Way back in February, when there was still ice on the ground and misery in the frozen, Boston air, I took a trip to the Belle Isle Salt Marsh at the end of the MBTA Blue Line. And then I wrote a bit about it.
For a while, I’ve been quietly researching and scoping out this little independent ecosystem within Boston, which is managed in part by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
I’ve interviewed Matt Nash and Geoff Wood of the DCR, as well as attended a Boston Natural Areas Network, made connections with the Friends of Belle Isle Group including Gail Miller and Dani Foley, and reached out the the BNAN’s program manager, Candice Cook, for more information.
It’s been a long and tiring road since February, and I’ve learned a lot about myself and about the marsh since I made that first trip out there. I just wanted to share a few interesting facts and other tidbits that I’ve encountered along the way. In part, to act as a status update on my progress with this project, as well as a little selfish reminder to me in the future, that I did, in fact, gain a lot from my research.
The most interesting little fact that I learned in my research had to do with the casino that is being developed in Revere, less than a tenth of a mile from Belle Isle. Plans for the casino originally developed in the fall with Caesars Entertainment, but that agreement was cut off and transferred to Mohegan Sun after it was discovered that Caesars had connections with Russian mobsters and had sponsored a visa for an professional hit man. I’m not joking.
Rendered plans of the new Mohegan Sun Resort in Revere, MA.
Now, plans are going forward with Mohegan Sun, but environmental groups are more than concerned. I interviewed interested parties from the Friends of Belle Isle group and was able to get my hands on a couple of environmental reviews that they had a hired consultant do. Turns out Mohegan Sun has already been trying to cut corners.
Caesars had already conducted an environmental review for the plans they had to build. When Mohegan Sun came in, they tried to use the same environmental review that Caesars had already paid for and conducted, despite the fact that there were vast differences between the two plans:
- Mohegan Sun’s plans include a 1.66 million square foot parking garage, whereas Caesars had plans for limited underground parking.
- Mohegan Sun plans to add an additional 43,757 square feet of Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage, and as the review points out “in an increase of nearly 15% from the previous Caesars project.”
- Mohegan Sun plans to add 22% more hotel rooms
- There are also plans to increase square footage dedicated to retail by 240%
- And probably the most offensive: Mohegan Sun, because it moved all of its development into the Revere town lines, will “not be performing a microscale and stationary source analysis [for Air Quality] because the project is no longer located in Boston.”
The casino, while it cannot be stopped, can definitely try a little bit harder to be more eco friendly. It has a long way to go.
For Nature, Wherever I May Find Her 