Worcester Homeless Camp Clearing Led To Environmental Law Violation: Commission

WORCESTER, MA — The Walmart store along Tobias Boland Way in Worcester violated a state environmental law after cutting down scores of trees from along the banks of the Blackstone River following a homeless camp clearing in 2021, according to city documents.

More than a year later, the company is being monitored by the Worcester Conservation Commission as it works to restore about 200 trees removed during the clearing. Under state law, Walmart would've needed permission and a monitoring plan from the conservation commission to perform major work in the 100-foot buffer zone near the river — a sensitive area that helps control flooding, erosion and pollution.

In October 2021, a homeless camp located in the woods between the Walmart parking lot and the Blackstone was cleared in a joint effort by MassDOT, a railroad company, the shopping plaza owner RK Worcester Crossing LLC and city police. At the time, construction equipment was used to remove belongings from parts of the camp and clear trees and other vegetation along the river.

The clearing continued in the months after the initial sweep, with hundreds of trees cut down from buffer zones near a section of river protected under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, according to city documents. Almost all of those trees were removed from within 15 feet of the river between McKeon Road and the Blackstone bike path.

A member of the Conservation Commission initially noticed the potentially unlawful work, according to Worcester Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn, who oversees the commission. The city issued a cease-and-desist order to the shopping center owner on Dec. 14, 2021.

Arkansas-based Walmart did not respond to a request for comment about why the trees were removed without permission from the commission. The trees were "inadvertently" removed, according to a report prepared for Walmart by the environmental consulting company Apex Companies.

The Apex report said that the clearing work may have also disturbed potentially contaminated soil along the Blackstone, which was polluted throughout the 19th and 20th centuries by industrial uses along the river.

"[A]dditional personal protective equipment or protocols may be required for work proposing additional disturbance for site restoration and planting activities in areas associated with historical contamination," the report said.

The Walmart shopping plaza sits on a 44-acre site that was formerly home to a Washburn-Moen and U.S. Steel Co. plant.

A portion of the land owned by MassDOT was also cleared, but the work was not performed by the transportation agency, according to Apex.

The Providence and Worcester Railroad in October 2021 also cleared a piece of land it owns along the Blackstone across the river from Walmart. The Worcester Conservation Commission attempted to cite the railroad, but didn't have jurisdiction because the company is regulated by the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, Dunn said. The railroad has agreed to do some planting along the river bank, which is still bare.

"We have communicated with the railroad, and our understanding is that they are willing to mitigate the issue by installing erosion controls and plantings. We believe plantings will be installed in the spring.

After halting the work in late 2021, Walmart was asked to create a plan to restore the river bank. That plan is being monitored by the Conservation Commission, and includes replanting many trees along the river. The fresh plantings are visible today along the river between McKeon Road and the Walmart parking lot.

The restoration plan was up for a public hearing on Monday, but the commission voted to postpone until Jan. 30.