Littleton Conservation Commission Issues Multiple Orders, Requires Independent Monitor at Vernal Pool

LITTLETON — June 23, 2026 — Littleton Conservation Commission approves orders of conditions, invasive species removal, and vernal pool monitoring agreement at packed June 23 session. The commission voted unanimously on every formal action across a three-plus-hour meeting, issuing orders of conditions for a septic replacement at 136 Mill Road, habitat enhancement at 0 Taylor Street, and transmission line improvements by New England Power Company (DEP #204-1033). On the transmission line project, Chair Chase Kerby reached a compromise with National Grid requiring an independent third-party biological monitor to assess the vernal pool site before construction mats are placed and before any active-season heavy equipment work — a condition Kerby said was necessary because "I am not comfortable authorizing planned construction work that involves heavy equipment moving through a biologically active vernal pool." The commission also approved a Negative Determination of Applicability with a herbicide waiver for the New England Forest Foundation's invasive plant management at Prouty Woods — roughly 3.5 acres of spot-spray treatment — and authorized Friends of Forge Pond to use the Hartwell conservation area for manual water chestnut removal from Beaver Brook, where several hundred plants threaten to seed out by late July. The proposed portable LNG facility at 2A Cataldo Pond Way (DEP #204-1034) was continued to July 7 pending resolution of disputed wetland flag locations, lighting and noise impact assessments near the vernal pool, and a Town Counsel review of unpermitted pre-bylaw fill within the site's 50-foot no-disturb zone.