Bellingham Conservation Commission Delays MBTA Herbicide Plan, Demands Zone Changes Near Charles River

BELLINGHAM -- March 12, 2025, Bellingham Conservation Commission pauses MBTA herbicide plan review over Charles River water-quality concerns. The commission voted unanimously at its March 12 meeting to continue its review of the MBTA's 2026-to-2030 commuter rail Vegetation Management Plan to April 9, after members raised concerns about GIS-based wetland mapping accuracy and the proximity of roadbed chemical treatment zones to the pesticide-impaired Charles River headwaters. MBTA representative Matt Donovan offered to reclassify several blue treatment zones, where full roadbed herbicide application is permitted, to more restrictive yellow zones along sensitive segments, and agreed to deliver rescaled maps by March 14. Commission members will negotiate specific zone changes before the April 9 hearing. The board also unanimously approved orders of conditions for notices of intent at 621 Ramshorn Road and 340 Hartford Avenue, continued two new ANR-lot applications on Blackstone Street pending wetland re-flagging and a site walk, and issued an enforcement order against a Granite Street property owner who had continued filling activity in a buffer zone after a prior hearing.