8 Noel Street - ANR

Boston Gas Company, through LEC Environmental Consultants, submitted a Request for Determination of Applicability for 8 Noel Street (Coastal Connections, Inc.) asking the Amesbury Conservation Commission to find that a man‑made stormwater basin on the property is not a jurisdictional wetland under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act or the City of Amesbury Wetlands Protection Ordinance. The basin is described as about 26,000 square feet, with 4–7‑foot earthen berms along the east side and 2–5‑foot man‑made slopes elsewhere. A 36‑inch corrugated metal pipe in the easterly berm (partially buried and partially clogged) conveys stormwater east into a shallow ditch, then into a bordering vegetated wetland and the Powwow River. The basin is largely dominated by the invasive common reed (Phragmites australis). LEC performed a wetland delineation on June 13, 2024, and GEI Consultants prepared an Existing Conditions Plan dated August 8, 2025 that maps the basin, wetland limits, flood zones, and riverfront protection boundaries.

The RDA states the basin was likely constructed in the late 1960s and continues to function as a stormwater management feature, and therefore requests a Negative Determination that the basin itself is not an area subject to jurisdiction. The submission notes that most of the basin falls within the mapped Riverfront Area of the Powwow River and that other resource areas on the parcel include BVW, IVW, Bank/Mean Annual High Water, and Bordering Land Subject to Flooding. The filing explains that changes to the Wetlands Protection Act regulations in 2014 exclude stormwater features constructed after November 18, 1996 from creating jurisdictional resource areas, and requests that the Commission consider the pre‑1996 feature on a case‑by‑case basis. The RDA indicates no physical work is proposed as part of this filing; Boston Gas has stated it intends to use portions of 8 Noel Street for equipment laydown for a separate river remediation effort tied to the former Amesbury MGP, and that any remediation‑related activities within the Commission’s jurisdiction will be addressed in a future Notice of Intent. The RDA was submitted August 12, 2025, associated fees and public notifications were filed, and a virtual public hearing is scheduled for September 2, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.