Over the last couple of weeks the Baker Administration has made a number of significant appointments to his new environmental team. Some of these include Mathew Beaton to head the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and George N. Peterson to lead the MA Department of Fish and Game. Both are former legislators and while I don’t know either of them well, we look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.

I am very also very pleased to report that Martin Suuberg has been appointed as the new Commissioner of MassDEP. Marty served most recently as the Undersecretary of Environmental Affairs, where he facilitated discussions between state agencies on what can be done to clean up PCB contamination in the Neponset River and restore migration of herring and shad up the River to where they lay their eggs. While we’re not expecting any miracles, Suuberg has always been understanding of our concerns and treated them fairly.

MassDEP will soon be issuing new 20 year Water Management Act permits to public water suppliers who take their drinking water from the River or its tributaries. NepRWA will be asking suppliers to make the maximum feasible water conservation effort to improve summer stream flows that are currently severely limiting fish populations and diversity. Because state environmental regulatory programs are run by MassDEP, we will be working with the new Commissioner to ensure that his agency receives adequate funding from the Legislature and the Governor.

Steve Pearlman, Advocacy Director