NEW ENGLAND DISTRICT

News Stories

New England District project sites celebrate National Public Lands Day

USACE, New England District
Published Nov. 8, 2017
National Public Lands Day at Buffumville Lake

Buffumville Lake volunteers improve the main stair pollinator garden during National Public Lands Day, September 30, 2017.

Boys working National Public Land Day at West Hill Dam.

Boys work together to place mulch on the playground at West Hill Dam during National Public Lands Day 2017.

Three New England District recreation areas held events to celebrate environmental stewardship and volunteerism.  Buffumville Lake/Hodges Village Dam, West Hill Dam and Surry Mountain Lake all held events in honor of National Public Lands Day.

The West Hill Dam team in Massachusetts had over 150 volunteers, many of them Scouts and Junior Rangers, come out to get their hands dirty in the name of improving the environment. 

Work included clearing and improving miles of trails, resurfacing the park playground, cleaning and sealing the beach gliders and picnic pads, improving the access ramp and platform, adding a pollinator garden and painting all the bridge railings.

Buffumville Lake/Hodges Village Dam in Massachusetts hosted an event on Sept. 30.  About 95 volunteers and five Park Rangers performed work that included 30 pounds of trash cleanup, improving five 4’x4’ pollinator gardens, and improving two disc golf tee baskets.  Volunteers also removed 500 pounds of invasive plants, reinstalled a mini nine-hole disc golf course, cleared Purple Loosestrife and woody vegetation from Cranberry Bog Island, cut park understory and plant pine saplings, replaced railroad ties and fixed tier stairs; painted 75 park grills, fixed and added split rail fence in the park; painted water sealer on exit guardrail and improved the pollinator garden at the main stair garden.  This year marks the projects’ 26th year participating in National Public Lands Day.

Also on Sept. 30, Alicia Lacrosse, Park Ranger at Surry Mountain Lake in New Hampshire, and eight volunteers braved torrential downpours and slippery conditions for about an hour to pull 15 trash bags full of the invasive Purple Loosestrife from a wetland at the project.  Among the volunteers were two students from Keene High School who also earned credits for their AP science class.

The efforts of the volunteers this year saved the government thousands of dollars in labor costs and helped keep the recreational areas in good conditions for everyone to enjoy year-round.


The Pawcatuck River Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study

   This proposed plan is presented  to facilitate public involvement in the review and commenting on the remedy selection process for the Nantucket Memorial Airport (NMA) Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS.) 
    The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a No Action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act for the Munitions Response Site-1, Project Number D01MA049901 at NMA located on Nantucket Island, MA.  The proposal was prepared using the Guide to Preparing Superfund Proposed Plans, Records of Decision, and Other Remedy Selection Decision Documents (USEPA, 1999).
    The final decision for NMA Site-1 site will be made after reviewing and considering all information submitted during the public comment period. The proposed decision may be modified based on new information or public comments. The public is encouraged to review and comment on the proposed plan.
    The FUDS program addresses the potential explosives safety, health, and environmental issues resulting from past munitions use at former defense sites under the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Munitions Response Program, established by the U.S. Congress under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program.  
    FUDS only applies to properties that transferred from DoD before October 17, 1986 and the first priority of USACE is the protection of human health, safety, and the environment. 
    The Army is the executive agent for the FUDS Program, and USACE is the lead agency for investigation/reporting and remedial decision-making at this munitions site with regulatory support provided by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).


Updated: 05 December 2016