PEER in Massachusetts

PEER's environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.

Find out about Massachusetts’s whistleblower law

Following are PEER news releases, white papers, surveys and other activities for Massachusetts:


News Releases for Massachusetts
June 2, 2009  WESTPORT WETLANDS WHISTLEBLOWERS WIN — Settlement Affirms Conservation Commissioners’ Right to Act Free from Politics
April 7, 2009  DEMOCRATS PRESSURE EPA TO GREEN-LIGHT PORK — Rep. Frank Says EPA Will Bar Anyone with a “Record of Hostility” to Pet Project
February 19, 2009  RIDERSHIP FOR STOUGHTON LINE FALLS AS COSTS RISE — Worst Eco-Alternative Rail Line Will Cost Massachusetts $800,000 per Commuter
October 6, 2008  BAY STATE SELECTMEN SUBJECT OF COMPLAINT AND FEDERAL LAWSUIT — Purge of Conservation Commission Fuels Development Free-for-All in Rehoboth
August 7, 2008  OCEAN FISHERIES PROTECTIONS TO BE WEAKENED — Bush Plan Would Give Industry Greater Power over Fishery Management Decisions
June 10, 2008  MASSACHUSETTS RECHARGE PLAN PUTS DRINKING WATER AT RISK — Industrial Polluters Escape Monitoring, Enforcement and Ongoing Safeguards
May 12, 2008  BAY STATE WORSENS PRESCRIPTION DRUG IN DRINKING WATER PROBLEM — Siting Hospitals and Nursing Homes Next to Drinking Water Wells Is Unwise
January 29, 2008  WETLANDS WHISTLEBLOWERS IN WESTPORT PROCEED TO TRIAL — Legal Defense Fund Established for “Westport Four” Conservation Commissioners
January 28, 2008  SECRET TOWN MEETINGS TO PAVE RATTLESNAKE HILL RULED ILLEGAL — Sharon Selectman Repeatedly Violated Open Meeting Law for Luxury Development
September 12, 2007  CANADA ADVANCES RIGHT WHALE PROTECTIONS WHILE U.S. STALLS — White House Blocking Ship Speed Limits to Accommodate Foreign Flag Shippers
September 10, 2007  MASSACHUSETTS STUMBLES ON SMART GROWTH PATH — Battle to Save Rattlesnake Hill Signals Backlash against Mega-Developments
August 14, 2007  WHITE HOUSE WAITING GAME ON WHALE SAFEGUARDS — Time Is Running Out for Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
August 8, 2007  MASSACHUSETTS POISED TO PAVE OVER WETLAND PROTECTIONS — Governor Wants Wetlands Permits Processed “At the Speed of Business”
July 31, 2007  MASSACHUSETTS CUTTING CITIZENS OUT OF PROTECTING WETLANDS — Environmental Groups Decry Gov. Patrick's Plan as Breaking Campaign Promises
December 21, 2006  ROMNEY BACKS AWAY FROM HIS SEWAGE PLAN TO AVOID LAWSUIT — Worst Features Removed But Significant Sludge Left for Incoming Governor
November 21, 2006  MASSACHUSETTS ECO-COPS SAY THEY ARE HANDCUFFED — Survey Says Environmental Enforcement Suffered Under Romney
November 16, 2006  MASSACHUSETTS LOSING WAR ON SPRAWL UNDER ROMNEY — Fewest Acres Protected in 2006 than in Past 15 Years at Higher Cost per Acre
November 13, 2006  MASSACHUSETTS SEWAGE STREAMLINING MEANS DIRTIER WATERS — Incoming Governor Left to Deal with Mega Industrial Wastewater Mess
October 25, 2006  BIG HOLES IN NEW ENGLAND’S WHISTLEBLOWER LAWS — State Employees Who Tell Inconvenient Truths Face Vastly Different Consequences
October 24, 2006  MASSACHUSETTS SUSPENDED WATER POLLUTION DISCHARGE LIMITS — No Monitoring for 1.4 Million Gallons per Day of Industrial Wastewater
June 23, 2006  NOAA ADOPTING SHIP SPEED LIMITS TO SAVE THE RIGHT WHALE — Ship Strikes are Largest Threat to Critically Endangered Marine Mammal
May 31, 2006  COAST GUARD BACKS NEW SHIPPING LANES FOR ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE — Altered Harbor Approaches to Reduce Ship Strikes on Endangered Marine Mammal
April 18, 2006  ROMNEY REVERSES HIMSELF ON ENVIRONMENTAL CLOSURES — Office Re-Opened After Three Years Due to Predicted Enforcement Disruption
January 12, 2006  ANOTHER RIGHT WHALE CALF KILLED OFF FLORIDA—TAIL SLICED OFF — Petition to the Coast Guard for Safety Zone to Slow Ships Crossing Whales’ Habitat
January 10, 2006   STATE AUDITS FIND THREE-FOURTHS OF TOXIC CLEAN-UPS DEFICIENT — Many Privatized Hazardous Waste Removals Must be Done Over
January 4, 2006  BERKLEY TOXIC HOT SPOTS MISTESTED, STATE AUDIT FINDS — Commonwealth Threatens Fines in Cancer Cluster at Bog’s Landing
November 10, 2005  ROMNEY ADMINISTRATION ILLEGALLY DRAINING CLEAN WATER JEWEL — 110-Year Old Park Trashed; Biggest Wetland Loss in 15 Years
June 8, 2005  RULE DELAYS DOOM RIGHT WHALE TO EXTINCTION, TOP ADVISOR SAYS — Marine Mammal Commission Call for Emergency Ship Strike Safeguards Ignored
April 21, 2005  ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHALLENGE STATE TO DO BETTER — Commonwealth’s “Dirty Water” Is Nothing to Celebrate
March 17, 2005  MBTA CANNOT AFFORD EXPANSION — New Projects Will Put “Entire Transit System at Risk,” Warns Finance Commission
February 14, 2005  ROMNEY USED CONSERVATION MONEY FOR SUPER BOWL RALLY — Department Head Protested and Was Fired
January 20, 2005  MASSACHUSETTS ENVIRONMENTAL COPS NEED BACKING AND MORE BEEF — State Withholds Report Decrying Lack of Commitment, Leadership and Focus
January 18, 2005  DEP NOMINEE CARRYING BAGGAGE FROM MASSACHUSETTS — Does Gina McCarthy Embrace the Mitt Romney Record?
January 17, 2005  MASSACHUSETTS ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING CUT BY 25% — State Can't Meet Federal Requirements; Less Than 10% of State Waters Are Clean
December 23, 2004  AUTO EMISSIONS WHISTLEBLOWER FILES RETALIATION COMPLAINT — PhD Statistician Reduced to Data Entry; Emissions Testing System Still Flawed
April 14, 2004  MASSACHUSETTS STILL UNHEALTHY — Two-Year Federal-State Plan Sees Little Improvement in Commonwealth's Environmental Health
January 26, 2004  ROMNEY POLITICAL STAFF TO SCREEN ENVIRONMENTAL APPEALS — Environmental Appeals Office Shut Down
November 24, 2003  NORTHEAST DEP RELOCATION REDUCING POLLUTION ENFORCEMENT — Employees Survey Finds Move Has Hampered Effectiveness; Destroyed Morale
November 20, 2003  GROUPS SUE TO BLOCK 25-YEAR MMR LEASE EXTENSION — Suit Cites Lack of Environmental Analysis
October 1, 2003  GROUP CHARGES MMR 25-YEAR LEASE EXTENSION IS ILLEGAL — Files Notice of Lawsuit
July 7, 2003  MASSACHUSETTS AUTO EMISSIONS TESTS BADLY FLAWED — Cars Pass When They Should Fail, and Vice Versa
May 19, 2003  PERCHLORATE CONTAMINATION WORSENS ON CAPE COD — Commonwealth Issues Cleanup Order to the Army
April 2, 2003  ROMNEY OFFICIALS CITED IN UNION BUSTING COMPLAINT — Attorney Restructure Violates Labor Practice Laws
March 13, 2003  STATE MAY FORFEIT MILLIONS IN POLLUTION FINES — Romney Plan to Fire State Attorneys Will Disrupt Environmental Enforcement
February 27, 2003  ROMNEY MOVES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INTO DEVELOPMENT AGENCY — Reorganization Creates Conflicts In Agency Role
January 20, 2003  GOV. ROMNEY ISSUES GAG ORDERS — Groups Environmental Employees Forbidden From Talking to Media
August 29, 2002  BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE WETLANDS VIOLATIONS INVESTIGATED — Embattled School President in Center of Controversy
August 28, 2002  HOCKOMOCK BLUE SPOTTED SALAMANDERS AREA RARE, PURE POPULATION — Independent Study Creates a New Roadblock to MBTA Rail Route
August 22, 2002  RAIL LINE THROUGH HOCKOMOCK UNDER FIRE — Report Details 10-Year Pattern of Distorted Data and Deceptive Documentation
June 11, 2002  "QUACK SCIENCE" BY MBTA IN HOCKOMOCK RAIL PROJECT — Water Quality Issues Ignored; MBTA Consultant Kills Rare Salamanders
May 8, 2002  MBTA USES BOGUS STUDIES TO JUSTIFY RAIL LINE — EXPERTS CHARGE T MAKES "SIGNIFICANT ERRORS"
April 18, 2002  POLLUTION PROTECTION LAGGING IN MASSACHUSETTS — Poor Federal Oversight of Mass. DEP
April 8, 2002  PENTAGON SEEKS ENVIRONMENTAL EXEMPTIONS FOR THE MA MILITARY RESERVATION — Clean Up May Be Shelved
September 5, 2001  DEM ILLEGALLY DECLARES "EMERGENCY" IN MARTHA'S VINEYARD FOREST BULLDOZING — Attorney General Not Consulted in Decision
August 30, 2001  MARTHA'S VINEYARD STATE FOREST SLATED FOR BULLDOZING — State OK's "Take" of 29 Rare Species Any Without Required Environmental Studies
April 11, 2001  ENVIRONMENTAL COPS CANNOT ENFORCE THE LAW — Officer Survey Cites Inept Management; Calls for New Agency
November 8, 2000  STATE BIOLOGISTS BUSTED FOR HUNTING VIOLATIONS — Will Case Go to Hearing?
White Papers for Massachusetts
Science Derailed — The Hockomock Swamp Heads for Ecological Trainwreck (August 2002)
This PEER white paper is a case study in how politics derailed science in the routing of a rail line through one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. more >>
Surveys for Massachusetts
2006  Massachusetts Environmental Police Survey
2003  Massachusetts DEP NERO Survey
2001  Massachussetts Environmental Police Survey
Other PEER Activities for Massachusetts
PEER Campaign: A Railway Runs Through It

See what the PEER chapter in Massachusetts is doing