 Newsletter #38September 16, 2024 https://alewife.org |
| This ASG Newsletter includes the following updates: – IQHQ: Floodplain Overlay Permit meeting, September 19 –City of Cambridge Participatory Budgeting –We Did It, Neighbors! Contaminated soil safely removed during IQHQ construction (see details below) IQHQ: Floodplain Overlay Permit meeting, September 19 Bio-lab developer IQHQ is holding a community meeting on Thursday, September 19, at 6:30pm, about their Floodplain Overlay plans for their improvements at Jerry’s Pond in North Cambridge. The meeting will be both in person and on Zoom. See details below. IQHQ’s overall design of the Jerry’s Pond improvements were already approved by the City of Cambridge Conservation Commission, at their February 26, 2024 meeting. The September 19 meeting will not reopen the design process. IQHQ is holding this meeting as part of getting a Floodplain Overlay permit from the City of Cambridge Planning Board for the Jerry’s Pond improvements. This is one of the environmental permits IQHQ needs before they can begin construction. IQHQ estimates they can start construction in the Spring of 2025. MEETING DETAILS Date: September 19, 2024 Time: 6:30 PM In person: Rindge Commons North, 430 Rindge Ave, Cambridge, MA, Near the corner of Ridge Avenue and Alewife Brook Parkway, Near the Alewife T station and the last stop on the 83 bus By Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94356987511?pwd=KB3KD4GJXAiHkBkLj4bbSoOxPBNOkQ.1 Meeting ID: 943 5698 7511 Passcode: 808384One tap mobile +16469313860,,94356987511#,,,,*808384# US If you need help logging onto Zoom on September 19, contact: Danny Frias, dfrias@iqhqreit.com or 617-314-9613 For more Background Information, see these links: IQHQ Meeting Flyer, Planning Board Regulations, & CDD Guidelines Alewife Study Group Newsletters 30 to 36 City of Cambridge Participatory Budgeting The City of Cambridge has started their 11th cycle of Participatory Budgeting (PB11), and is looking for ideas from the community on how to spend $1 million on projects to improve Cambridge. The Idea Collection phase will be open from August 26, 2024 – October 1, 2024. Winning projects from past PB cycles have included youth center upgrades, home essentials for newly housed residents, pollinator gardens, laundry access in public schools, and many others. Projects are eligible for funding if they meet the following criteria: -Benefit the public -Cost $1 million or less -If capital project: One-time expenditure and on City-owned property. -Projects on CHA, DCR, and MBTA property are not eligible. -If operating project: Fixed project duration (up to 3 years)Consistent with existing City policiesImplemented by the City of Cambridge -Implemented after July 1, 2025 (the start of the next fiscal year) Community members can also submit their ideas by emailing pb@cambridgema.gov; by calling the City’s Budget Office at 617-349-4270; dropping written ideas in the Payment Drop Box behind City Hall; or by mailing them to City of Cambridge Budget Office, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139. Learn more about Participatory Budgeting and Submit your ideas We Did It, Neighbors! Contaminated soil safely removed during IQHQ construction. About those giant tents – It was more than a quarter century ago that Alewife Study Group (ASG) found that hundreds of tons of asbestos were buried in the soil at the former W.R. Grace site. Development could only be done safely if soil was removed within an enclosed structure (those tents) and any disturbed areas covered with 18 inches of clean fill. In June of 2024, the tented excavation was completed! IQHQ, Haley & Aldrich, and ASG oversaw the safe removal of the last shovelful of asbestos-contaminated soil required for development of the 27-acre site, with no measurable release of asbestos in the neighborhood. Asbestos still remains beneath the 18-inch clean cover and the new construction, as well as below 6-inches in soils yet untouched (see 2024 map below), but with many thanks to the tireless efforts of nearly 1,000 neighbors over 29 years, IQHQ’s development does not pose an asbestos hazard to North Cambridge. What is Asbestos and When and Why Is It Hazardous? Asbestos, a mineral, is known for heat resistance. Immobile asbestos fibers, buried in soil or trapped in shingles, for example, do no harm. But when fibers are in the air and inhaled, they can cause serious lung diseases, especially for children. That’s why the Asbestos Protection Ordinance requires tenting and HEPA venting. Mass DEP’s former Section Chief of the Northeast Region, Jack Miano, said in a June 17, 1999, Cambridge public meeting of the asbestos buried in W. R. Grace soils, –“If it was up to me, and if I had the authority, I would — I would be there on site to watch every scoopful of dirt. But that’s not going to happen because I have bunches of other sites to work on at the same time, and very rarely, if ever, do I get out to the field because we just don’t have the resources.” 1999 Map: Asbestos Sampling of the W.R. Grace site. Whittemore is to the left of the map. Rindge is to the right. The black dots mark soil testing locations. Each red mark is where asbestos was found. Note asbestos is widely distributed. Map courtesy of Haley & Aldrich.  2024 Map: Location of 18” Clean Fill Areas highlighted in green below are where the top 18” of contaminated soil has been removed and replaced with clean soil. In this map, Whittemore Avenue is at the top and the T plaza at the bottom. Note much of the southern half of the site remains untouched. IQHQ Map, 2024.  How Did We Pull This Off? By dogged, strategic neighbor work! A few highlights: 1995 – 1997. We researched! We scoured patents, depositions, MBTA records, archives. We interviewed neighbors, retired workers, and their relatives. Once we proved this plant had manufactured brake linings with asbestos, we demanded soil testing. 1997-1998. We tested. Together, W.R. Grace, the City and ASG tested 365 locations. We learned the site has hundreds of tons of finely divided asbestos in the soil. -64 of those 365 locations (1 in 6) had asbestos -Where asbestos was found, more than 75% of samples contained greater than 1% asbestos, or approximately 1 lb per cubic foot. -No amount of asbestos is considered safe. 1995. We secured a Public Involvement Plan (PIP). The PIP stipulates when the property owner must notify neighbors of changes to a hazardous waste site. 1999. We persuaded the City Council to pass the Asbestos Protection Ordinance, by a vote of nine to zero. From 2004 to 2006, we negotiated with W.R. Grace for an Activity and Use Limitation (AUL). The AUL goes with the deed forever and restricts activities and uses of the land according to the hazardous materials. In 2006, Grace asked ASG to become the neighbor-liaison with Haley & Aldrich, the company overseeing the hazardous waste. 2006-present. We monitor the site to ensure contaminated soils are handled properly in every circumstance: underground utility repair, construction, paving, etc. 2021-present. We met with the new property owner, IQHQ, more than 100 times to ensure tenting and venting was properly executed. THANK YOU, Neighbors!! Great work! For questions or concerns about impacts to our community from IQHQ construction, including from noise, vibrations, or fumes, please contact both ASG contact@alewife.org and IQHQ at 617-314-7252 or info@iqhqcommunityprocess.com ASG NewsletterASG will send email updates as needed during the development of the IQHQ site. Click here for previous ASG Newsletters Anyone can sign up (or unsubscribe) for this newsletter by completing the Contact Form at the bottom of the ASG home page: alewife.org We also welcome your questions, comments, ideas, and offers of help! |
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