Workshop III Permitting: Mark Stinson of DEP
who had been Chair of his local Conservation Commission for 12 years and
Anne Monnelly of DCR
This was a mock meeting where the Lake Stinson
Association went to the Conservation Commission to get a permit for
chemical weed treatment. We’ve seen how important it is to get a rapid
response.
The audience was invited to make up questions.
The object was to teach people what to anticipate when they go to their
Conservation Commissions. They explained notice of intent and order of
conditions. Some questions were from people who were worried the chemicals
would get in their well water. Others wanted to know if they would harm
rare species, kill fish, etc. The Lake People had a representative from
the weed control company who said there were no endangered species. Making
believe I was a concerned citizen, I said Natural Heritage had recently
expanded the protected habitat of the rare Box Turtle to the eastern shore
of Lake Stinson. Will the chemicals harm the Box Turtle? So the
representative of the company who was going to do the work said he hadn’t
been aware of that but the turtles wouldn’t be in the water as they sun
themselves on rocks. Well how did they get to the rocks? There was some
discussion about how developers and others lie on applications about
critical resources and protected habitat. Chairman Stinson stepped out of
character and said this was true and then they say it was a clerical error
or some other lame excuse.
The point here is that yes, it’s better to sacrifice protected wildlife if
the lake is threatened by invasive species. But to expand on this, the
association could educate people about the fact that the southern end of
Lake Nipmuc, the entire Meadow Brook area and the other side of Kinsley
Lane is all Protected Habitat and how the laws affect what can and cannot
be done on those lands. There are people who just go ahead and do things
without bothering with permits. You could have a kind of neighborhood
watch as to what’s going on. Anything beyond what’s exempted, which is
very little, must be reported to Natural Heritage and go through a
regulatory process.
