Newsletter #44, Dec 14, 2024 – Alewife Study Group

The ASG Newsletter includes the following updates:

Conservation Commission meeting about MBTA Hi-Rail Project – Monday, December 16, at 7 PM on Zoom
Council Passes Policy Order encouraging MBTA to follow Asbestos Protection Ordinance on Alewife Hi-Rail project
ASG Submits 26 pages of Comment Letters on the RAM plan for the MBTA Hi-Rail Project

Conservation Commission meeting about MBTA Hi-Rail Project – Monday, December 16, at 7 PM on Zoom

This will be the third Conservation Commission (ConCom) hearing on this proposed maintenance tunnel at Alewife. The prior hearings were on 10/21 and 11/18, along with a site walk on 11/8. For more information on this project, see ASG Newsletters 39-43.

If you can, please attend the hearing on Monday to hear updates, and speak during public comment about whether the MBTA has made enough progress on ConCom’s requests (see next paragraph). You can also send a written public comment to the ConCom emailing jletourneau@cambridgema.gov.

ConCom Requests of MBTA

At the 11/18 hearing, the ConCom asked the MBTA to work with them and IQHQ, ASG, and other community groups to significantly improve the MBTA’s plans to meet the goals of the Cambridge Tree Ordinance and IQHQ’s Special Permit commitment for the 4-acre conservation area (as described in ConCom’s 2021 Order of Conditions for IQHQ’s development area Notice of Intent).

Since the 11/18 hearing

Over the last two weeks, ASG members have been meeting with members of the MBTA, IQHQ, Mass Audubon, Green Cambridge, Cambridge4Trees, and the ConCom Director, about the MBTA’s plans. These meetings have resulted in substantial improvements to the landscape plan:

From 30 native and non-native trees to 47 all-native trees
From a total of 74 inches of tree trunk diameter in the newly planted trees to a total of 111 inches
From 36 non-native shrubs to 147 all-native shrubs

These plantings will all be within a narrow strip of soil (usually 6 feet wide) along the sides of the proposed tunnel structure and access road leading to the tunnel.

Also, the MBTA responded to ASG’s request for renderings of what the access tunnel and plantings will look like at three different stages of completion. Currently, the MBTA’s renderings are conceptual, meaning they do not yet include specific tree and plant species or the actual background of the site.

To see the MBTA’s Revised Planting Plan and Conceptual Renderings go to the Ecosystem and Habitat section of the ASG website. The ConCom hearing on 12/16 will include a review of the revised plans and renderings, other updates from the MBTA, ConCom discussion, and public comment.

Other important information

Construction of the access tunnel will require the removal of 28 mature trees, with a total trunk diameter of 279 inches, plus many smaller trees.
Construction of the access tunnel will also prevent 75 trees from being planted by IQHQ as part of their 2022 Special Permit and 2021 ConCom Order of Conditions. See the Planting Plan, for IQHQ Development – November 2021. Near the bottom of the first page, see the right-facing triangle-shaped tree planting area along the right side of the new multi-use path between the IQHQ buildings and the Alewife T plaza. The last page of the document shows a closer view of this planting area.
Therefore, a total of about 100 mature or planned trees will be lost because of this project.
To avoid needing a MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act) permit for this project, which would have required more time, the MBTA chose to keep the total work area under ½ acre. The revised planting plan has now maxed out the number of trees and shrubs that can be planted in this ½ acre area.
Therefore, there is no way this project, as currently designed, can come close to adequately mitigating the loss of mature trees, or meeting the planned tree planting in the 2021 ConCom Order of Conditions for this part of IQHQ’s 4-acre conservation area.

ASG Advocates Continuation of Community process

ASG requests that the MBTA continue working with members of ConCom, IQHQ, ASG, Mass Audubon, Green Cambridge, and Cambridge4Trees, to much more closely meet ConCom’s 11/18 request of the MBTA, as detailed in the above section. This can include, but not be limited to:

Exploring the feasibility of planting more trees on other parts of IQHQ’s 4-acre conservation area. IQHQ has arelady said they are ready to work on this. This may require remediation of asbestos containing soil, in which case “tenting and venting” must be used.
Exploring the feasibility of planting more trees at “Parkway Pond” (located just east of Alewife Brook Parkway and to the north of the temporary construction trailers), and along the drainage ditch just north of the Alewife Station “headhouse” that exits to Russell Field. ASG believes that the MBTA may have easements of these two parcels, or that it might be possible to reach an agreement with the property owners to allow such planting to happen.

ASG also advocates that the MBTA:

Develop long term invasive management plans for this access tunnel project area and nearby land that the MBTA uses, including Parkway Pond and the drainage ditch.

Protect mature trees that will remain, but are near the edge of the work limits for the tunnel, during construction. This includes 26 mature trees with a total trunk diameter of 321″, including black cherry, grey birch, ash, poplar, and black locust
Expand the time that they are responsible for maintaining the new plantings from 3 to 5 years, matching what IQHQ agreed to do in their Jerry’s Pond NOI.

ASG Advocates that ConCom:

Either continue the hearing until substantial progress has been made on the above requests,
Or, require the above community process and goals as part of their Order of Conditions for final approval of the MBTA’s permit.

City Council Passes Policy Order encouraging MBTA to follow Asbestos Protection Ordinance on Alewife Hi-Rail project

On Monday, December 9, the Cambridge City Council unanimously passed a policy order co-authored by Patty Nolan and Catherine Zusy, directing the City Manager to encourage the Mass DEP and the MBTA to adhere to all local ordinances, including the Cambridge Asbestos Protection Ordinance, during construction of the MBTA’s proposed Red Line Hi-Rail access tunnel at Alewife. This is an important gesture of support by the City Council for the safety and concerns of the neighborhood regarding construction methods used at this contaminated property.

The MBTA hi-rail vehicle access tunnel, planned for just north of the Alewife T plaza, will disturb soils shown to contain significant quantities of asbestos fibers. Recent sampling conducted by the MBTA found asbestos at 37 of 64 sampling locations (58%), with an average detection of 0.9%, almost entirely in the top 4 feet of soil and primarily in the area immediately adjacent to Russell Field. These data suggest the presence of more than 10,000 lb of asbestos in the soil that the T is proposing to excavate.

It is unclear whether the MBTA is legally obligated to adhere to the requirements of the Cambridge Asbestos Protection Ordinance (CAPO), which requires that soil disturbing activities at this site be done within a temporary structure under partial vacuum with HEPA filtration of the blower off-gases (“tent and vent”), and which was followed strictly by IQHQ during their development activities at the site.

However, ASG and many community members are asking the MBTA to follow CAPO because it is the safest available method to protect our community from exposure to asbestos during construction. For more about this, read ASG’s RAM Plan Comment Letter about “tenting and venting”, in the Asbestos section of the ASG website.

ASG Submits 26 pages of Comment Letters on the RAM plan for the MBTA Hi-Rail Project

December 8 was the deadline for written comments on the MBTA’s Release Abatement Measure (RAM) Plan for their Hi-Rail access tunnel project. A RAM plan describes how the community will be protected from exposure to hazardous waste during a construction project. To see more about the MBTA RAM plan, see ASG Newsletters 39-43.

Based on our 29+ years of experience with the environmental issues at and near the proposed site for the Hi-Rail project, ASG submitted 4 letters of comments and proposed changes to the MBTA’s RAM Plan. These include :

Reasons to use “tenting and venting”, and why it may be required
Corrections to site history and characterization of asbestos type
Miscellaneous comments and proposed changes
Cover letter and attachment of independent review of RAM Plan

To see these letters, go to the Asbestos section of the ASG website.

For questions or comments about issues in our community, contact ASG contact@alewife.org