Environment - Page 7

New solar array generates energy and interest

May 30, 2026

On May 6, 2026, about 40 people attended a ribbon-cutting for a solar energy array that has been constructed on a portion of the W. R. Grace Superfund Site in South Acton. The facility was jointly developed by Syncarpha Capital and Renewable Energy Massachusetts (REM). Pride in the facility was obvious during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Brian Kopperl, of REM, and John Mangiaratti, Acton Town Manager, introduced the program. Rebecca Tepper, Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, led the speaking program, which also included Senator Jamie Eldridge, Representative Danillo Sena, Select Board Chair Dean Charter, as…

Acton Water District Finance Committee Discusses Financial Policy and Fiscal Year ’25 Budget and Water Rates

January 8, 2024

by Kim Kastens

The Finance Committee (FinCom) of the Acton Water District (AWD), along with the District Treasurer and Manager, met on January 4 to continue crafting the District Financial Policy, review the draft Fiscal Year ‘25 (FY25) budget and Annual Meeting warrant articles, and discuss water rates for FY25. FY25…

State Approves Acton’s Participation in Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project

January 3, 2024

by Jim Snyder-Grant

On December 22, 2023, the Town of Acton received approval from the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) approving the Town’s participation in the Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project. This approval means that beginning March 22, 2024, new buildings and major rehabilitation projects in…

Car in motion heading towards the new Pedestrian Traffic Light

Pedestrian-friendly Traffic Signal Installed at Great Road and Brook Street

January 3, 2024

by Kim Kastens

On December 29, workers and a pair of bucket trucks were observed setting up a new traffic signal on Great Road, near the intersection with Brook Street. This intersection was the site of a fatal accident in October 2022. At several meetings in the fall of 2022, the…

A dard arrow and an outlined location on a topographic map

Planning Board Discusses Quarry Road Development Project

January 3, 2024

by Ron Beck

The Acton Planning Board convened on Wednesday evening, Dec 20, for a “continuation” hearing for a Planned Conservation Residential Community (PCRC) application for 123 Quarry Road. According to Acton’s Zoning Bylaw section 9, PCRC’s are communities with housing clustered in one section, leaving at least 60% of the…

Rushing flood waters as seen from the stream bank

Stormwater Rages Across Acton

December 21, 2023

by Kim Kastens

Every fifteen minutes, 24/7, the US Geological Survey stream monitoring station on Nashoba Brook in Acton reports how much water is flowing through the brook. Since monitoring began sixty years ago, the highest streamflow ever recorded on December 18 was 99 cubic feet per second (cfs). In this week’s storm,…

Two Towns Collaborate to Plan the Powder Mill Road Corridor

December 14, 2023

by Franny Osman

Maynard and Acton residents gathered around large posters depicting their shared Powder Mill Road Corridor on the evening of November 15 at a public Open House in the Maynard Elks Lodge. The Corridor is the section of Route 62 from Stop and Shop in Acton to the intersection…

HVAC mini-split unit mounted high on wall

Acton Clean Energy Coaching Program to Expand

December 5, 2023

by Debra Simes

The Town of Acton’s Clean Energy Coaching program, which launched in late winter 2023, is expanding its cadre of trained volunteer coaches. The program provides free access to coaches for residents, businesses, and organizations in Acton interested in learning about and making clean energy upgrades to their homes,…

A man adjusts an item while another man appears to hold a cell phone

Fix-It Clinic

November 28, 2023

by Alissa Nicol

A Fix-It Clinic was held at the Acton Memorial Library on Saturday, November 25 from 10:00 – 1:00 PM. The event attracted seventeen individuals and families with a variety of items in need of repair. These items included a clock, handbag, lighted tree, wheelchair, miniature sewing machine, miniature…

Celebrating Open Space Preservation in Acton

November 20, 2023

by Joe Cooney

Members and friends of the local non-profit Acton Conservation Trust recently gathered to celebrate President Susan Mitchell-Hardt’s lifetime achievement award from Sudbury Valley Trustees. It felt like a reunion of sorts as leaders of conservation efforts in Acton from the past decades, many now retired, returned to celebrate…

Senator Eldridge’s Green Advisory Council Meets with Municipal Sustainability Directors

November 20, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On November 18, State Senator Jamie Eldridge convened the fall meeting of his Green Advisory Council at West Acton Villageworks. Residents and community leaders from across Senator Eldridge’s district assembled to share ideas about how to protect the local environment and respond to the global climate emergency. The…

A group of people around a stone marker and street sign

Acton Hosts Creative Placemaking Workshop

November 6, 2023

by Franny Osman

Last winter, when the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) was looking for two communities to participate in a Regional Trails Creative Placemaking Project , Acton stepped up. Economic and Community Development Director Julie Pierce recognized an opportunity to use art to enhance our new trails and adjacent business…

Acton Conservation Trust’s Susan Mitchell-Hardt Receives Life-Time Achievement Award

October 30, 2023

by Nancy Knoblock Hunton

In the 1600s, Concord farmers used the land now known as Acton as a grazing pasture for their cows and other animals. Today the community of Acton has more than 24,000 residents and depends on conservation lands to preserve open space for present and future generations. Susan Mitchell-Hardt,…

After Hours Archaeology Tour for Pine Hawk Friends

October 23, 2023

by Alissa Nicol

On Sunday, October 15, seven Friends of Pine Hawk members traveled to the Robbins Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Middleborough, home of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society and a collection of 200,000+ cultural items. This after-hours tour of the museum was led by Greg Lott and Judi Macioci.…

Map shows existing water pipe trending east-west across the southern edge of the map, and a network of proposed water pipes crossing Concord, Acton and other towns.

Report Estimates Cost and Timeline to Connect to the MWRA Water Supply

October 22, 2023

by Ron Parenti

Since its incorporation in 1912, the Water Supply District of Acton has supplied water to the residents of Acton through a distributed network of wells that pump water from shallow sand and gravel aquifers that were formed at the end of the last Ice Age. The Water District…

A long table covered with a variety of shapes and sizes of mushrooms

Acton Conservation Trust Hosts Mushroom Experts for Foraging at Wills Hole

October 22, 2023

by Jody Harris

Acton Conservation Trust members and friends enjoyed a beautiful fall day during a joint event with Boston Mycological Club (BMC) on Sunday, October 1. Around 100 people from the two groups gathered at Wills Hole Conservation Land to search for mushrooms. Armed with baskets and special curved fungus…

People in chairs and brainstorming suggestions written on large sheets of paper

Brainstorming Session about a Potential South Acton Cultural District

October 16, 2023

by Franny Osman

On Sunday night October 15, seventeen people came together in Exchange Hall in Acton to brainstorm about a potential South Acton Cultural District, a gathering hosted by the Acton Boxborough Cultural Council (ABCC). Sergiy Georgiyev, co-owner of Magenta Dance Place, offered the third floor historic dance hall for…

A speaker behind a podium and an aerial terrain map on a video screen.

Friends of Pine Hawk Kick Off Archaeology Month

October 9, 2023

by Alissa Nicol

On Thursday, October 5, more than thirty residents gathered in the Meeting Room of the Acton Memorial Library and online for the first event honoring this year’s Archaeology Month, hosted by Friends of Pine Hawk. The speaker, former Town of Acton Health Director, Doug Halley, presented “From Pine…

Attendees at a Farmers Market stand before informational paperwork on a table.

Farmers Market Visitors Learn about Testing their Soil and Protecting Acton’s Streams

October 9, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On September 10 and October 1, visitors to the Acton Boxborough Farmers Market had a chance to learn how phosphate in fertilizer runoff can harm local aquatic ecosystems and how gardeners can test their soil to see whether phosphate is necessary as part of their fertilization plan. This…

people at a conference room table and big-screen monitor

Planning Board Considers Permits and Hears Updates on the Powder Mill Road Corridor Initiative and Bumble Bee Way Subdivision

September 25, 2023

by Franny Osman

The Acton Planning Board met earlier than its regular time on September 19 at Town Hall in order to join the Maynard Planning Board to hear a presentation by the Planning Department and Sarah Scott of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) on the Powder Mill Road Corridor…

Volunteers remove massive pile of invasive water chestnut from Ice House Pond

September 23, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On Saturday Sept 23, a flotilla of a dozen canoes, two kayaks, and one stand-up paddleboard set forth onto Ice House Pond in East Acton. More than forty volunteer “Pond Defenders” fought back against invasive water chestnuts, which have been clogging the north end of the pond and…

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Environment - Page 7

New solar array generates energy and interest

Acton Water District Finance Committee Discusses Financial Policy and Fiscal Year ’25 Budget and Water Rates

State Approves Acton’s Participation in Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project

Pedestrian-friendly Traffic Signal Installed at Great Road and Brook Street

Planning Board Discusses Quarry Road Development Project

Stormwater Rages Across Acton

Two Towns Collaborate to Plan the Powder Mill Road Corridor

Acton Clean Energy Coaching Program to Expand

Fix-It Clinic

Celebrating Open Space Preservation in Acton

Senator Eldridge’s Green Advisory Council Meets with Municipal Sustainability Directors

Acton Hosts Creative Placemaking Workshop

Acton Conservation Trust’s Susan Mitchell-Hardt Receives Life-Time Achievement Award

After Hours Archaeology Tour for Pine Hawk Friends

Report Estimates Cost and Timeline to Connect to the MWRA Water Supply

Acton Conservation Trust Hosts Mushroom Experts for Foraging at Wills Hole

Brainstorming Session about a Potential South Acton Cultural District

Friends of Pine Hawk Kick Off Archaeology Month

Farmers Market Visitors Learn about Testing their Soil and Protecting Acton’s Streams

Planning Board Considers Permits and Hears Updates on the Powder Mill Road Corridor Initiative and Bumble Bee Way Subdivision

Volunteers remove massive pile of invasive water chestnut from Ice House Pond

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