Community Service Crews Clean Beaches and Lakes
Throughout the State

Left to right: Michael Vatalaro, aide to Representative Robert DeLeo; Chris Cannatta, Assistant Supervisor, Community Service; Tim Callahan, Assistant Statewide Supervisor, Community Service; State Representative Robert DeLeo, D-Revere; Domenic Cirelli, Assistant Court Services Coordinator, Community Service; and Brian Kelley of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Along the coast, from the New Hampshire state line to northern Massachusetts continuing to the Cape and Islands and as far west as the Berkshires, Community Service crews are clearing beach shorelines and lakefronts of glass and other debris – saving municipalities hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor costs and providing local families with clean, safe beaches to enjoy during every season.

The clean-up efforts of offenders –ordered to perform community service--have also been extended to city and town swimming pools. This across-the-state clean-up does not only take place during the summer. It continues into the fall season and in some locations, throughout the year.

"Financially strained cities and towns benefit from the work the Trial Court Community Service Program provides. This work includes the clean-up of beaches, swimming pools and bath houses throughout the Commonwealth. It's nice to know the reason many of these facilities are operational is because of the hard work the Community Service participants provide," said Chris Cannata, an Assistant Statewide Supervisor for the Massachusetts Trial Court Community Service Program.

Crews of probationers were dispatched to more than 30 beaches and three Attleboro public pools (list attached), averaging more than 5,000 hours of work this summer.

Recently, at the nation's oldest public beach, Revere Beach, a group of offenders toiled under the blue skies removing wood and debris washed ashore, raked up seaweed and pulled weeds that had sprouted up through worn and broken concrete along walls and walkways.

State Representative Robert A. DeLeo, Chairman of the House, Ways and Means Committee, D-Revere, was on hand to view the work being

"This work makes a real difference in the community. Cities and towns across the state are faced with fiscal difficulty and without community service, a lot of this work would not be completed," said DeLeo, who is chairman of the House, Ways and Means Committee.

Fourteen community service crew members are dispatched to Revere Beach twice a month to clean up trash.

"Massachusetts has a beautiful coastline and a number of attractive beaches. It is great that through our program, offenders can give back to the community by keeping these beaches clean and accessible to everyone," Cannata said.

Several miles from Revere Beach, Community Service crews can be found tidying up Winthrop Beach in Winthrop and Constitution Beach in East Boston twice a month during four-hour shifts during the summer. In the fall and later in the spring, offenders tame the weeds with a weed trimmer.

Also in Suffolk County, beach clean-up takes place at Carson Beach, Pleasure Bay-Castle Island, and Malibu and Savin Hill beaches in Dorchester.

In Essex County, Salisbury, Plum Island, Nahant, and Lynn beaches are swept clean of debris and glass.

Wollaston Beach in Quincy and Houghton's Pond in Milton in Norfolk County are scoured.

The Briggs Playground Pool, Tilda B. Stone Playground Pool, and the Lee Pond Veterans Memorial Pool – all public pools in Attleboro -- are also on the list for community service clean-up. This summer, offenders stripped, cleaned and painted the pool walls.

In Barnstable County, Cannata said, the "brunt of the work is done in the fall and winter."

Offenders clear debris, cut grass, and paint bathhouses at nine beaches: Wiley in Eastham, Rock Harbor in Orleans, Mayflower in Dennis, Corporation Beach in Dennis, Grey's in Yarmouth, Sandy Neck in Sandwich, Cape Cod Canal in Bourne, Old Silver in Falmouth, and Surf Drive in Falmouth.

On Martha's Vineyard, crews of ten offenders are dispatched to five of the local beaches five or six times a month for four hour shifts where they do everything from picking up trash to planting and fertilizing the beach grass, said Cannata.

Offenders also participated in an effort to protect Piping Plovers—a small, pale shorebird that is considered an endangered species.

"They block off nesting and feeding areas where the Piping Plovers tend to congregate," Cannata said.