The poisoning of Channing Rd.

My husband and I moved to Belmont in June, 2015.   When we bought the house, we knew and approved of the plan to build a bike path;  being environmentalists who had commuted by bike to work for decades, it seemed reasonable to build the standard 10' wide asphalt strip to reduce cars' environmental impacts.

 It was around 2017 that I became aware that the plan was not to build a modest bike path. Instead, it was a behemoth project that threatened the narrow strip of mature woodland running in back of Channing Rd. homes.   It also threatened our maple, pine and hemlocks trees which were one reason we purchased the house.

We have already taken 75% of the planet's land for our use and have created a climate crisis that is driving us and other species into a mass extinction.  Yet, we continue to voraciously consume the land and now we are expected to let this narrow forest, part of a fragmented suburban habitat be crushed to build more recreational space; only 15% plan to use it for the green purpose of commuting.  (Yet, if you listen to the supporters of this destructive project such as former Rep. Paulsen (MPO public comm. March 25, 2021), you hear mostly talk of bike commuting because they know that being "green" sells.

Tree line in June 2019
 

I naturally opposed the destruction of this tiny habitat created by the embankment trees in conjunction with our backyard's trees, .  Others have joined me in defense of the trees which now face a difference threat: the trees are being killed with herbicide.

 I had noticed the thinning of the thin forest strip about 3 years ago and I had been puzzled.  But I discovered the reason last June when, horrified, I saw the burnt and distorted leaves.  The killing cloud of herbicide rose to a height of ~7' at the top of the embankment and it had moved down the embankment towards our backyard trees.  Then I understood why trees had died and why the previously healthy 35-40' oak was now struggling to stay alive. 

 

Tree line in June 2020
  

The BCF land is being sprayed with massive amounts of herbicide. So much chemical that it was killing a mature oak and that herbicide cloud had traveled past the smaller maples that stood only a couple of feet from our fence. 

Besides the killing herbicide cloud, a man or men had hacked at the smaller black cherry trees as well as at the branches in the taller maples and the oak.  All was in a tumble thrown into the embankment.


Jumble of hacked branches and small trees on the embankment. Herbicide-burnt vegetation is also visible.

Now the killing cloud of herbicide returned sometime between October and March and   killed the two dwarf mountain laurels that I planted last August near the fence.

Laurel last year and this year (it was caged to protect it from rabbits during the Winter)


 
Update: after much effort, I found out that the herbicide spraying was done by Keolis twice per year.  It uses a chemical cocktail and you may find details about it in the Keolis Annual Proposal/Report.

It turns out that Keolis thought the BCF land was part of the MBTA land.  After a nasty incident with a threatening Keolis director, the task of overseeing the herbicing was transfered to a very reasonable contractor.  Keolis still sprays but does not come right up to my back fence.  The clouds of herbicide still distort the tree leaves and the undergrowth but there is less killing of plants in our backyard.








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