During an hour-long walk Thursday on the portion of the Haggetts Pond Trail that remains open, Sharon Rogers suddenly stopped and crouched over a strip of swampy water running along the edge of the path.
She scanned the pool, looking for a blue-spotted salamander. The species is listed as a “special concern” under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. If Rogers found one, she may be able to make a last-ditch, Hail Mary case to save the 0.4-mile portion of the trail where work on a controversial paving project has not yet started.
“I’d do anything to save this part of the trail,” Rogers said. “You don’t always get to be in a place like this.”
Get more local news delivered every weekday. Sign up for our free newsletter.
Rogers is a member of the nonprofit Friends of Haggetts Pond and part of a group of residents who staged a two-year fight against the plan to pave the mile-long trail and make it what Town officials call the first, fully-ADA compliant trail in Andover.
The legal fight ended on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, when a judge issued a decision clearing the way for work to commence. By Tuesday morning, the 0.6-mile portion of the trail slated to be paved in the project’s first phase was closed and crews were on site to begin work. The start of the work has left Friends of Haggetts Pond considering what role it will play moving forward.
“At this point, all we can really do is try to raise awareness of what’s happening here,” Rogers said.
Judge: Town Would Face Irreparable Harm
The lawsuit filed earlier this year by some members of Friends of Haggetts Pond was the last, best hope to stop the project. Before that, members of the nonprofit were also able to call a special town meeting, but unsuccessful in their push to change the town’s zoning laws at that meeting. They flooded social media with posts and photos about the project that have drawn hundreds of comments. They held fundraisers to pay legal bills and other expenses that amounted to more than $5,000 per month.
The complaint outlined what the plaintiffs saw as irreparable harm to the wetland area if the project were allowed to continue. The plaintiffs also sought a temporary injunction to freeze work until the legal proceedings played out. Had the judge granted that injunction, Andover would have lost a $500,000 state grant for the trail.
That $500,000 grant played into Essex County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey T. Karp’s decision to not grant the injunction.
“While the record contains no evidence that the Project will cause irreparable harm to the environment, it does contain evidence that the Town and its residents will suffer harm if the Court grants the injunction, such as the loss of a $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth if the funds are not expended on the Project by June 30, 2025, and the delay of making the rail trail ADA accessible,” Karp wrote.
But members of the Friends of Haggetts pond have not stopped fighting. Friends has pivoted its mission and is now acting as a watchdog with the goal of raising awareness and, if possible, limiting environmental damage from the project. They continue to push their cause and social media, and they have scheduled another fundraiser for Wednesday at Oak & Iron Brewery.
“I can’t drive down Haggetts Pond Road,” said Maureen Loomey, a member of Friends of Haggetts Pond and a leader in the fight to block the project. “I can’t look at it. It’s devastating.”
‘Worse Than We Ever Imagined’
Rogers began going to Haggetts Pond during the coronavirus pandemic, when she could no longer workout. Since the fight started, she has researched the mating and migration patterns of the wildlife that live near the trail. She spent a year monitoring and testing pools of water and was able to get two certified as vernal pools with the state.
On Thursday, she pointed out more than a dozen turtle nests along the edge of the trail, and worried about what had become of similar nests on the portion of the trail where work is underway. She effortlessly named plants and trees, pointed out animal tracks, and showed openings and paths where turtles emerged from the wetlands along the trail to build their nests. At one point, she noted exposed tree roots on the trail.
“When that happens — when roots are exposed like that — it means the tree isn’t getting enough oxygen,” she said. “What’s going to happen when you put a layer of asphalt over the roots?”
Rogers has also become well-versed in Massachusetts environmental regulations and the Town of Andover’s conservation by-laws. But many of those rules were waived by the Andover Conservation when it gave final approval by issuing a permit for the project.
Rogers, Loomey, and other members of the nonprofit know they’re unlikely to succeed in protecting the portion of the trail that remains untouched– even if they do find the elusive blue-spotted salamander.
“We knew it was going to be a tragic event, but it’s worse than we ever imagined,” Loomey said.