BOSTON -The owner of a Salisbury marina property, has been fined $14,380 by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), for failure to take necessary safety measures prior to initiating construction activities on the site at 179 Bridge Street.
The property is owned by the commercial realty firm BM, LLC, and has an Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) attached to its deed. The AUL specifically requires the formulation of a health and safety plan, and a soil management plan prepared by a licensed environmental consultant.
The AUL was conducted properly and attached to the deed on November 30, 2010 by the prior owner, Bridge Marina Trust. The AUL was finalized after residual petroleum contamination from leaking underground storage tanks had been removed. BM, LLC purchased the property on June 1, 2012, and the deed restriction was a part of the transfer at that time.
As part of an audit, MassDEP inspected the site on May 21, 2015. Extensive excavation and trenching was observed, which MassDEP was told was due to the owner’s upgrading of the electrical utility lines. However, no site safety plan or soil management plan had been prepared and submitted to MassDEP prior to this work, a violation of the AUL.
“AULs are required to ensure current – and future – property owners take appropriate safety measures in the event soil on a contaminated site is disturbed,” said Eric Worrall, director of MassDEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilmington. “In this instance, the property owner did not take those necessary precautions.”
BM, LLC will pay $7,000 of the penalty and, provided there are no further violations over 60 days, the remaining $7,380 will be suspended.
MassDEP is responsible for ensuring clean air and water, safe management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites and spills and the preservation of wetlands and coastal resources.