Upcoming events
- Public Meeting on the Biolab Risk Assessment Panel(event)(1 day)
- JPNDC's Building an Equitable Community(event)(2 days)
- Community-owned Sustainable Energy Working Group(event)(5 days)
- Dudley Square Vision: New Area B-2 Police Station(event)(7 days)
- The Walk to Freedom - CORI Reform Now!(event)(7 days)
- Jammin' for Justice(event)(14 days)
Services Program
Our Services Program provides legal and technical assistance and capacity building services to help strengthen and support grassroots groups working on environmental justice in our region. ACE coordinates the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Assistance Network (MEJAN), a network of more than 200 attorneys, law firms, public health professionals, and environmental consultants, who provide pro bono assistance to groups throughout the state.
How to Get Legal and Technical Assistance
ACE provides legal & technical assistance to neighborhood groups who:
- Are in a lower income community and/or a community of color;
- Need help with an environmental or public health problem; and
- Are willing to work together with their neighbors to fix it
For more information download the Services Program Brochure in .pdf format.
If you have an issue that you need assistance with and would like to request assistance from ACE, please contact Marina Spitkovskaya at (617) 442-3343, ext. 235.
Environmental Professionals: Sign Up Here to Help
Attorney/Consultant Registration Form
We need volunteer attorneys, environmental consultants and public health professionals! These professionals play a crucial role in helping community groups combat environmental injustice in their neighborhoods. Please consider joining the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Assistance Network.
To find out more, complete the MEJAN Registration Form and return to ACE by mail, call us at (617) 442-3343, ext. 226 or email Gene Benson or Anne Rogers.
Success Stories
- Roxbury: Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative community members won a ruling that a neighborhood trash transfer station was operating illegally.
- Roxbury: Keyspan responded to Roxbury Puddingstone Neighborhood Association residents, promising to take gas leaks seriously, respond to calls about leaks, reseal the main pipe three years ahead of schedule, and establish a special phone number for reporting leaks.
- Roslindale: Archdale/Roslindale Coalition community residents negotiated a legal agreement from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to provide substantial compensation to residents for sewer back-ups into their basements and yards.
- South Boston: Residents of the M Street Park & Neighborhood Association convinced the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority to move the proposed location of a Combined Sewer Overflow Facility and to build a smaller treatment facility than formerly planned.
- East Freetown: Concerned Citizens of Freetown settled an environmental justice civil rights lawsuit with the Town of Freetown for damages, restoration of adequate water system and other zoning considerations
- Chelsea: Community members of the Chelsea Green Space and Recreation Committee achieved a first in Massachusetts when the Administrative Magistrate allowed them to participate in a DEP Penalty Case against Eastern Minerals and Salt.