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April 7, 2022 (BOSTON, MA) – Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Paul Revere Transportation have settled a lawsuit regarding the company’s alleged violations of anti-idling laws and the Clean Air Act. CLF sued the company after its shuttle buses were observed idling in Roxbury and spreading air pollution into the neighborhood.
As part of the settlement, Paul Revere will make payments totaling over $1 million, including $585,000 to the Urban Farming Institute and Boston Farms, and $400,000 for the purchase of electric vehicles. Paul Revere must also take steps to reduce bus idling; for example, through the use of new, idling-tracking software and improved driver training.
“Idling vehicles spread toxic tailpipe pollution into some of Boston’s most vulnerable neighborhoods – communities already overburdened with harmful emissions and asthma,” said Heather Govern, Vice President of Clean Air and Water at CLF. “CLF’s settlement with Paul Revere will promote a healthier Roxbury by reducing excessive idling and by supporting urban farming and green spaces.”
“So often Black and Brown neighborhoods must shoulder the heavy consequences of choices made by industries that aren’t serving them,” said Joy Gary, Executive Director of Boston Farms. “Boston Farms is honored to be supporting health, environmental, and economic resilience in our communities, and this settlement allows us to strengthen that work in Roxbury. Building more regenerative farms, planting more trees, and growing more soil will not only help in sequestering and purifying our air but will also help us to grow more of the food that makes us thrive.”
“The Mitigation Project funding allows the Urban Farming Institute of Boston (UFI) to expand its vision of uplifting a community through training more urban farmers, creating more family raised gardening beds, providing more educational growing resources, and educating our eager to learn students from kindergarten through high school how to grow their own food,” said Patricia Spence of UFI. “From housing developments and schools to backyards and porches UFI has a wonderful opportunity to build a healthier community through the growing of fresh locally produced food.”
This case is the latest settlement in CLF’s campaign against unlawful tailpipe pollution, which releases harmful exhaust that includes benzene, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. When inhaled, this exhaust can cause lung damage, aggravate conditions like asthma and bronchitis, and has been linked to increased incidence of heart disease, multiple kinds of cancer, and premature death. Children are particularly susceptible to these harms.
Experts are available for further comment.
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