Residents tell council Heritage Park EJ redesignation petition is stalled; state says it must build a process

During public comment at the Environmental Justice Council meeting in Leominster, resident Mary Ann Babinski described a stalled petition from Heritage Park in Westfield to reinstate an environmental justice designation. Babinski said petitioners submitted the requested signatures, met with state EJ representatives in April and have since ‘‘had no substantial or substantive information’’ about next steps, leaving the community frustrated.

Babinski asked what was holding up the request and whether changes in the designation process had occurred. She said petitioners were told they could petition the state with 10 signatures and that the follow-through had been slow: ‘‘they're getting very frustrated and are disappointed, and they're losing faith in this whole system,’’ she said.

Undersecretary María Belén Power responded that the state is not changing statutory process but ‘‘we actually have to build one’’—meaning the agency must develop the metrics and procedures to consider de‑designation or redesignation requests and how to measure them. Power said the MassEnviroScreen being presented could help clarify how to ‘‘measure, how do we gauge, how do we analyze a petition for de‑designation—or redesignation?’’

Power acknowledged the communication gap and that petitioners should have been updated about the status of their request; she invited additional meetings and public comment as the office finalizes the tool and associated processes. The council indicated plans to continue discussion and to use MassEnviroScreen feedback to inform how the state will handle such petitions.

The petitioners’ procedural concern centered on a follow-up timeline and whether previously communicated steps had changed; state staff described the work on criteria and stakeholder engagement but did not provide a specific timeline for decisions on Heritage Park’s request.