Although CPRH did not obtain the complete cleanup we wanted, we achieved a better outcome than would have occurred without our mobilization of public opinion. We believe that the additional excavations at AOC 57 will result in lessened potential migration of chemicals and earlier rehabilitation of the aquifer. It should also be noted that although CPRH has been unsuccessful in persuading our selectmen to fund a consultant to enable Harvard citizens to evaluate the merits of the complicated plans and arguments of the Army's engineers, we lucked out when the Ayer citizen group, People of Ayer Concerned About the Environment (PACE) generously allowed us to use the services of its consultant Rich Doherty of GeoInsight. His expertise was invaluable in helping us understand the issues.
During the past year, CPRH in collaboration with PACE also monitored development of the consolidated landfill and supported PACE's efforts to expedite remediation of the leaking Shepley Hill landfill. Currently, the cleanup of Salerno Circle is on the RAB agenda. This area, which is now contaminated with pesticides, may one day become part of Harvard. CPRH hopes that many Harvard citizens will join in the effort to ensure that we get the best cleanup possible of this neighborhood
I hope that this report shows two things: Harvard citizens can help move mountains or people and that working regionally with our neighboring communities, it is even easier.
Mildred A. Chandler