September 12, 2023 | 1 minute read

This morning we have another climate emergency wake up call. We can't afford to hit the snooze button again.

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Jeff Porter

Member/ Chair, Environmental Law Practice

Get in touch

Jeff Porter

Member/ Chair, Environmental Law Practice

This morning, everyone who lives or works near the Barrett Pond Park Dam in Leominster, Massachusetts has been told evacuate immediately. Yesterday a foot of rain (yes a foot) fell on the area and the future of the dam is, at best, uncertain. Unfortunately, stories of destruction in Massachusetts caused by turning a blind eye toward our climate emergency for too long are becoming a nearly daily occurrence.

I trust the Healey-Driscoll Administration, including Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper, and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bonnie Heiple to do that which has not been done by too many of their predecessors -- make it easier to make ourselves more resilient to our rapidly changing climate and its extreme weather events before it is too late. The "let nature take its course" principle that still animates some provisions of our regulations will cost countless lives and cause unimaginable damage.

It wouldn't be hard to bring our regulations into the 21st century. How do I know that? Because I've actually gone to the effort of penning the revisions to the Commonwealth's laws and/or regulations that would streamline the permitting of nature-based resilience solutions. But I have no pride of authorship. All that is important is that revisions are made, and fast. I'll look forward to seeing meaningful progress soon.

“Flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations is imminent or occurring,” the National Weather Service warned. Numerous roads remain closed and “streams continue to rise due to excess runoff from earlier rainfall,” forecasters said. In Leominister, Mazzarella said about 15 roads remain closed. Crews are surveying the damage, which he estimated would run to millions of dollars and take monnths to repair. “It affects every single section of the city,” he said. “No one escaped this.” Officials have responded to “dozens and dozens of wellbeing checks,” he said. “It’s a miracle that people made it — that we haven’t had any fatalities.”