News: Lynn withdraws big box lawsuit

The Daily Item
Lynn withdraws big box lawsuit
November 28, 2011, by Chris Stevens
http://itemlive.com/articles/2011/11/29/news/news02.prt

News: Lynn's lawsuit moves forward

Daily Item
Lynn’s suit against development moving forward
November 3, 2011
www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/11/04/news/news09.prt

News: Lynn Continues with Appeal

Salem News
Despite death of Lowe's project, Lynn files appeal
November 3, 2011, by Julie Manganis
salemnews.com/local/x2039718868/Despite-death-of-Lowes-project-Lynn-files-appeal

Occupy

In light of the Occupy Together movement, our actions here in fighting off corporations from destroying Spring Pond Woods has had its own battle for a year and a half now.  The battle was encouraged by the voices of hundreds.  Thank you for signing the petitions, and sending letters to local and state officials.  The battle to protect this pristine forest, wetlands and campground is not over.

Here is a brilliant video, posted once again, made by a few Salemites on Driscoll's Corporate Priorities for Salem, in building over dedicated green Open Space.  Lowe's has withdrawn from building here since this video was made, but the threat of development still continues.

News: Lynn Moves Ahead with Lowe's Appeal

Daily Item
Lynn Moves Ahead with Lowe's Appeal
October 25, 2011, by Chris Stevens
http://itemlive.com/articles/2011/10/26/news/news03.prt

News: Lowe's scraps Salem Development Project

Daily Item
Lowe's scraps Salem Development Project
October 22, 2011, by Cris Stevens
www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/10/22/news/news04.prt

Boston Business Journal
Lowe's woes a black eye for Salem
October 21, 2011
www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2011/10/lowes-woes-a-black-eye-for-salem.html

CBS Boston
Lowe's Scraps Store, Ends Lynn vs Salem battle
October 21, 2011, Carl Stevens reports
boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/21/lowes-scraps-store-ends-lynn-vs-salem-court-battle/

News update: Lynn awaits confirmation from Lowe's

Daily Item
Lowe's may kill Salem project near Lynn line.
Lynn awaits news before proceeding with lawsuit.  
October 21, 2011, by Chris Stevens
http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/10/21/updates/updates08.txt.txt

News: Lowe's project dead

In the recent news of Lowe's cutting back stores, Lowe's has stepped away from building in Spring Pond Woods!  The Lowe's war may be over, but the fight to protect the area is not.


Conservation efforts will continue in protecting these woods, wetlands, watershed, Surface Water Protection zones, wildlife habitat, Native American sites, historical and cultural resources, and campground for children.  There was much to learn from the site in the past year and a half.  Not only is Spring Pond Woods beautiful, but it is rich in history and environmental importance.


Thank you to everyone who supported the cause in protecting Spring Pond Woods, one of the '1000 Great Places in Massachusetts.'


Salem News
Lowe's development dead
October 21, 2011, by Tom Dalton
www.salemnews.com/local/x2117288136/Lowes-development-dead

News: Lowe's decision affect Salem? and Salem looks for flood help

Salem News
Could Lowe's decision affect Salem plan
by Tom Dalton, October 19, 2011
Story:  salemnews.com/local/x1184191770/Could-Lowes-decision-affect-Salem-plan/print
SPW Reference:  springpondwoods.com/2011/10/ap-news-lowes-closing-20-stores-and.html


Salem News
Salem looks for flood help
by Tom Dalton, October 18, 2011
Story:  salemnews.com/local/x744037202/Salem-looks-for-flood-help/print
SPW Reference:  springpondwoods.com/2011/10/october-4-flooding-on-highland.html
                                     springpondwoods.com/2010/08/nature-strikes-back-flood-on-highland.html

AP News: Lowe's closing 20 stores and cutting jobs

Associated Press News
October 17, 2011

"Home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. says it will close 20 underperforming stores in 15 states (including Massachusetts) and cut 1,950 jobs in order to focus on more profitable locations (in pristine woods?... in Spring Pond Woods?)."
Read more here... www.masslive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/glance-lowes-closing-20-stores/4f6f94f552b845b09021dbae20ee33d4

More news:
MSNBC
Lowe's to close 20 stores.
Retailer to close underperforming stores in 15 states, cut 1,950 jobs
Read more here:  www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44928593/#.TpxPnmBVO18

Thank you to a friend for sharing.

News: Walmart donates 500,000 to rejuvenate urban ecosystems

But does Walmart care that the store expansion in Salem MA will blast a portion of Spring Pond Woods?

News:  Walmart Donates $500,000 to Help Rejuvenate Urban Ecosystems
Link:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walmart-donates-500000-to-help-rejuvenate-urban-ecosystems-126773878.html

Thanks to a Salem resident who shared this news.

News: Lowe's pursues to build on wetlands in Florida and looses

Here is somewhat of a similar case with Lowe's wanting to construct on wetlands near important watershed area (as we have here surrounding Spring Pond Reservoir).

 In Florida, the zoning of an area was amended to permit Lowe's (just like here in Salem) to build on wetlands near the outskirts of important waterways.  Earlier this year, the multi year battle ended with Lowe's loosing the case, after the company tried to appeal the restrictions in court.

Links: http://summitcountyvoice.com/2011/03/02/florida-court-nixes-lowes-development-near-everglades/

http://www.environmentamerica.org/news-releases/parks-open-spaces-wild-places/parks-open-spaces-wild-places/victory-gov.-crist-florida-cabinet-hold-the-line-for-the-everglades#idk4besKTQxRs5pUl_M5ADVQ

Wetland impact: East Stream

One of the biggest concerns of the area will be the impact on wetlands by proposed future 'developments'.   For example, one of the streams which flows into a waterfall is faced by the threat of a Lowe's building.  The impact to this stream alone is highly likely to exceed the 5,000 sf max. allowance in Massachusetts for impact on wetlands.

According to documents, the Lowe's impact on wetlands is said to be "4,585 sf".  

Refer to ENF report for numbers: www.env.state.ma.us/mepa/mepadocs/2010/010610em/nps/enf/14532.pdf

Refer Salem Citizens website for drawings and numbers:  salemcitizens.org/issues/Lowes/Front%20End%20Charts.pdf 

The summary of BVW "A", "B" and "C" in the image below equals 4,585 sf.

However...

...as one studies the amount of wetland vegetation within these given boundaries and measures the drawings, the amount of wetland affected exceeds 5,000 sf by a great number.  In my own personal investigation of the drawings, I've taken a conservative measurement to find the bvw wetland alteration is minimally 7,170± sf (excluding 'bank' area, and expanded work in buffer areas).  Others have found these numbers to be higher.  

A big question (for me at least) remains.  Are the flags in the field correctly drawn in plan?  It is discovered that some of the flags have duplicate numbers, and some of the measurements between the flags were shorter in distance than shown on the plan.  Theoretically, if this is true, this could possibly mean that the stream in plan is extended at the thinner portion, causing the top thicker end of the stream on paper to be excluded from the calculations of the affected area?  This is only a question.  The only way for me to understand the conditions in the field is to have someone verify the locations of the flags with a handheld gps locator that has an inch or less tolerance, or other method of survey.  But this investigation for me is not extremely important as we already discovered, that by measuring the drawings, the wetland alterations exceed the allowable limit by a great amount.

To measure the drawings:

Print the drawing below to scale (using the scale bar as a reference) and measure by using a series of triangles to calculate the affected wetland flagged area.  Or import the drawing into a drawing program, using the scale bar as reference, and then trace over the affected area using a polygon tool, resulting in a calculation of the area.  Use the drawing below found on Salem Citizens website (click here).

tropical rainforest interest?

Spring Pond Woods is not a tropical rain forest, but it does have many wetland areas.

Here is just an interesting fact about Lowe's... In the year 2000, The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), commended Lowe's for removing dowel's from the shelves, made from tropical rainforest wood in Indonesia.
 Link: http://www.eia-international.org/cgi/news/news.cgi?t=template&a=36

Six years later, in 2006, Lowes's was accused of making false environmental claims, as the company admitted a veneer product was coming from an unknown area in Papua, Indonesia, where a tropical rainforest is continuously under threat from illegal logging. The corporation, Lowe's could not prove the wood came from a legal source.
Link: http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0323-png.html

'Green' until caught 'red-handed'?
..........

Lowe's environmental policy today declares to protect the world's threatened forests.
Link:  http://www.naturalstrategies.com/lowes-virtual-press-kit.htm
'Spring Pond Woods' matter to Lowe's?

Lions Clubs International teams with Wal-mart

In a national campaign, The Lions Clubs International has teamed with Wal-mart to collect used glasses at Wal-mart stores across the country. A kiosk is found in stores, where glasses can be dropped off. The Lions Clubs International is now able to receive extensive advertisement and goods through Walmart's global market. In turn, Wal-mart and The Lions are able to demonstrate the good from these actions to the community. The Lions Clubs International website, further demonstrates a care for environment, through a tree planting campaign (in light of a policy made in 1972, to protect the environment. Link: http://lionsclubs.org/EN/member-center/planning-projects/sight/eyeglass-recycling/index.php.

A question to ask is, 'Do the board members of the Lions Clubs International care about the environment?' There are in fact many members around the world, doing good to protect the environment through individual programs.

Confusingly,
1.  The Lions Clubs International has not responded to the concerns here. A division of the organization, the Lynn Lions Club, District 33N, has created and is affiliated with Camp Lion that has sold and is further selling acres of wild woodland for the destruction to build a Wal-mart expansion and new Lowe's.

2. The Lions Clubs International has received notification of the issues, through certified letters, hundreds of letters from an online petition, including a notice of complaint filed to the Attorney Generals Office in Massachusetts on the Lynn Lions Club and Camp Lion of Lynn Mass (by myself and others)... Reiterating the club(s) mission statement, charter's policy to protect the environment, or Camp Lion's Declaration of Articles to 'maintain a wild woodland'.

3. The Lions Clubs International is aware of the issues and concerns of the community, to save this spat of undeveloped land.


By ignoring the issues here, and by teaming with Wal-mart, are the Lions Clubs International now indicating support for the destruction of these pristine woods and wetlands in Salem?...Rather than saying NO to the very corporations (like Wal-Mart) whose project proposes to destroy it!

One may ask, 'Who are the Lions Clubs International?' The organization's great works does reflect somehow in the millions raised in funds, which in turn are mostly sent offshore. *Refer to: Tax documents filed by Lions Clubs International.

News: Salem files motion on law suit & Somerville not quick to welcome Walmart

Salem files motion on Lynn law suit
July 24, 2011, By Chris Stevens for The Daily Item

Link:  http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/07/25/news/news05.prt


No red carpet for Walmart Market
Grocery store faces obstacles in Somerville
July 23, 2011, By Taryn Luna for The Boston Globe
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-23/business/29807746_1_walmart-market-wal-mart-spokesman-steven-restivo-arkansas-retailer

News: Wal-mart Stores, crowd management fatality case

United States Department of Labor
US Department of Labor’s OSHA applauds decision upholding citation against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in crowd management fatality case
March 25, 2011
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20110308.htm


Thank you to a friend for sharing news of this article.

News: Big Boxes are shrinking

Thank you to a Salem friend for sharing this article.
Will it be a matter of time, before big box stores return to mom & pops, and Walmart rethinks before expanding into Spring Pond Woods?

The Wall Street Journal | Business
As Big Boxes Shrink, They Also Rethink

by Miguel Bustillo, March 3, 2011

Major big-box retailers have been shifting to smaller stores—and scratching around for more profitable ways to fill under-used spaces as they go about reinventing themselves......

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also said last week that it was accelerating the rollout of smaller locations—40,000 square feet or less—after it reported a seventh straight quarterly decline in sales at U.S. stores open at least a year. (!... )

Read more here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704728004576176601936377760.html

News: Boston Mayor sends message to Wal-Mart

Thank you to a friend for sharing this news link...


Boston Herald
Mayor Thomas M. Menino sends message to Wal-Mart
Seeks 'good jobs' and local investment
link:  http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1315387

News: Walmart makes us fat

An article by Kevin Lewis in The Boston Globe, on Nov. 14, reveals uncommon knowledge from social science studies that Wal-mart makes people fat.

Here in Spring Pond Woods, Wal-mart wants to expand to a supercenter, and Lowe's wants to build next to Wal-mart.  Both stores will be clearing trees and blasting ledge.  There is already a Wal-mart store in a building with other stores.  The building is large enough for Wal-mart to take over and expand in... but an excuse we've heard in the Salem Public Meeting (June 3rd), as to why land cannot be conserved is because the store wishes to make the aisles wider.  The aisles in Wal-mart are already wide enough.

peace