(The summary presents an overview of the Hackett Hill protection-development plans. To obtain more detailed information, use the Subtopics links listed at the bottom of this page)
During 1998,
Manchester's intention to purchase the Hackett Hill property from
UNH, and to create a "high quality" industrial park on this land,
became increasing apparent. Nearly concurrently, city officials
became involved in another highly significant issue - an EPA mandate
to upgrade the city's aging CSO (combined sewer overflow) system.
Although initially it appeared that the two issues were seemingly
unrelated, it turned out that they would soon become closely
linked.
Whenever there are periods of intense flooding in Manchester, the stormwater overwhelms the sewage treatment system and a mix of stormwater and untreated wastewater is discharged into the Merrimack river, and its tributary, the Piscataquog River. EPA data indicate that this discharge exceeds state water quality standards. However EPA officials realized that the cost to the city of a complete revamping of the CSO system would be extremely high.The agency consequently settled for a solution to the problem which it termed "a watershed approach to clean-ups."
An EPA/DES mandate, published as a "Findings and Compliance Order", was prepared. According to its terms, Manchester will be required to upgrade only part of its CSO system. Furthermore, this work can be spread out over a decade, and its results will not be fully evaluated until the end of that time period. However to counterbalance this leniency, the EPA mandate called for Manchester to spend 5.6 million dollars on a "Supplemental Environmental Projects Program" (SEPP). The projects to be undertaken will address various environmental problems that exist in the city. One of the projects is to furnish protection for the unusual natural communities found on the Hackett Hill property.
The
only public hearing held which concerned the Hackett Hill property
sale took place on September 30,1998. It dealt primarily with
financial arrangements to be made by the city in acquiring the land
parcel, which is over 800 acres in size, at a cost of $7.2 million.
At this time, those portions of the Hackett Hill property that would
receive "protection" were only generally identified, but a protected
zone of 300 acres in size was mentioned. It would include the
forested wetlands, or swamps, that contain the Atlantic white cedars,
giant rhododendrons and black gum trees - a decision arrived at via
negotiations between Manchester and the EPA, the DES and The Nature
Conservancy. Nevertheless, at the public hearing, reference was also
made by Robert MacKenzie, Director of Planning, to plans for
"sensitive development sites" that "are very close to some of the
unique wetlands." He noted that "certain unique things like
controlling storm water run off" would take place on these sites. He
also mentioned the possibility of expanding the existing roadway
network. It was established by a question addressed to Mr. MacKenzie
during the "public comment" part of the meeting that the planned
development would indeed occur within the watersheds of some of the
"protected" swamps.
The relationship of the Hackett Hill plans to the EPA Compliance Order was not discussed at the public hearing. Subsequently however, newspaper articles in the Boston Globe, the New Hampshire Sunday News and the Manchester Union Leader reported the generalities of the CSO agreement and its relationship to the Hackett Hill property sale.
Manchester was not permitted to finalize a purchase-sales agreement with USNH until the EPA had approved the city's general plans for its CSO upgrade. In early 1999, these plans were approved and on March 16, the agreement was signed by the City of Manchester and USNH at a hastily-called press conference. The CSO Findings and Compliance Order was also signed at this time by the EPA, DES and the City of Manchester. Neither members of the Manchester Conservation Commission nor the Aldermanic Board were in attendance at the press conference, and the public had no advance notice of it. Among those individuals who were present and voiced their strong approval of the agreement were John DeVillars, Regional EPA Administrator, and Jeanne Shaheen, Governor of New Hampshire. DeVillars also implied that Vice President Al Gore was supportive of the plan.
Newspaper accounts, including an AP article which called
the CSO-SEPP-Hackett Hill preserve-development agreement the first of
its kind, gave the deal a highly favorable "spin". These reports led
the public to believe that a compromise had been reached which
pleased not only federal, state and city officials, but
environmentalists as well, and that 375 acres of land were to
be"protected". Mayor Wieczorek was quoted as saying that only 140
acres would be developed on the Hackett Hill property and noted that
"There's a big area for conservation." Other newspaper accounts
emphasized that the city would be permitted to develop the portion of
the land near the F.E. Turnpike, which borders the property on the
south - a point quite distant from the forested wetlands. However no
specifics concerning the planned development were released to the
public. Instead it was announced that a "master plan" for the
property had yet to be completed.
Although a full-fledged "master plan" for the property may have been lacking at the time of the formalized signings, nevertheless, considerable specifics about the disposition of the Hackett Hill property had been completed.This information, which only became available to the public after the March 16 press conference, is contained in two documents. They are:
1. The "Hackett Hill Preserve and Development Plan" (the foundation for the city's master plan for development which was eventually presented in September,2000.)
(The "plan" is actually a map dated February 26, 1999)
2. The EPA Findings and Compliance Order
The documents can be obtained from:
Manchester City Planning and Community Development Office One City Hall Plaza, Manchester, NH 03101 (Tel 603-624-6450).
The map (see first subtopic below) does show that the Hackett Hill property will contain a "Preserve" that is 375 acres in size, but amazingly, four euphemistically-labeled "Sensitive Development Areas" and one "Potential Development Area" are shown that are situated as "islands" within this region.The map reveals that two of these development areas are located at the periphery of the watershed of a large Atlantic white cedar/giant rhododendron swamp; one area is located within the watershed of another large Atlantic white cedar swamp; and two areas are located with the watershed of a relatively small Black Gum swamp. Thus these development areas will be directly adjacent to the wetlands that have been identified by environmentalists as most important to protect!
The EPA Compliance Order gives the sequence in which the preservation - development activity must take place. The fact that the five development areas will be excluded from the Preserve is clearly stated. This action is then justified by a statement that Manchester needs to derive substantial financial gain from its purchase of the property.
The above proceedings exhibit greed on the part of Manchester city officials, and a lack of sensitivity for the natural world. Furthermore, it appears that all of the individuals involved in the negotiations, regardless of their affiliation, felt that public participation in the decision-making processes was unnecessary; and that the true nature of the land protection arrangements need not be made known to the public.