A hearing officer ruled this week that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was correct when it issued an environmental license for a new Steamship Authority terminal and ferry slips in Woods Hole. A group of 13 Falmouth residents appealed the DEP license, claiming it would interfere with navigation and public access to the harbor, and damage the environment.
Jane Rothchild, presiding officer for the hearing held Jan. 27, issued a recommendation that DEP commissioner Martin Suuberg approve a final license for construction of the $61.7 million terminal and port improvement project. The DEP issued a written determination approving the project on Sept. 1, 2016.
While the hearing officer ruled the petitioners had a right to appeal and present their case, she wrote in an a 52-page decision that they did not prove their claims.
“In some measure this case presents a solution in search of a problem,” wrote Ms. Rothchild. “The petitioners seek mitigation for harms they have not proven will exist. Although the petitioners may proceed to a consideration of the merits of their claims ... the preponderance of evidence favors the conclusion that the department properly issued the written determination. The petitioners had the burden of proving their claims; they did not meet this burden.”
Steamship Authority general manager Wayne Lamson said he was pleased with the Monday ruling.
“This is the first time that we’ve run up against anything like this,” Mr. Lamson said. “It has been a lot of time and money expended over the last six months defending and moving forward.”
Parts of the project that are not within the tidal lands, and therefore not within the jurisdiction of the DEP, are already underway. They include excavation for the foundation of a temporary terminal which will serve customers over the six-year span of the project, and relocation of administrative offices to the Palmer Lot.
But no work could begin on the parts of the project that lay within the tidal lands that were filled to build the current terminal. Mr. Lamson said that those parts of the project have been delayed by the appeal.
“It has just delayed certain aspects of what we were hoping to start, but we’re still on schedule to complete the administrative office building and the temporary terminal by the end of the year,” Mr. Lamson said.
If the DEP commissioner accepts the recommendation of his staff, a final license could be issued as early as next week. As soon as it gets the license, the authority will issue bids for the construction of a new terminal.
Demolition of the current terminal is scheduled for next January.
Comments
Comment policy »