State Upholds Airport Tree Cutting Plan

 CHATHAM – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has upheld the conservation commission’s approval of the trimming and removal of trees and other vegetation near a vernal pool adjacent to Chatham Municipal Airport.

 The project, part of the airport’s vegetation management plan, “will not destroy or otherwise impair the bordering vegetated wetlands” and meets the performance standards in the state Wetlands Protection Act, according to a decision letter issued earlier this month by Maissoun E. Reda, chief of the agency’s Bureau of Water Resources Wetlands Program.

 The decision clears the way for the trimming and removal of trees and other vegetation around the vernal pool located to the south of the runway, which the airport commission says is necessary for safety. The vegetation management plan also calls for trimming and removal of trees which have grown into the airport flight path elsewhere on the airport property and on numerous private properties.

 “The airport commission is extremely pleased with the decision handed down by the DEP on the order of conditions,” airport commission Chair Huntley Harrison wrote in an email. He lauded the “expert” preparation and review of the plans by airport consultant Gale Association and the conservation commission’s environmental consultant GZA. 

“The next steps are to complete the bid package and put the project out to bid,” Harrison said. “We hope to start work in the late fall of this year.”

The state appeal of the July decision by the conservation commission was filed by 18 residents who live near the airport. 

"We are disappointed by this decision but understand that the DEP is bound by the limits of the Wetlands Act,” David Bixby, who spearheaded the appeal, wrote in an email. “Unfortunately, the Act does not protect habitat of isolated vernal pools such as we have at the airport.”

He added that the project involved “bigger issues here than just the protection of wetlands. I am in communication with the [Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act] office regarding the possibility of further challenges under the MEPA Act. It is a complex issue and I am not prepared to get into the details at this time."

In the decision letter, Reda wrote that the appeal and materials submitted by the residents "predominantly cite federal, state and local laws that are outside the department’s jurisdiction.” Those included allegations that airport use and noise would increase due to the removal and trimming of trees. Allegations in the appeal about the lack of public record of the commission’s order and notifications to abutters were not valid, Reda wrote; the project was correctly filed and the decision covered an area subject to the Wetlands Protect Act. Further, the claim that removal of trees adjacent to Emery Pond would have an adverse impact on protected species was countered by a determination by the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program determination that the work would not adversely affect rare wildlife resource areas.

Wetland protection extends 100 feet beyond the vernal pool habitat, Reda wrote, and no work is proposed within that area.

Minor tree work was done over this winter on airport property, Harrison said, mostly routine maintenance that requires no permitting. 

“The [vegetation management plan] does not limit what tree work can be done on airport property where permits are not required,” he said. “As trees continue to grow, this maintenance is necessarily ongoing and has been for years. Recently, we have alerted the tree warden for any work that will be done and have received his sign-off for the work.”

The commission will send letters next month to off-airport property owners about contacting them regarding tree work on their properties and reviewing specific trees that need to be removed or pruned. 

“It has been three years since these trees have been looked at and they are still growing, so it is extremely important to finally get this process started,” Harrison said.