Report Focuses On Environmental Cleanups In New Bedford

The author of a new report on contamination sites in New Bedford hopes the document will be used to bring different factions together to resolve those issues.

The draft report, done by Conservation Law Foundation Vice-President Veronica Eady, was discussed Saturday at the Downtown Library in New Bedford. The report identifies the Parker Street waste site and New Bedford Harbor as major pollution risks.

Eady tells WBSM News, its time for state and federal regulators to meet community groups half-way on the issues. "If EPA says this is the remedy that we have for the Superfund site and that's all you're going to get, the EPA should think outside of the box, and take a step toward the community. Then perhaps the community might take a step toward the EPA," said Eady.

Several groups were critical of the pace of the cleanups, and "Clean" representative Eddie Johnson expressed frustration that a proposed environmental justice ordinance for New Bedford has been stalled in a City Council committee for several years.

In the past, business leaders wanted no part of the ordinance because of what they perceived would be added costs for businesses wishing to locate in New Bedford.