State Targets Local Sites for Clean Up and Restoration of Shellfish Beds

October 25, 1999
Contact: Susan Snow-Cotter
(617) 626-1202

The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) announced today that the state will target seven sites coastwide for priority assistance under the Shellfish Clean Waters Initiative (SCWI). The sites are: Pines River in Revere, Wollaston Beach in Quincy, Bay Road in Duxbury, Round Cove in Harwich, Lagoon Pond in Tisbury, Buttonwood Creek in Dartmouth, and Ipswich, town-wide. State and federal agencies will provide these communities with technical assistance to identify pollution sources to shellfish beds, determine appropriate solutions to pollution problems, find possible funding sources for clean up, and assist with similar efforts to improve water quality and open shellfish beds.

"The Shellfish Clean Waters Initiative brings the right people from state and federal government together to help local officials identify pollution problems that are keeping shellfish beds closed and then find solutions so that these important resources can be cleaned up and opened for harvesting," said Bob Durand, EOEA Secretary. "This approach is consistent with my whole philosophy of community preservation - having EOEA agencies do their part to help communities address local issues so they can maintain their community character."

The overall goal of the Initiative is to improve recreational and commercial shellfishing prospects at the local level, while providing cleaner water for everyone. The SCWI will immediately begin working with the seven priority communities to develop a plan of action for improving water quality so these productive shellfish beds can be safely harvested.

The state and federal agencies involved with SCWI are Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MCZM), the Massachusetts Bays Program, the Buzzards Bay Project, the Division of Marine Fisheries, the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Massachusetts Highway Department, EOEA's Watershed Initiative, the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Districts, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The effort is led by SCWI Coordinator Paul Somerville, who will be working closely with local officials from these seven sites to begin the clean up process.