Healey awards environment restoration funds following Colrain acid spill
An environmental restoration project has been ongoing following an acid spill from the Barnhardt Manufacturing Facilities in 2019, and the surrounding ecosystem has continued to be impacted as a result.
Sewage spill stopped in Connecticut River after DEEP makes repair
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) said that the acid spill soaked into the ground and flowed into the North River, damaging over 14 acres of sensitive cold-water fishery habitat and wetland resources, including the habitat of two state-listed rare species. Through the MassDEP Natural Resources Damages Program, the Healey-Driscoll administration has used settlement funds to award a grant of $224,100 to help restore and repair these damages.
Using the grant funds, the town of Colrain and the Connecticut River Conservancy plan to hire a consultant to design the removal of the Colrain Lower Reservoir Dam and stabilize stream banks adjacent to the fire station. The projects will benefit the North River's fisheries, aquatic life, wetlands, and sediment.
'For decades, the North River watershed served as a habitat for fish and wildlife, and a recreational resource for fishing, hunting, and shellfishing,' said MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple. 'We are grateful to be working with the Connecticut River Conservancy and the Town of Colrain to improve water quality and fish habitat in the North River. By working together, we will restore natural resources in Colrain.'
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Boston Globe
Don't buy your kids a phone. Buy them a watch.
Write to us at . To subscribe, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT I knew they were arguing about something when they got off the bus, and my older son, who was finishing his second year of high school, came through the door first complaining about how his little brother and his sixth-grade buddies never shut up on the bus. That's when my 12-year-old burst in the door, about to get an 'Amen!' from me. 'It's because we're the only ones who don't have phones!' The Massachusetts Senate wants to make that everyone . The lawmakers recently When my younger son finished elementary school, for a graduation gift we surprised him with a watch, an Apple SE, the cheapest of the Apple watches, because it checked every box you'd want and none you wouldn't. For kids. And probably for adults. Advertisement His crew of buddies received the same exact gift, and what's very weird, and perhaps not surprising, is that the parents hadn't coordinated. It just makes that much sense for a first mobile device. The market for smart watches is already at Advertisement The cellular model of the watch doesn't have to be paired with a phone, and has its own number along with its own plan, which is just $10 a month. (Other brands include Which is the amount of time the average American spends on their phone each day, My 12-year-old remains at zero, and I wish I could join him. For the second straight summer I've watched him get up every day, curl up on the couch, and then speak into his wrist like Buck Rogers. Does anyone want to go fishing? Or play soccer at the school? Let's do something. After breakfast, he disappears on his bike, and will check in with odd questions and requests, coming in and out of the house with other kids with watches. At some point his older brother will emerge to flop onto the couch and disappear into his phone. Advertisement He got his phone for Christmas in eighth grade, which is on the late side. But it didn't take but a moment for him to start using it way too much, just like everyone else. The Massachusetts bill would ban phones from 'bell to bell,' and the hope is that it will lead to improvements in mental health and the social lives of the students, and limit the endless distraction of the world's most influential device begging to be played with. The bill has support from Governor Healey and the state's two largest teachers unions, but it is unclear when the House will take up the matter. Some opponents have listed safety concerns in case of emergency, and say that a ban would deprive schools of the chance to teach students how to become responsible about screen time. That seems like wishful thinking. But this is not: If the House passes the bill, which cruised through the Senate 38-2, it will go into effect for the 2026-2027 school year, and my younger son will graduate from high school without spending a single day in school with a phone to distract him. And his brother will sound like we do when we look back on the days before helmets and seatbelts. He'll talk about being the last generation to spend all day screwing around on his phone, before we realized how antisocial — and harmful — that could be. 🧩 5 Down: 78° Advertisement POINTS OF INTEREST Garrett Crochet (left), Trevor Story (center), and Greg Weissert model some of Paul Procopio's creations. Tim Healey/Globe Staff Cannabis Control Commission: A state audit of the agency that regulates Massachusetts' marijuana industry found Market Basket: A judge granted the grocery chain's request for a restraining order against two fired executives who are allies of its suspended CEO, Language arts: Boston Public Schools are Tough start: Braintree lost its first Little League World Series game in Threatening: Video appears to show a man Storied shirts: This lifelong Red Sox fan has become the source for the team's RFK Jr.: Trump's health secretary is hostile toward the mRNA technology underpinning Covid vaccines, chilling investment in experimental therapies 'Fear everywhere': ICE has focused more on Worcester and Boston so far, but fears of arrest and deportation Arrested: The man who Artificial intelligence: Meta let its AI chatbots have 'romantic or sensual' conversations with kids. Lawmakers pledged to investigate. ( Advertisement VIEWPOINTS Call it antisocial media: Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were meant to foster connection. Instead, A D.C. debate: The capital city's BESIDE THE POINT By Teresa Hanafin 🏟️ Jarren Duran lookalikes: If you think you resemble the Red Sox outfielder, show up on the Big Concourse at Fenway (Gate C) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (you must have a ticket to that game). 🐶 Take one, leave one: At Little Fresh Pond Dog Beach in Cambridge, your canine companion can participate in 🏖️ Same vibe: Obsessed with the Prime Video series 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'? Here are 💿 Quiet summer: No up-tempo, catchy, season-defining hit has emerged as the 2025 song of summer. 📺 Weekend streams: 'Butterfly' on Prime Video, 'Night Always Comes' on Netflix, 'The Legend of Ochi' on HBO Max, and 💘 Blind date: They both enjoy board games, among other things. Will one of them 🔑 Tourist tales: Keys dropped in toilets, shockingly unprepared travelers, missing kids. Here are some wild stories from Advertisement Thanks for reading Starting Point. This newsletter was edited by ❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at ✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can 📬 Delivered Monday through Friday. Billy Baker can be reached at
Boston Globe
17-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Caribbean American community advocates recognized at the second annual State House breakfast
Advertisement 'We are here to accentuate the excellence that we see in the room and to never forget that,' said Kwame Elias, the Director of Community Outreach at Boston Caribbean American Association. 'Without unity, there can be no community.' Boston is home to one of the largest Caribbean communities in the country. The city's Caribbean population has grown by 212 percent since 1980, with the three largest countries of origin being the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti, according to Boston's Planning Department. Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, whose mother was born in Grenada and raised in Trinidad, also made appearances. Healey handed the first award to Joyce Stanton, Advertisement Stanton's 'happiness, spirit, and joy are just infectious,' Healey said. 'Congratulations to all of today's awardees,' Healey said during her speech. 'Our administration stands shoulder to shoulder with all the work you're doing.' Chrylann Barrett-Lewis, and Bay Cove Human Services, an organization that supports people with mental health challenges and substance use. When she first found out that she was nominated for the award, she was surprised. She joked that she thought the notification was a 'spam email.' The Boston Caribbean American Association had circulated a form where community members could nominate people they believe elevated the Caribbean experience in the Commonwealth. Afterwards, the board decided on the honorees. Regardless of her initial reaction, Barrett-Lewis, a first-generation Jamaican, said the award is a testament to the strides the Caribbean American community has made. 'It means everything to be able to see representation and to see other folks from the Caribbean making a life,' Barrett-Lewis said. 'A lot of folks leave their original home to come to the United States to make a 'better life.'' The award ceremony comes in the midst of a tense political climate for the Caribbean community. Last September, President Trump repeated baseless claims that undocumented Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were 'eating the dogs.' Melodie Levy, an honoree from North Attleborough, said the Trump presidency feels 'heavy.' 'Even though we are lawyers, doctors, teachers and other professionals, we're not seen as that,' Levy said. 'I hate the word 'aliens.' It just irks me.' Advertisement The Caribbean population has been in Boston for over a century — but only in the past decades has the community started to see Caribbean faces in top political positions. The Boston Caribbean American Association, which officially formed in 2024, has made progress in 'getting stakeholders to take the Caribbean community much more seriously,' Elias said. Denna Mary Gilot, who also works with the organization, emphasized cohesion among the Caribbean communities, which encompasses 13 countries. Though there's different islands, opinions, and dialects, it's about 'unity at the end of the day,' she said. In the upcoming years, the organization hopes to continue advocating for a cultural district and a 'big, welcoming community center' for the Caribbean community — the same way that there's a Chinatown for Chinese immigrants and the North End for Italian immigrants, Elias said. 'Every other immigrant community has a place that they call home. We don't,' Elias said. '(The Caribbean community) is very scattered in our different pockets, in our different neighborhoods.' With the ceremony in its second year, organizers hope to keep the momentum going. 'Hats off to the team, to everyone,' Elias said. 'Here's to year number three.' Jessica Ma can be reached at
Axios
25-06-2025
- Axios
Exclusive: Army secretary hits Georgia barracks for feedback
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll this week kicked off a quality-of-life tour, consulting soldiers about food access, housing and more. Why it matters: Living conditions influence military morale and readiness; horror stories hurt recruiting and retention. Driving the news: Driscoll spoke with dozens of troops Monday at Fort Stewart, Georgia, where the situation in 2022 was so dire that reported on "Operation Eradicate Mold" and "disgusting conditions that would get an apartment or restaurant in the civilian world condemned." "Fort Stewart is renowned for bad barracks," Driscoll told me after touring a few rooms, including one in a building that was shuttered and is now years into a renovation. Some of the issues that 3rd Infantry Division soldiers brought to the secretary's attention: Long walks to get food and odd hours at dining facilities No ovens in some rooms, and other appliance issues Too few trashcans, leading to garbage pileups and litter Bug infestations requiring pest control Larger common areas, so visitors aren't crammed onto beds Zoom out: The Government Accountability Office in 2023 issued a damning report on military housing, documenting instances of hot-water outages, unusable elevators, broken locks and methane leaks. "We found that living conditions in some military barracks may pose potentially serious risks to the physical and mental health of service members, as well as their safety," the watchdog said. Thirty-one recommendations were made. The Pentagon concurred with 23. "When I was in the Army … the same problems existed," Driscoll told Axios. "The sinful part of that is we knew they were problems in 2009, and now it's 2025." Driscoll told multiple 3rd Infantry Division soldiers that they had raised good points. He committed to investigating them. "Until we're able to fix how we, as an Army, structurally accomplish big goals, we will continue to let them down. I hope that we are able to succeed in the things that matter most to them," he said in an interview. "I am very optimistic that … we're about to take a sledgehammer to all of the providers of our dining services."
