|
|
Mass.Gov Home Page | |
State Government | |
State Online Services |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Cellucci Announces Stormwater Grants
October , 1998 Governor Paul Cellucci announced $423,698 in grant awards today under the Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Program. The nine grant recipients are Falmouth, Mashpee, Oak Bluffs, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Somerville, and Wareham. These grants will be used to identify and clean up sources of road runoff and other stormwater pollution to important coastal areas, such as swimming beaches and shellfish beds. "Stormwater pollution causes some of the most serious water quality problems in the state," said Cellucci. "With the CPR Program, we get money to cities and towns so they can prevent contaminated stormwater from polluting our rivers and bays and harming the fish and wildlife that live there." "The enthusiastic response to the CPR program shows that towns recognize how fundamental clean water is to local industries like traditional shellfishing, to green business like aquaculture and tourism, and to overall quality of life," said Environmental Affairs Secretary Trudy Coxe. "The CPR grant funds, administered by Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MCZM), allows the state to help communities address their water quality problems." "Towns recognize how important these natural resources are to the residents, tourists, and the local economy," said MCZM Director Peg Brady. "Each grant recipient and all of the town officials involved deserve tremendous credit for identifying these problems and working to solve them." The primary focus of the CPR Program is to reduce transportation-related nonpoint pollution sources, particularly stormwater runoff from roadways. Through the previous three grant rounds, more than $1.3 million has been awarded. Communities located within the Massachusetts Coastal Watershed, which includes all areas whose rivers flow into and consequently impact Massachusetts coastal waters, are eligible for funding. The CPR program's goal of addressing pollution sources that are directly impacting natural resources and human uses is clearly met by these grant awards. For example, Salem's $80,000 grant will help keep sediment out of the Forest River Estuary, benefiting the nearby swimming beach and shellfish beds. The $75,000 grant awarded to Falmouth will reduce pollution problems in Bourne's Pond, which will help open shellfish beds in this area. In addition, Wareham will receive more than $13,000 to test water quality and analyze soils to design a system to clean up stormwater entering the Weweantic River and Buzzards Bay. MCZM hopes to increase funding levels for the fifth round of grants and will be soliciting applications in April 1999. Municipalities who have identified a stormwater pollution problem and are interested in developing a proposal for round five are encouraged to Contact MCZM's Kristin Feindel at (617) 727-9530, x413 or the appropriate MCZM regional office:
Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Grant Recipients Falmouth, $75,000 - This project is part of a five-year plan to improve water quality in Falmouth's coastal ponds. Building on the success of the completed CPR-funded project involving Cedar Lake, this stormwater treatment system will improve the water quality of Bourne's Pond and help open shellfish beds in this area. Mashpee, $24,583 - Using a man-made swale that is vegetated with wetlands plants, this project is an aesthetic and low cost way to reduce pollutants in stormwater discharge. This pollution-control structure will improve water quality of the Mashpee River habitat, helping its fisheries and the rare Triangle Floater Mussel and American Brook Lamprey. Oak Bluffs, $57,036 - The water quality of Farm Pond, located next to the Viera Town Park, will be improved with this residential road stormwater treatment system. Improving the water quality will also help open shellfish beds in Farm Pond, which have been closed for eight years. Rockport, $34,800 - This stormwater treatment system will help keep pollutants out of the critical Saratoga Creek saltmarsh habitat. As part of a class project, local middle school students have recently studied the site and the effects of the storm drain runoff in the salt marsh. Rowley, $3,019 - This project would prevent the discharge of untreated sewage into Ox Pasture Brook, a tributary of the Mill River, by directing more runoff into an existing StormTreat filtration system. The StormTreat system is part of the Massachusetts Audubon Society: North Shore's Mill River Project. Salem, $80,000 - The proposed stormwater treatment system will keep pollutants out of the Forest River Estuary. This project will benefit this critical saltmarsh habitat, as well as a nearby swimming beach and shellfish beds. Salisbury, $62,600 - Part of the many efforts to improve water quality and reopen shellfish beds in the Merrimack river, this stormwater treatment system will reduce the levels of fecal coliform bacteria entering the river through Black Rock Creek. Somerville, $73,360 - Structures that reduce stormwater pollution will be built for outfalls discharging into Alewife Brook and the Mystic River. The project will help clean up this polluted urban runoff entering these important water bodies.
Wareham, $13,300 - This project will test water quality, analyze soils, and design an appropriate
pollution-prevention system to deal with continuing stormwater problems. Sites that are going to be
investigated discharge into the Weweantic River and Buzzards Bay.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boston, MA 02114