BOSTON MA (1/4/2019) – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has assessed a $54,600 penalty against Cnossen Realty Trust for violating state wetlands regulations at a property that the Trust owns off of Commerce Drive in Uxbridge.

At the request of the Uxbridge Conservation Commission, MassDEP staff inspected the property and found that the Trust had cleared and altered 2½ acres of land in the floodplain and more than an acre of Bordering Vegetated Wetlands within protected species habitat, without obtaining a permit from the Conservation Commission.

To address the violations, the Trust has reached a settlement with MassDEP, in which it agreed to restore the altered wetland resource areas, pursue certification of potential vernal pools in the altered area, and pay the full penalty.

“Riverfront area, river bank, bordering vegetated wetlands and land subject to flooding are significant wetland resource areas that provide valuable wildlife habitat and several important functions related to water quality and stormwater protection,” said Mary Jude Pigsley, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester. “It is important that any work in these areas is approved through the wetland permitting process, and conditioned to protect those functions for the benefit of public welfare and the environment.”

Contact: Ed Coletta 617-292-5737