State Awards Environmental Grant to Marblehead

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

Trudy Coxe, Secretary of Environmental Affairs, awarded a $20,000 grant today to the Town of Marblehead to investigate pollution sources to Wyman's Cove. The Secretary presented the award to Thomas A. McNulty, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, at the Marblehead Town Hall. Marblehead was one of seven towns to receive $369,575 in grants under the Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Program. The other grant recipients were Chatham, Ipswich, 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 Marblehead 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 Marblehead project clearly meets this goal and will make a big difference for our coastal environment."

With the grant, Marblehead will implement a planning, monitoring, and assessment project to identify the sources of pollution to Wyman's Cove. First, the Town will develop a stormwater management plan for the area around Wyman's Cove. The plan will include regular street cleaning, catch basin maintenance, and an education program to reduce pet wastes. Second, funds will be used to implement a concentrated water quality monitoring effort throughout the current drainage system and in the Cove. Finally, the grant will augment the Town's current storm drain mapping project.

The Wyman Cove Project is a clear example of private and public interests working together to solve environmental problems. Salem Sound 2000 has been actively monitoring water in the Cove for several years. The State's Shellfish Beds Restoration Program identified the area as one of ten priority sites along the Massachusetts coast where efforts to reopen currently closed shellfish beds are focused. Despite the attention the site has received, all parties involved agreed that a proposal to improve maintenance of the drainage system while augmenting monitoring efforts would be the best next step toward cleaning the site so that the shellfish beds can be reopened.

"The Board eagerly supports this project and looks forward to working with Salem Sound 2000 and the Shellfish Bed Restoration Program in implementing it," says Thomas A. McNulty, Chairman of the Marblehead Board of Selectmen.

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.