05/14/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Tara Monks // Tara Monks
Boston, MA – A US District Court judge has vowed to ensure the Massachusetts Department of Transportation complies with a two-year-old order to control storm water runoff from the state’s highways, according to The Boston Globe. The judge sharply criticized the state for its lack in action since the 2008 ruling, claiming he would drive around and check to make sure efforts of reform were underway.
According to a transcript from the status hearing earlier in the week of May 10, 2010, Judge William G. Young told the DOT “I hoped for, I expected compliance. There has not been compliance.”
These words of anger and disappointment are a 180-degree turn from his initial ruling in the case that was brought by environmental groups claiming the state ignored the federal Clean Water Act. When the judge first ordered the department to clean up the roadways and better control storm water runoff, he praised the highway agency for doing a good job overall, given fiscal and other constraints the department faced.
At that time, Young told the organization to develop a plan to fix road runoff problems and highlighted the need for immediate action at a site on Interstate 190 in Lancaster.
According to Young, nothing has been done over the past two years. He explained, “To say I’m disappointed is mild…The Commonwealth has, I won’t say ignored the order, but in essence has done nothing other than plan.”
The state DOT protested the judge’s reprimand and order to comply immediately, but promised to abide.
The judge’s 2008 order was based on a lawsuit first filed in 2005 by the Conservation Law Foundation, Charles River Watershed Association and Leominster Land Trust. The groups sued in order to force the state to prevent oil, brake fluid, heavy metals and other contaminants from washing into waterways from the roads and highways.
Conservation Law Foundation Senior Attorney Christopher Kilian stated “The reason we filed the lawsuit is that [the state] was completely ignoring the [federal] Clean Water Act for over a decade.”
Roadway pollution is a major source of contamination in rivers, streams and lakes. Efforts to lessen the environmental impact of roadways is one of the most expensive projects for states.
The judge claimed that if three specific areas have not been addressed by June 8, he will impose “sanctions,” though he did not clarify what they would be.
In 2008, state highway officials stated it was difficult to conduct runoff management on roadways that were not already undergoing work because of the cost. They estimated the changes could reach costs of hundreds of millions of dollars.
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