I have some questions for you. Do you believe that access to clean, safe drinking water is a right for all residents? Do you believe that no amount of money is worth the risk of contaminating our water supply? Do you believe that doing whatever we can to protect our drinking water supply should be a top priority? If your answer is yes to any one of these questions, please continue reading.
There is trouble in “river city”! Are we having trouble with forgetfulness? Have we forgotten that we have a shared responsibility with three other communities to do the most we can to protect the Barnes Aquifer, a major source of drinking water for four communities? Where is this thing called the Barnes Aquifer, anyway? Well, in case you didn’t know, much of it sits below the Westfield Barnes Regional Airport and extends below several large and small industrial parcels of land on the Northside of the city. It also branches into Holyoke, Easthampton and Southampton. Since it is out of sight, it may explain why it is out of mind for some. Should we be forgiven, if we forget it’s there, sitting beneath the ground we cover with runways, parking lots, driveways, and buildings large and small? All of which are referred to as impervious surfaces by the way. Surfaces that water cannot pass through in order to recharge the aquifer. We forget it’s there beneath the ground we spray with chemical fertilizer, fuel oil, fire-fighting foam, pesticides and recycled crushed or crumbed tire rubber. All of these have the potential to contaminate our water supply.
Neighboring communities have addressed their concerns to us about potential sources of contamination in Westfield that could negatively impact their own drinking water. We need to step up, do the right thing and be a good neighbor. We need to be much more aware of how our use of land impacts groundwater. One of the ways to accomplish this is to protect the recharge areas of our aquifer. If we cover too much of it with impervious surface we will have a problem. That fact is one of the important parts of the ongoing discussion to create more protective language in the Westfield Water Resource Protection District Zoning Ordinance.
Water resource protection cannot be stressed enough. Its importance is a high priority for the Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee (BAPAC) and the Westfield City Council’s Natural Resources Committee (NRC). Over the past several months, much discussion has been generated and concerns have been voiced by residents and city officials at recent meetings held by these committees. Both committees agree that the Water Resource District Zoning Ordinance needs to be strengthened to ensure that it adequately protects the Barnes Aquifer, an important drinking water supply!
The NRC has reviewed some of the preliminary suggestions of BAPAC. BAPAC will be sending a letter with their final recommendations to the NRC committee for discussion at their May 9, 2017, meeting. For those coming late to the discussion, the current ordinance can be found at http://www.cityofwestfield.org/DocumentCenter/View/892 . We are learning first hand the value of prevention versus the cost of remediation to fix this water problem — a staggering 5 million dollars plus expenses to date.
I leave you with two important words to keep in mind: oversight and enforcement. No matter how strong we make the regulations, without oversight and enforcement they are not worth the paper they are written on. We absolutely need to guarantee oversight and enforcement of our ordinances and regulations.
If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to NRC members, Councilors Babinski, O’Connell and Figy.
Finally, I wish to thank DPW Director, Dave Billips and City Engineer, Mark Cressotti for attending the Ward 1 meeting on April 12, 2017. Their updates and contributions to the discussions about roads, water, sewers, stormwater, taxes, spending and privatization were much appreciated. It is evident that they are both very passionate about the work they do for the city.
For your information, I will be holding Ward 1 office hours on Monday, May 15, 2017, in the Barnes Regional Airport Conference Room located at 100 Airport Road from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.
I wish you all a Peaceful and Happy Easter and Passover Season.
As always, I encourage you to reach out to me with your questions or concerns: [email protected] or 413-568-8562
Sincerely,
Mary Ann Babinski, Ward 1 City Councilor
