The Revere Conservation Commission held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday evening, August 3, in the City Council Chamber.
Chairman John Shue and commissioners Robert Cassidy, Ann Raponi, Joseph LaValle, Heather Legere, and Brian Averback were on hand for the meeting.
After approving the minutes from the commission’s July meeting, the commissioners tackled a light agenda of various items.
The principal matter before the commission was the continuation of the public hearing from last month regarding the filing of a Notice of Intent (NOI) by Revere, MA, Owner, LLC, (DEP #061-0784) to demolish the tank farms at the former Global Petroleum property at 101 Lee Burbank Highway in order to construct a state-of-the-art warehouse facility.
Chris Roller with Saracen Properties, the developer of the site, presented the application to the commission. The removal of the tanks at the site will be done in two phases, of which only the first phase was before the commission.
Kevin Trainor, a geologist with Verdantas Co. in York, Maine, which will be responsible for any spills of hazardous material on-site during the demolition part of the project, told the commission of how Verdantas will be overseeing this aspect of the project.
Trainor said the work to be done in the decommissioning and demolition of the above-ground tanks will be conducted principally outside of the wetlands buffer zone, though some portion of the project will encroach on the buffer zone.
Trainor told the commission that ultimately, “There will be a tremendous environmental benefit with the removal of these tanks,”
Trainor noted that there have been more than 60 documented releases of petroleum products by Global in the operation of its tank farm over the years. Five of the spills were inherited by the new owner, all of which are underneath the tanks and have not been addressed in the past, as part of the transaction.
Trainor indicated that testing will be conducted for the ground underneath the tanks themselves as each of the tanks is demolished.
Trainor pointed out that development of the property is deed-restricted to avoid identified areas of the property where there is known contamination that still exists. He said these contaminated areas are stable and will not be disturbed by the construction of the warehouse.
Nick Scola, an engineer with VHB Co. of Watertown, explained how stormwater will be collected and treated during the demolition process and that the new system will be an improvement over what exists now.
Dan Connerton, a vice-president for development for the East region with Logistics, LLC, the actual owner of the property, added that his company has received awards from the federal and state environmental agencies for Logistics’ environmental record in reducing carbon emissions and improving environmental resiliency with its projects.
“This type of project is what we do,” said Connerton. “We try to unlock these environmentally-challenged sites to redevelop them, re-purpose them, and clean them up to turn them into state of the art logistics facilities that will bolster the local economies.
“You’re in good hands with us,” Connerton added.
The commission then voted to approve the Notice of Intent and issued the usual Order of Conditions, though with some minor additions particular to the project.
“For the record, this is a great project and the long-term impact of the project will be a benefit to the environment,” said Shue.
In other matters before the ConsComm, the commissioners heard a request from David Walker, a vice president for construction for Hines Construction Co., for confirmation that the proposed relocation of a transformer by National Grid does not have a significant impact that requires either amending the present Order of Conditions (OOC) or the filing of a new Notice of Intent (NOI) for the apartment construction project at 646 Ocean Avenue (DEP File #061-0730).
Walker explained that since the initial design plan was developed, National Grid has decided to place its transformers outside of the building, rather than inside.
Hynes has obtained a building permit from the city based on the outside location of the transformers, but National Grid has asked Hines to obtain a determination from the ConsComm that either a new NOI or amended OOC is not needed.
The members voted to determine that the change is not significant enough to warrant either a new NOI or an amendment to the OOC.
A similar request was presented for the construction project by Amazon for its warehouse at 565 Squire Road (DEP File #061-0745) for confirmation from the commission that a proposed change from National Grid to reroute a proposed underground electrical service to overhead is not significant and does not require an amendment to the existing OOC or a new NOI.
Matthew Costa, a civil engineer with Beals Associates, presented the request to the commission. Costa showed the commissioners a drawing of the project and explained that National Grid now wants an overhead line.
Costa told the commission that the entire project should be ready within a year.
The commission voted that the proposed change is not significant enough to warrant either a new NOI or an amended OOC.
In a separate matter, the commission learned that the new fire station at the Point of Pines will be delayed because the state has determined that the land essentially is a sand dune and therefore the new fire station must be constructed on pilings. The commission next will meet on Wednesday, September 7
