MCV Testifies In Favor of Public Lands Preservation Act
On April 23, 2019, the Massachusetts Conservation Voters (MCV) testified in support of the Public Lands Preservation Act (PLPA).
The need for this bill became abundantly clear during the last session when the City of Fitchburg, the town of Westminster, and Waste Management asked legislators to late file a bill, H-4677, to take 85 acres of the Leominster State Forest for an expansion of the Fitchburg-Westminster Landfill.
When MCV learned of this proposal, a month before the session ended, we joined a number of groups in asking House Ways & Means to keep it in committee. MCV also authored an Op-Ed piece opposing the bill, which appeared in the Worcester Telegram on Dec. 14th. Some people in the area, who have problems with the way the landfill is run now, only found out about the expansion plan via that column.
The process was clearly at odds with the spirit of the
Article 97 land conversion review policy in place at the Executive Office...