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Belle Isle News

Published by Friends of Belle Isle MarshNumber 97 December 2015

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Sean Riley has been hired by the Department of Conservation and

Recreation (DCR) for the winter season

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PROGRAMSThe following free winter programs are offered in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Be ready for chilly weather and a breeze. Designed for adults and children ages 10 and older, but all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. There is no need to register for these programs, except the winter

Geoff Wood, long-time Supervisor of Belle Isle Reservation, retired in June 2015. See pages 6 - 7 for a tribute to Geoff.

to manage Belle Isle Reservation. During this appointment he will be

SEAN RILEY APPOINTED TO BELLE ISLE RESERVATION

Keystone XL: A Victory

Opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline started out as a series of

local and regional NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) moments, but came together into one of the most eloquent and most successful grass roots movements in the nation’s history. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, this fall Transcanada sought to withdraw its application to route a pipeline across the US heartland — Protester at one of many anti-pipeline

protests around the country

INSIDEDevelopment at

1181 Bennington Street . . . . . . . . 2

Return of the Osprey . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Birds and Wind Turbines . . . . . . . . 5

Geoff Wood Retires from Belle Isle Marsh Reservation . . . . . 6

Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

. . . . . . 9

The Evolution of Fracking in the Oil and Gas Industry . . . . 10

Seals in the Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

President’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Board of Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Photo by Barbara Bishop

Sean Riley with FBIM Board members (left to right): Mary Mitchell, Erica Foley, Dani Foley, Carina Campobasso

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Breaking news:Development at 1181 Bennington Street

see page 2

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2 Belle Isle News December 2015

but it was too late. On November 6, President Obama accepted Secretary of State Kerry’s determination that “moving forward with the project would signifi cantly undermine our ability to continue leading the world in combating climate change.”

The victory was rightly celebrated. But what is most important is that the pipeline was rejected on the grounds of its signifi cant impact on the global climate. With continued pressure from all of us, the US government must keep moving in the direction this decision has set us on, taking the US and the world ever farther from a reliance on carbon-heavy petroleum and towards new, renewable sources of energy.

Rick WrightGrass roots opposition to Keystone has been most active in Nebraska. Rick Wright, a native Nebraskan, has been providing us with periodic updates on the Keystone fi ght for years. You can search for other articles on this issue in the index of our newsletters http://tinyurl.com/os7jzur.

Keystone Victory (cont.)working on restoring trails, addressing off-leash dog problems, and scheduling nature-based interpretive programing. Sean will also be attending to the various maintenance needs of the Reservation such as snow removal, trash removal, tree care and mowing.

For the past two years, Sean has worked for the DCR as the ranger in charge of the Piping Plover and Least Tern breeding programs on Revere Beach Reservation and Winthrop Shores Reservation. Prior to this Sean worked with Massachusetts Audubon Society and The Trustees of the Reservation on bird banding and threatened species projects. As an avid birder and fi eld naturalist Sean has always made the protection and preservation of local species and habitat a top priority in his work or in his spare time. Sean is excited about his position as the winter steward of the amazing Belle Isle Reservation, and is interested in any ideas or concerns pertaining to the property and its care.

Sean’s fascination with owls has him spending many evenings in the fall working with Massachusetts Audubon staff trapping and banding migratory Saw-whet Owls.

Sean Riley (cont.)

Proposed Development at 1181 Bennington Street We have recently learned that developers Michael Patrick and Brian Hosker want to purchase the property at 1181 Bennington Street, East Boston (at the corner of Palermo Street), demolish the existing auto body shop and an adjacent three-family unit, and build 44 residential units; seven of the units (15%) are designated as “affordable.”

The location for this project is within 50 feet of the 152 acre Department of Conservation’s Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, among the largest of Boston’s remaining salt marshes. This habitat for salt marsh plants and wildlife and a signifi cant resource for migratory birds was designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in 1988. The designation necessitates an intense review of development impacts adjacent to its boundaries. (See http://

friendsofbelleislemarsh.org/Belle_Isle_News/Belle.Isle.News.1988.12.pdf.)

Given the proximity to such a valuable natural resource, the Boston Parks Department has commented on this proposal and Friends of Belle Isle Marsh concurs with many of their concerns. Chief among those concerns are the density and height of the proposed development, which are signifi cantly greater than that currently allowed. The proposed development calls for 44 units, whereas the site is presently zoned for only 27 units. Similarly the development would be 4 stories high along Bennington Street and 55 feet high at the rear of the building on Palermo Street. Presently the allowed height is 35 feet, the height of the abutting 3-decker. In addition, the development would encompass nearly the entire site of the project, although according to present regulations the number of units proposed require 13,200 sq. ft. of adjacent open space.

The proposed development is currently before the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) as an Article 80 Small Project Review. The developers must seek many variances to gain approval from the BRA. In addition to an increase of units to 44, they are seeking a height variance of 10 to 20 feet. They are also seeking to increase the building area from 16,000 sq. ft. to 49,535 sq. ft., and to reduce the rear yard setback from 30 feet to between 8 and 20 feet. Finally, they are seeking to reduce onsite parking spaces from the 79 required for so many units to only 44.

Recently some members of the FBIM Board met with one of the developers, Michael Patrick, and discussed our concerns for a proposal of this magnitude, citing the impacts that a development this size might have on Belle Isle Reservation. We discussed impacts the building itself might have,

Continued on page 3

Belle Isle News December 2015 3

Above: Aerial view of proposed development site.

Left: Sketch of proposed development as viewed from Bennington Street.

...and the Previous Owner

Back in 2012, the owner of the Auto Doctor at 1181 Bennington Street in East Boston was fi ned $170,000 for illegal dumping — or allowing others to dump — into Belle Isle Marsh. The court found owner Manuele Scata had violated the Hazardous Waste Management Act, the Solid Waste Management Act, and the Wetlands Protection Act. Despite that 2012 fi ne, illegal dumping at the site continued. On Sunday, November 22 of this year when several members of FBIM walked along Palermo Street, we saw pallets, old TV sets, household debris and lots of plastic on and around the property.

Failure to curb illegal dumping here by the owner is consistent with his

previous inaction. Earlier, in 2005 and 2006, owner Scata had signed consent orders with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to clean up contamination on his property but “had made no substantial effort to do so,” according to then-Attorney General Martha Coakley. Coakley said, “By failing to meet his commitments to the DEP time and again, the property owner has put the public at serious risk due to the contamination on his property.”

Gail Miller

Photo by Sean Riley

Typical example of dumped trash along Palermo Street across from 1181 Bennington Street.

1181 Bennington Street

1181 Bennington Street (cont.)namely the possibility of birds striking multitudes of windows on a brand new building, and the impact of increased shadows on parts of the Reservation. We also discussed the effects that snow plowing, rainwater runoff from the adjacent unpaved roadway, and added pollution from increased vehicular volume could have on the delicate ecosystem that the marsh represents. We further emphasized the need to have the site graded and our concern that the rear yard setback was too minimal to protect the integrity of the Reservation.

The developer has allotted insuffi cient open space in his plans. We expressed to the developer that for the past 25 - 30 years, access and connectivity to Belle Isle Marsh has been a goal of the Friends. We had partnered with the former non-profi t Boston Natural Areas Network in promoting the East Boston Greenway and more recently with Winthrop’s Town Manager Jim McKenna, who just received from the state almost $1 million dollars for greenway connections at the Marsh and other improvements. We concluded the meeting by stating our hope that this developer would see the importance of being a “good neighbor” by contributing in a signifi cant way to the improvements already made and to be made in the future at the Reservation.

Additional discussions with the developer are being planned.

Gail Miller


Return of the Osprey

East coast Osprey migration path

Ospreys North of Boston,” the lecture at our FBIM annual meeting on

March 15, was given by Dave Rimmer of the Essex County Greenbelt Land Trust Association. Dave has been involved with the Greenbelt Osprey Program for 10 years. He explained that Ospreys are found on every continent except Antarctica. They must live near fresh or salt water in order to sustain their diet of live fi sh, which they are able to grab and carry with their reversible third front toe.

Ospreys return to Massachusetts in March and April. The male and female bond for life and return to the same area to nest each year, showing up within a day or so of each other to build the nest. Ospreys are dependent on humans for nesting sites such as platforms, hunting blinds, camp structures, channel markers, utility poles or smokestack railings, but not trees.

Once the nest is completed in April or May, the female lays 3 to 4 eggs, one every other day. After 35 days of incubation, the chicks hatch asynchronously (on different days). The altricial (helpless) chicks are fed by the adults the fi rst 5 to 6 weeks in June, July, and August until they fl edge by the eighth week, usually in August. They learn to hunt for fi sh for another 1 to 4 weeks until the adults migrate; the young follow soon after. The arduous round-trip to Cuba or South America is up to 7000 miles long. The young birds may stay south for a year or two.

Pesticides after World War II worked their way up the food chain concentrating in the fi sh that Ospreys caught. As a result the eggshells of Ospreys were weakened, the young died or hatched in poor condition and the population of Ospreys plummeted. For a few decades during the middle of the 20th century only a very small population of Ospreys nested in Massachusetts, on the Westport River. It was only after DDT was banned that the Osprey population began to rebound. In about the year 1985, private and state groups began to install

platforms to help nesting Ospreys. In 1985 there was only one pair of Ospreys in our area, the Massachusetts coast from Boston north. By 2014 this number had increased to an estimated 30 pairs. Saugus alone now has at least 3 pairs of nesting Ospreys.

An Osprey sighting in Massachusetts in winter is very

rare. Most of those not now in Florida have migrated all the way down to different parts of South America. However, many Ospreys will return to Massachusetts in early spring. Those of us who live on the coast now are used to their presence, but the Osprey has in the past 25 - 50 years returned from a state of near extirpation in the state of Massachusetts. This phenomenal return is well-documented, and the migratory paths of individual Ospreys can now be followed on your computer. Furthermore, given that Ospreys are more likely to nest in the open and hunt for their main diet of fi sh in open bodies of water, they are the most easily observable breeding raptor in the Northeast.

T hrough the use of technology we are learning much more about

Ospreys. Solar transmitters produce tracking map data for research and nest cameras are now available in some areas. For information on local Osprey activity and locations go to www.ecga.org. Migration patterns of individual Ospreys as well as additional information about Osprey populations in the Northeast can be found at http://www.ospreytrax.com/OspreyMainPage.html.

T he Osprey nesting platform at Belle Isle has gone through

multiple phases — it has been broken or removed multiple times and keeps coming back to life, like the legendary Phœnix from its ashes.

Initially, in March 1985, a work group dragged precut pieces of lumber out to the end of the bermed section of the marsh and built and raised a nesting platform. Unfortunately, the wood used was not strong enough to withstand

the assault of vandals, who broke the supporting post and toppled the platform within a few days.

In 1986 the MBTA donated a telephone pole and work-crew to place a much sturdier platform at the corner of the Orient Heights MBTA yard at the edge of the marsh. This platform lasted a long time, but did not attract nesting ospreys for 20 years. Eventually, when Ospreys did begin to nest on it, Park Supervisor Geoff Wood received complaints that the birds were performing their aerial courtship in the path in incoming planes at Logan Airport. For the sake of safety, he cut the platform down in 2009.

The birds were not dissuaded from nesting, however, and built their own improvised nest structure on the power poles at the MBTA station. And there they nest to this day.

Joe WilsonCraig JacksonSoheil Zendeh


Birds and Wind Turbines

As a concerned environmentalist, a member of the Winthrop

Conservation Commission and a birder, I had long thought that wind turbines were a good idea, but while birding on Deer Island last summer my views about these energy producers changed. While walking along, looking for falcons, hawks, warblers and anything else that fl ies, I suddenly heard a loud whack. I looked up to see a Great Black-backed Gull fl oating to the ground in four pieces after being struck by one of the two functioning wind turbines used by the MWRA. I knew immediately that this could not be a one time strike, so I decided to do some research. What I found out about turbines and birds is astonishing. While I never planned on becoming an advocate for birds, other than by joining the Audubon Society, I have become compelled to expose this serious threat to avian life that I can’t ignore.

Over the past two years, over 140 birds, and at least 1 bat, have been killed on Deer Island by these wind turbines which produce less than 1% of the energy used at the plant. Birds which have been killed include falcons, Ospreys, swallows, mockingbirds, cormorants, gulls, ducks and other songbirds. Most of the power for the

plant comes from a large array of solar panels; from methane-heated steam boilers which produce thermal energy; and by electricity from Eversource. Future plans also include using waste material to generate energy. So the obvious question is: how does using wind turbines that create so little energy justify so many bird kills? Certainly adding more solar panels with no moving parts could easily produce the same 1% now produced by the turbines. One could speculate that these turbines are being used only for good publicity. How else can they be justifi ed?

The MWRA, which is supposed to be an environmental protection authority concerned with protecting “all forms of life”, and its Director see these kills as “unfortunate” but do not believe that the numbers of mortalities are high enough to “warrant tremendous concern.” Michael Parr, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy, in an article published in The Philadelphia Inquirer titled “Wind Power Industry Gives Short Shrift to Bird Welfare”, noted that “hundreds of thousands of migratory birds die each year from collisions with the fast-spinning blades of wind turbines.” I should note that the tips of the blades on these wind turbines move at up to 170 MPH. We’re talking now of hundreds of thousands of bird kills by an industry which ironically

is supposed to be good for our environment. Although the government has put in place a voluntary system to keep track of these kills, most wind turbine operators do not keep such records, so we really do not know how many birds are killed annually, even in Massachusetts. The other

MWRA argument

against shutting down the turbines is that many more birds die from fl ying into tall buildings than into wind turbines. While this fact may be correct, it is not a reason to justify writing off as insignifi cant the numbers of bird kills by wind turbines. If a medicine was known to kill only a small percentage of the population, would that still be okay? Would we keep it on the market? We can do something about these unnecessary bird kills, and in particular, we can do something about the wind turbines on Deer Island. Clearly, the turbines are ineffi cient energy producers and very costly to maintain. Using them only at night, installing more protective covered turbines, or installing more solar panels are just three possible solutions to ensuring a safer environment for birds and ultimately for all of us.

Norman Hyett

Tom French, Director of the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, stated in a public forum recently that 4 Peregrine Falcons (2 adults and 2 young) were killed by the wind turbines at Deer Island in the past 14 months; one additional Peregrine was killed by collision with aircraft at Logan Airport.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, bats are even more likely than birds to be victims of wind turbine collisions. As stated by Mr Hyett, reporting of wildlife killed by wind turbines is voluntary, so reliable data on bird and bat kills is diffi cult to gather. The largest number of wildlife kills at wind turbines occurs during the migration seasons (spring and fall).

Due to the tremendous proliferation of wind turbines across the continent and indeed across the entire globe, people interested in the welfare of wildlife are beginning to mobilize and gather information about the benefi ts of these devices (reduced dependence on carbon fuels) vs. their tendency to impact large numbers of wildlife; in particular their ability to kill raptors.

Photo by Norman Hyett

Deer Island Peregrine Falcon



Retiring Park Supervisor Geoff Wood, Friends of Belle Isle Marsh (FBIM) President Dani Foley and former President Soheil Zendeh. The framed photo by Winthrop photographer Richard Honan was presented to Geoff Wood as a parting gift of appreciation at the FBIM Annual Meeting on March 15, 2015.

Geoff Wood Retires from Belle Isle Marsh Reservation

Belle Isle Marsh and all who love it owe a great debt to Geoff Wood

who retired in June from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). For twenty years he cared for and watched over Belle Isle, which became his second home. The Friends of Belle Isle Marsh will surely miss him. He was a kindred spirit who had a love of Belle Isle Marsh second to none. Who would have thought anyone existed with this passion?

How he came to love and care for Belle Isle must have been written in the stars. A Britisher through and through, Geoff had traveled and worked in many lands before coming to Massachusetts. He was hired by the DCR and assigned to the Nahant Beach Reservation. While there he heard about Belle Isle and decided to venture over one day to have a look. He saw that this beautiful natural resource was being neglected.

Geoff recognized that this passive recreation jewel was one of the area’s best-kept secrets, smack dab in the middle of an urban environment. He became convinced Belle Isle might be a place that he could feel fulfi lled managing. Geoff’s decision was a most fortuitous circumstance for Belle Isle Marsh Reservation.

Following that decision, for nearly 20 years Geoff has been the guiding light at the reservation, maintaining the grounds and trails and managing trampled areas, all the while giving a renewed meaning to the concept of avocation. It is hard to really document the care Geoff has bestowed upon Belle Isle all those years. He had the ability to take on the challenge before him, including agency budget cuts, loss of equipment, and loss of staff.

He reached out to everyone willing to partner with him to get tasks accomplished, so that every day Belle Isle had that “just manicured” look. Anyone that got the chance to work with Geoff, either through their

organization or as an individual eager to spend a day doing community service, realized afterward what a rewarding experience this had been. He made work fun and worked in history and natural science lessons as folks worked on the chores at hand.

Geoff has found it as hard to leave Belle Isle as it was for us to see him go. We always told him we would cancel his retirement if we could, and I’m certain that told him how much we realized he

was part of the success that Belle Isle Marsh is today. For without his careful oversight all these years, Belle Isle Marsh could easily have fallen into disrepair and neglect, as had happened before.

We will never forget the dedication of one individual who made such a difference in the life of the 160 acres at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation — our very own, Geoff Wood. We wish him well in all the paths he chooses to travel upon.

Gail Miller


Geoff spotting wildlife


Geoff with wife Linda and their beloved Brownie


Photos by Soheil Zendeh

Geoff in a pruning mood


Geoff on a wildlife tracking expedition


Geoff with former FBIM President Soheil Zendeh on a 2011 Winthrop Harbor cruise


Geoff with his predecessor,Belle Isle Park Supervisor

Karl Pastore. Karl’s time at the Park ended in 1994.


Going after invasives

Photo by Soheil Zendeh

Mowing the meadow


Field trip with localhigh school students


BOOK REVIEW

The House on Nauset Marsh by Wyman Richardson (50th Anniversary Edition);The Countryman Press, Woodstock, VT 05091, 2005.

L ike the opening chapters of Henry David Thoreau’s Cape Cod, written

some eighty years earlier, Wyman Richardson’s essays were collected posthumously by his family and fi rst published in The Atlantic Monthly. Unlike Thoreau, Richardson was not a writer and philosopher, but was a distinguished professor of hematology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and a doctor with a busy family practice

Like many old New England families, many generations of Richardson’s family had maintained a small cottage on the coast. In this case, calling it a cottage was not an understatement, in the way that the Newport “cottage” mansions were. Cape Cod used to be dotted with such modest shingled cottages, now slowly vanishing to be replaced by 10,000 square foot leviathans. Nor did the Richardson homestead have a fancy name — it was simply The Farm House:

You can go to Eastham, on outer Cape Cod, and live in the little old Farm House at the drop of a hat. The pump, the kerosene lamps, and the open fi re are always ready without fear of frost or storm. You can drive up the lane, stop the car by the kitchen door, and unload your gear. You can look out the south windows over the nearby grassy hills, over the bright blue water of Nauset Marsh to the darker blue glimpses of the sea beyond the dunes, and draw a deep breath.

Richardson’s voice is disarmingly conversational. He speaks directly to us, and the effect is as if we are standing beside him gazing out at the marsh, his voice all the more effective because it is so understated. Richardson was neither a poet nor a naturalist, but his litany of local place names, plants and animals achieves a kind of poetry. The boundaries of the Farm House world are marked by Porchy’s Pond, Pull Devil Corner, Tom Doane’s Hummock, and Skiff Hill — a precise time, place, event, or person captured and preserved in every name, perhaps long after anyone now living remembers Tom Doane or Porchy. His description in the chapter “The Gyrfalcon Pays A Visit” is both a naturalist’s keen observation and a mini-drama:

…a very large bird came hurtling down out of the air, missed by inches the dark cedar whose top just shows over the brow of the hill, and zoomed up again on spread wings. Then, soaring in tight circles, and with incredible speed, the bird gained a considerable height and repeated the performance. Meanwhile, the crows, evidently huddled in the comforting thickness of the big cedar, gave tremulous voice to croaks of sheer terror…eight times the falcon repeated his performance, apparently just for the fun of it, as he obviously had no chance to make a kill. Possibly he felt that the crows were getting too brash, and ought to be put in their place…another two days elapsed before I saw the gyrfalcon again...he passed

suddenly by not fi fty feet over my head. He glanced at me out of one of his fi erce dark eyes, but paid little attention to such an insignifi cant thing, and fl ew rapidly out of sight to the northwest.

Richardson’s chapters each minutely observe a single space, or span of time, or event in spare prose but with a depth of feeling and, at times, an edge of nostalgia for a world that, even in the 1940s, was beginning to vanish. With essays titled “Beach and Sea”, “Eelgrass and Depressions”, “Fog”, “Tide” and “Ice” (yes, a whole essay about fog), Richardson conveys the powerful pull of time and tide and yet also their seemingly unchanging nature. Even great events like blizzards and hurricanes form part of a collective memory, and close observation of the sky, wind and waters, in the era before television weather reports, was a necessary skill:

Let me tell you of a December nor’wester. The previous day’s northeast gale, splashing rain and slush into our faces, drove the tide way over the marsh and fl ooded our cover just as the ducks started to fl y…during the night, the wind backed into the northwest. From time to time, between our dreams, the steady roar from the cedars proclaimed its presence…already a red dawn begins to show, and fast-scurrying, purple clouds become salmon-tinted. Quickly we stow away our gear and push off into the dark water. It is a simple trip down the marsh – that is, if the tide is either up or down. But beware the half tide.

Reading Dr. Richardson’s essays from a 21st century vantage point, it’s diffi cult not to fall prey to a powerful nostalgia. I recommend The House on Nauset Marsh to anyone who loves Cape Cod, our beautiful and vanishing Massachusetts marshlands, or just a good story well told.

Liz Regan


Lighthouses

I grew up summering along the Connecticut coast near Mystic and

Noank. I would ride my shiny blue bike for miles all around the area; investigating the sizable salt marshes, the creeks, the beaches, the marinas, and ...the lighthouses. Those were always my favorite spots. I have visited many of the lighthouses along the eastern shores of our country, in the Caribbean, and even in Ireland. Here are a few children’s books on lighthouses.

Beacons of Light, Lighthouses by Gail Gibbons, Morrow Junior Books,1350 Avenues of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, 1990.

Gail Gibbons is a well known author of children’s nonfi ction books.

I have reviewed several of her books in the past. Her eye-catching ink and water color illustrations and simple, but descriptive prose are intriguing. She packs this book with historical information and information describing how lighthouses work. Did you know....

• Thousands of years ago bonfi res were built on ledges to help sailors fi nd their way?

• The fi rst lighthouse built in North America was right here in Boston? Yes,

Boston Light on Little Brewster Island was built in 1716.

• Each lighthouse has a distinct pattern of signals?

• Lightships were used as fl oating lighthouses? Sadly there are no more lightships in use today. But you can see The Nantucket, a retired lightship, moored in East Boston. Share this book with a special

youngster and learn the intriguing story of the lighthouse. And for more information look for these other books on the subject.

Boston Light by Aileen Weintraub, PowerKids Press, Rosen Publishing Co., 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010, 2003.

T his book explores the history of Boston Light, how the lighthouse

works, and even tells some of its ghost stories. It has great historical photographs and clear illustrations.

Safely to Shore, America’s Lighthouses by Iris Van Rynbach, Charlesbridge, 85 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472, 2003.

Hundreds of lighthouses hug the American shoreline. This book

introduces the reader to some of the more interesting ones; describing where they are, how they were built and some

historical information that would hold a child’s interest. Ms. Rynback is an award winning illustrator, which is evident from her beautifully detailed, yet youthful illustrations.

Comet’s Nine Lives by Jan Brett, G.P. Putman’s and Sons, 200 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016

Jan Brett, like Gail Gibbons, is an award-winning author, well known

for her gorgeous illustrations with hidden details that enchant every reader, young or old. Comet, a curious cat who lives on Nantucket, moves through the story losing eight of her nine lives with many a “close call,” while looking for a permanent home. At each turn of the page, a shaggy old sheepdog captain can be found sending out messages for a new friend. Many Nantucket landmarks are included in the story. The story ends happily at the lighthouse on Brant Point.

Mary Mitchell


Seals in the Harbor

Harbor Seals, often numbering from 30 to 50 individuals, winter

near the outer Boston Harbor islands during the winter. Occasionally they are seen in the inner harbor, sometimes fl oating on chunks of ice near the Belle Isle bridge or hauled out on old docks or rocky jetties during low tide. At high tide seals are often busy feeding; sometimes one pokes its face out of the water to breathe and look around.

Male Harbor Seals weigh up to 245 pounds and measure about six feet in length. Females are somewhat smaller. A characteristic feature of the Harbor Seal when it pokes its head out of the water is that it has a “cute” dog-shaped profi le. A larger cousin, the Grey Seal or Horsehead, as it is affectionately referred to because of its long face, has become extremely common around Cape Cod waters and some individuals are now being seen in Boston Harbor during the warmer months of the year.

Seals eat fi sh, shellfi sh and crustaceans. Sometimes a seal becomes tangled in fi shing gear and plastic debris which may cause it to suffer and die. Seals are also threatened by boat propellers, oil spills, chemical contaminants, and harassment by humans while hauled out on land.

If you see a seal on land, it may just be resting. Don’t assume it is sick, and don’t approach, especially with a dog. Seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is against the law to touch, feed or harass them. Seals are fun to watch but can become aggressive when they defend themselves. Admire resting seals from a distance of at least 50 yards. Take pictures and enjoy watching them.

Barbara Bishop

I first became familiar with

enhanced oil and gas recovery more than 30 years ago when I was asked to evaluate and improve one of the products of my company in Louisiana. The product was used as a proppant for fracturing rock (fracking), principally to recover the last 10% to 15% of the remaining oil and gas in previously drilled wells.

A proppant is a fi nely ground mineral product made into small pellets using high temperature. The pellets are then injected under high pressure into fractures along the sides of horizontally drilled wells. The pellets hold the fractures open for 10 to 15 years and allow for extracting residual oil and gas.

Historically, sand was used as a proppant; later more sophisticated and higher strength proppants began to be used. Proppants are injected under pressure with added proprietary, often toxic chemicals.

Fracking using these materials has become ubiquitous over the last several years, particularly for shale oil and gas production. Currently the majority of oil and gas is recovered by a technique called enhanced hydraulic fracturing; this introduces additional toxic chemicals and much more water. Conventional fracking techniques requires, on average, about 200,000 gallons per well per year, while enhanced fracking requires 30 times that amount at 6 million gallons per year. Total fracking water use in the US is estimated at over 100 billion gallons annually, which could provide water to 3 million people per year.

The biggest issue, particularly with shale fracking, is the potential damage to water supplies due to the toxic

chemicals being used. Additionally, oil shales contain methane which is released when the shales undergo fracking. Methane and toxic chemicals can then contaminate water supplies. The EPA has already stated that it is likely that fracking in Appalachia and the western US has polluted ground water.

Another concern with regard to fracking is the intensifi cation of earthquakes. In Oklahoma, for example, where fracking has been ubiquitous, magnitude 3+ earthquake frequency has gone from 109 in 2013 to 585 in 2014. Wastewater from fracking operations, injected deep into the ground, seems to be a catalyst for ground instability.

In places where fracking is close to the subsurface groundwater aquifer, such as the Marcellus Shale from New York State down to Tennessee, the potential for drinking water contamination increases signifi cantly.

All of these issues must be addressed to bring sanity back into a fairly new industry that has grown rapidly, but in many cases has not complied suffi ciently with environmental standards.

George Rainville, PHDAs a senior geologist and process mineralogist at Kennecott Copper, the author was able to work on a broad variety of projects. This involved working on mineral processing, ore deposit valuation and product development.

The Evolution of Fracking in the Oil and Gas Industry

Harbor Seal illustration by Michael Paine


Friends of Belle Isle Marsh Board of Directors

President: Daniela Foley Vice-President: Carina Campobasso Secretary: Mary Mitchell Treasurer: Erica Foley Members-at-Large: Craig Jackson,

Joanne McKenna, Suzanne Ryan, Karyl Stoia

Past Presidents: Gail Miller, Liz Regan, Barbara Bishop

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Geoff Wood Retires

Our long-time Belle Isle Reservation Supervisor, Geoff

Wood, announced his intention to resign at our Annual Meeting in March; his resignation took place last June. We want to sincerely thank our friend Geoff Wood. He has poured his heart and soul into Belle Isle Marsh, and it has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you Geoff!

Harvest Festival

W e enjoyed another beautiful day for our Harvest Festival in

October. I hope you all had a chance to come out and celebrate the season with us. The Cape Cod African Drummers were amazing! We want to thank our sponsors and participants again: The East Boston Foundation; Save the Harbor Save the Bay; Marc Wallerce of the Winthrop Marketplace; Matthew Nash of the DCR; Maryann Winship with her knitting demonstration; Peggy Connolly with children’s art; The Creature Teacher; and many others.

2015: A Busy Year

T he Friends had a busy year. Below is a listing of events that we

sponsored. If no location is mentioned, it took place at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation.

February 15: Constitution Beach campfi re; cosponsored with East Boston YMCA.

March 5: Owl prowl; cosponsored with Trustees of Reservations.

March 15: FBIM Annual Meeting; Dave Rimmer, Essex County Greenbelt Association, speaker.

April 18: Spring safari with Matthew Nash and Geoff Wood; cosponsored with DCR.

April 25: Spring clean-up at Winthrop side of Belle Isle Marsh Reservation.

June: Former FBIM President Barbara Bishop and DCR educator Matthew Nash shoot and produce documentary video Be a Friend of Sea Turtles to air on Winthrop Community Access Television (WCAT).

July 20: Monday night forum “The Buzz About Bees” with Sadie Richards Brown; cosponsored with Tacelli Foundation.

July 24: Osprey walk at the Belle Isle Urban Wild with Dani Foley.

August and September: Tide pool exploration at Winthrop Beach with Matthew Nash; cosponsored with Friends of Winthrop Beach

September 4: Secrets of the salt marsh with Matthew Nash; cosponsored with DCR.

September: Birding safari with Matthew Nash and Soheil Zendeh; cosponsored with DCR.

October 4: Harvest Festival at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation; cosponsored with DCR, East Boston Foundation, Winthrop Marketplace, Save the Harbor Save the Bay.

October 19: Monday Night Forum “Boston Light: 300 Years” with Jeremy D’Entremont.

November: Birding at Winthrop Beach with Matthew Nash and Soheil Zendeh; cosponsored with DCR.

Daniela FoleyPresident

Friends of Belle Isle Marsh


Cape Cod African Dance and Drum performers at Belle Isle Harvest Festival, October 4.

Photo by SHSB staff

On June 8, the Boston Harbor advocacy group Save the Harbor Save the Bay (SHSB) awarded Friends of Belle Isle Marsh a $5000 grant for implementing measures that complemented the SHSB Better Beaches program. FBIM Secretary Mary Mitchell (center) displays award check.

Belle Isle News Number 97 December 2015

Friends of Belle Isle MarshP. O. Box 575East Boston, MA 02128

Address service requested

Non-profi t Org.U.S.Postage

PAIDBoston, MA

Permit no. 3225

Friends of Belle Isle Marsh (FBIM) membership dues:• Family ................................ $15• Individual ........................... $10• Seniors and Youth (under 16) $5

FBIM is a registered nonprofi t corporation; contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you for your continued support.FBIM is a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation of this marsh. We believe that protection ultimately depends on public awareness of the value and beauty of this natural resource. Our focus, therefore, is mainly educational.

For extra newsletters to share or leave on tables at your coffee shop, public library or boat club, etc., call 617-567-5072 or email:[email protected]

Our web address:http://www.friendsofbelleislemarsh.org

Also, look for us on Facebook.

Editor Barbara Bishop with help from Craig Jackson, Mary Mitchell, Christine Zendeh. Production by Soheil Zendeh. SZ15

raptor safari in December. If you plan on bringing a group larger than 5 persons please phone ahead of time. For more information about these programs, to register for the winter raptor safari, or in case of inclement weather, contact the DCR at [email protected] or 781-485-2804 ext. 105.

Winter Raptor Safari.Saturday, December 26, 2 PM (1 - 2 hours; stay as long

as you want). Leaders: Soheil Zendeh and DCR staff members Sean Riley and Matthew Nash. Come explore the beautiful birds of prey of DCR Reservations in East Boston and Winthrop during this kick-off event for our winter birding safari series. Bring binoculars and a spotting scope if you have them. Pre-registration required; see above for instructions. Accessible by public transportation: Blue Line.

A Winter Wander at Revere Beach. Saturdays January 16, February 20, March 19, 1 - 2:30 PM. Leader: Matthew Nash. This is a two-mile dog-friendly walk for an hour along one of DCR’s healthy-heart trails; includes brief stops for entertaining history lessons about Revere Beach. Hot chocolate will be served after the walk. Meet at One Eliot Circle, Revere, MA (tan DCR building at the corner of Dolphin Avenue). Accessible by public transportation: Blue Line Revere Beach Station; see www.MBTA.com.

Winter Birding Safari: Winthrop Shores Reservation. Saturdays January 30,

February 27, March 26, 2 PM (1 - 2 hours; stay as long as you want). Leaders: Soheil Zendeh and DCR staff member Matthew Nash. Come explore the beautiful water and shore birds of DCR’s Winthrop Shores Reservation.

Bring binoculars and a spotting scope if you have them. Meet at Winthrop Beach Reservation on Winthrop Shore Drive across from Sturgis Street. Accessible by public transportation: Blue line, Orient Heights Station then transfer to bus 712 / 713 Point Shirley-Orient Heights (an additional fee may apply for the transfer) ; see www.MBTA.com. For updates visit www.mass.gov/dcr.

Photo by Soheil Zendeh

Snowy Owl

Programs (continued from page 1)

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