State Awards Environmental Grant to Ipswich

October 23, 1996
Contact: Anne Donovan
(617) 727-9530 x411

Trudy Coxe, Secretary of Environmental Affairs, awarded a $11,659 grant today to the Town of Ipswich in a continuing effort to help clean up the Ipswich River Estuary. Ipswich was one of seven towns to receive $369,575 in grants under the Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Program. The other grant recipients were Chatham, Marblehead, Nantucket, Revere, Seekonk, and Wareham.

"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 Secretary Coxe. "I applaud Ipswich and the town officials involved for their foresight."

The CPR Program, administered by the state through Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MCZM), will appropriate up to $4 million over a five year period for projects that reduce stormwater runoff from roadways and other transportation-related nonpoint pollution problems.

"The main goal of the program is to control sources of pollution that are directly impacting important environmental resources such as shellfish beds," explained MCZM Director Peg Brady. "The Ipswich project clearly meets this goal and will make a big difference for our coastal environment."

Ipswich received $27,050 last year in the first round of CPR grants to install StormTreat (an innovative technology that filters stormwater) at two locations. One will be installed at County Road and Elm Street, and another will be installed on Water Street near Hovey Street. The Conservation Agent and DPW Director are working with a contractor on project design and hope to have the technology installed later this fall.

The $11,659 project funded this year will capture stormwater runoff from roadways in the residential area near County and Green Streets, including a large parking lot. Sediment from this runoff is impacting important rainbow smelt spawning habitat. To address this problem, Ipswich will use an existing drainage channel on Town property to hold the stormwater so that sediments and pollutants can be leached out before the stormwater is released. This project will also address a significant source of bacteria to the Ipswich River Estuary, which was targeted by the Town's Coastal Pollution Control Committee. The long-term goal for remediating these discharges is to reopen 174 acres of extremely productive soft-shelled clam beds that have been closed since 1985.

"In 1992 we established the Coastal Pollution Control Committee to identify sources of pollution and to recommend actions that help reduce the negative impacts of this pollution," stated James Engel, Board of Selectman Chair. "The Board enthusiastically supports these efforts to reduce nonpoint source pollution."

MCZM will be soliciting applications for the third round of grants in April 1997. Municipalities who have identified a stormwater pollution problem and are interested in developing a proposal for Round 3 are encouraged to Contact MCZM's Steve Barrett at (617) 727-9530, ext. 413.

The CPR program was created under the State Transportation Bond Bill passed by the legislature in December 1994 under the leadership of Rep. Thomas Cahir (D-3rd Barnstable District and Chairman of the Transportation Committee). Towns located within the Massachusetts Coastal Watershed, which includes all areas whose rivers flow into and consequently impact Massachusetts coastal waters, are eligible for funding.