South River

Opponents have expressed concern that it could lead to greater police militarization and that its construction in the South River Forest will worsen environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

Opponents have expressed concern that that it could lead to greater police militarization and that its construction in the South River Forest will worsen environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

In the early 1980s, Christian Elwell, founder of South River Miso Company in Conway, Massachusetts, started growing Duborskian rice — a hardy Ukrainian variety — using dryland methods, for use in his products.

The petition drive against the $90 million, 85-acre project in the South River Forest is already the subject of an ongoing court battle over whether it holds legal muster, with attorneys for the city having called the effort “futile” and “invalid.”

Opponents fear that the training center will lead to greater militarization of the police and exacerbate environmental damage in the South River Forest in a poor, predominantly Black area.