Environmental Impacts
The scale of this project is hard to comprehend. Virtually all of the yellow-lined area in the NEMT forest around certified vernal pool (CVP #8238) will be clearcut and/or blasted to build a 380,000 sq ft 4-level building in an area where numerous ancient Native American sites have been identified. According to the National Historic Register, there are four known sites in neighboring Breakheart Reservation and fifty sites within one mile. The protected southeastern exposure of the rock outcrop forest is dominated by blueberry and huckleberry and levels out into a park-like semi-open oak and pine woodland with deposits of potter’s clay and abundant surface water in winter. This area may have archaeological resources that were not destroyed by paving and construction as in neighboring Breakheart Reservation. Two species on the MA Endangered Species list, Hentz’s Red-bellied Tiger Beetle and Eastern Whip-poor-will are supported by the unique environmental characteristics of this habitat. (MESA - Massachusetts Endangered Species ACT list)
The 4-level building at the top of the hill will be illuminated at night for adult evening classes, posing an ongoing threat to migrating birds. The new half-mile long road, that will require deicing salts in winter, runs from Farm St to Hemlock Rd, impacting vernal pools and multiple wetlands, obliterating the amphibian migration pathways within the associated vernal pool cluster. Certified vernal pool CVP #8238 is within 400 m of another certified vernal pool by the entrance to Breakheart Reservation, as well as within 400 m of a third vernal pool near Farm St. with multiple mapped and unmapped wetland areas provided additional stops along the migration pathway. The entire upland forest habitat for the wood frogs and spotted salamanders that migrate to breed in the certified vernal pool each spring will be eliminated.
The entire NEMT forest parcel outlined in dark green is 28 acres. Clearing and blasting the rock outcrop forest on the NEMT hilltop site will destroy over 13 acres of endangered species habitat (PH 1550). The threatened Hentz’s Red-bellied Tiger Beetle lives on bedrock outcrops where larvae overwinter in the moss, lichens and cracks in the bedrock. The hilltop forest is almost entirely composed of bedrock outcrops. The threshold for environmental review under MA Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) is the destruction of 2 acres of Priority Habitat for endangered species and yet we were told repeatedly that nothing about this project rises to the level of requiring environmental review.
Boring B-102 bubbling gas and water through winter and early spring.
The hilltop site is volcanic bedrock of the Lynn Volcanic Complex with areas of extremely hard bedrock in the footprint of the proposed project. The drilling time at Boring 106 (B-106) was 145 min/ ft a 7-fold increase over average drilling time of less than 20 min/ft. There is surface groundwater at B-106 creating an open seep or spring. The entire hilltop of fractured bedrock is veined with springs, seeps and groundwater at or close to the surface.
The extremely hard bedrock increases the risk of overblasting with fractures extending into the aquifers below. Boring B-102 was sealed after 24 hrs in May 2021 because of a possible “artesian condition”. The seal did not hold and B-102 was bubbling gas and water through the winter and early spring as seen in the video above. The considerable volume of water coming off of the hill will require underslab drains to continuously funnel the water to holding tanks and then into the wetlands near Farm St. or the Saugus River at Water St. The resulting impacts on our wetlands and streams are unknown but more trees may die, more wetland habitat may be destroyed and the risk of flooding will increase.
The risk of flooding after storms will be further increased by the construction of over 8 acres of impervious surfaces. There have already been serious flooding events in June Circle after a rain storm with flooding of yards and the street. The considerable volume of water coming off from the underground streams and springs will ultimately go into into the wetland next to June Circle and the Saugus River near Water St.
The hundreds of oaks and pines in this historic rock outcrop forest and vernal pool cluster with abundant surface water currently functions as migratory and nesting bird habitat. Oaks are keystone species and support more wildlife than any other tree species. Oaks host over 400 caterpillar species, provided high energy food needed by migrating warblers during their refueling stopover before continuing north to their breeding sites. In mid-April the forest rang with the songs of migrating warblers and kinglets, too many to count. Chickadees returning to nest in the forest require approximately 500 caterpillars/day to feed their young over a period of 2 weeks, or approximately 7,000 caterpillars.
The alternative to building on the hilltop is to build the new school on the playing fields as recommended in the 2016 pre-feasibility report. According to NEMT’s own documents, building the new school on the playing fields has the lowest new construction cost and shortest building construction schedule.
The NEMT forest is a unique rock outcrop forest, free of the invasive species found in so many of our woodlands. With a Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) now at 43, where 20-35 is considered high quality, and above 35 is exceptional. This is an exceptional forest ecosystem that has taken a long time to develop and is irreplaceable. This vibrant, climate-resilient ecosystem is also an incredible resource for teaching ecology, natural history and environmental education.
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker creating sapwells on a Hickory tree in the NEMT Forest.