Site Evaluation
PERTINENT EXPERIENCE
Legal Research
Environmental Permitting and Compliance
Finn Associates was retained by Dewberry Engineering to provide the research necessary to identify all the permits required to allow the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to implement an environmental mitigation project in the Town of Weymouth.
The project itself was straightforward in its scope: simply enlarge a culvert to enhance the flow of tidal waters into a small, former tidal salt marsh which was receiving restricted tidal flow due to the existing, undersized culvert.
However, residents concern about increased tidal flow enhancing the possibility of flooding was a major impediment to the project implementation. In addition, the fact that the area itself was protected salt marsh, an Area of Critical Environmental Concern, subject to Chapter 91 concerns and US Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction complicated the path forward.
Finn Associates researched the spectrum of required environmental permits and identified the administrative regulations which applied to obtaining each one.
As a consultant to both the Engineering firm of Guertin Elkerton & Associates, Inc., and the law firm of Merrick, Louison & Costello, LLP Mr. Finn testified in Middlesex County Superior Court on behalf of a town located in that county. Preparation for this testimony required significant research. He was recognized, by the Court, as an expert witness in the identification and formation of wetlands. His testimony was critical to the Town's successful defense in this case.
Quincy Reservoir
Commercial Phase 1 Environmental Assessment
MWRA Sludge Processing Facility
Finn Associates has conducted several Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (M.G.L. c. 21E) according to ASTM standards. These assessments have been conducted for private entities, both buyers and sellers, on undeveloped and developed properties.
The Firm has also conducted Wildlife Habitat Assessments according to the provisions of the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (M.G.L. c. 131A) and its implementing regulations (321 C.M.R. 10:00), as well as numerous wetland delineations in accordance with the Wetlands Protection Act (M.G.L. c. 131, § 40) and its implementing regulations (310 C.M.R. 10:00). Given this experience level the firm is well acquainted with the intricacies of the site evaluation process.
In the past, Finn Associates was retained by the engineering firm of Tighe & Bond to manage the preparation of the necessary permits for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's Sludge Processing Facility Expansion and Modification Project at the Quincy, MA. Fore River Shipyard. William Finn as the principal/project manager was responsible for providing assistance to MWRA in obtaining the following permits, licenses and/or approvals for this project: MEPA - Notice of Project Change; Massachusetts Division of Waterways - Chapter 91, Waterways; Massachusetts Division of Water Pollution Control - Water Quality Certificate and NPDES modification; Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management - Consistency Certificate; Massachusetts Historical Commission HABS/HAER documentation; Massachusetts Department of Public Safety - Building, Electrical, Plumbing, and Utilities Permit coordination and the City of Quincy Conservation Commission's Notice of Intent/Order of Conditions. Mr. Finn also drafted the Agency's Section 61 Findings.
The Firm directed and supervised the preparation of the required written, graphic, and photographic documentation for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Surveys for historic equipment and structures at the Fore River Shipyard. Submitted to and reviewed by the United States Department of the Interior's National Park Service's National Register Programs Division, the documentation was accepted and transmitted to the Library of Congress for inclusion in the HABS/HAER collection.
William Finn coordinated the effort for the Authority's proposed gas pipeline project in the Weymouth Fore River.This required coordination with the Weymouth and Braintree Conservation Commissions, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Boston Harbor Pilots Association and the CITGO Terminal operators.
Mr. Finn assisted Dewberry Engineers in conducting approximately two and one half years of permit compliance monitoring for the MWRA's reconstructed reservoir located adjacent to its 20 million gallon underground potable water storage facility in the Quincy Blue Hills.
As a team, the Firms monitored the success of constructed mitigation measures involving wetlands, vegetation plantings, wildlife and fisheries habitat and uses. Our findings resulted in the modification of some permit conditions and pointed toward the successful implementation of the mitigation measures taken by the MWRA.
Permitted Weymouth Culvert
