The Patrick-Murray Administration Awards $750,266 in
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grants to Assess Water Quality

Commonwealth Funds Eleven Projects to Help Clean Up Watershed Contaminants

As part of the Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state's economic future, the Patrick-Murray Administration today awarded $750,266 in grants to 11 communities for projects to conduct watershed non-point source pollution assessment and planning work to address water quality impairments. These grants are funded under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and Section 604b of the U.S. Clean Water Act.

"A strong water supply infrastructure keeps our communities safe. These funds will both create jobs and help communities assess and protect vital local resources," Governor Patrick said.

The projects, selected by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), are located in Amesbury, Brewster, Cambridge, Duxbury, Marshfield, North Reading, Pembroke, Pittsfield, Provincetown, Sharon, and in the Connecticut River watershed.

"These projects are a key to our overall water resource protection efforts in threatened water bodies across the Commonwealth," MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Burt said. "The infusion of federal stimulus funding into this program allows us to greatly expand the development of plans to help remediate water quality concerns in more watersheds."

"This investment will create jobs and ensure Massachusetts maintains its excellent track record on water quality. I applaud the Patrick-Murray Administration's commitment to protecting the health and well-being of people across our state," said US Senator John Kerry.

"Our watersheds and salt marshes are not only critical to the environment, but to the local economy," said Congressman Bill Delahunt. "In these tough economic times, I am pleased the federal government can help ease the financial burden on our cash-strapped local communities."

Since 1998, MassDEP has funded 59 projects under this program for a total of $2,796,403. Non-point source (NPS) pollution is caused by diffuse sources that are not regulated and are normally associated with precipitation and stormwater runoff from the land or infiltration into the soil. Common types of NPS pollution include phosphorus and nitrogen from lawn and garden fertilizers, bacteria from pet waste and waterfowl, oil and grease from parking lots and roadways, and sediment from construction activities and soil erosion.

Qualified proposals were selected on a competitive basis and grant recipients include municipalities and regional planning commissions. Funding for the projects will be available this fall. The projects awarded grants this year are:

Lake Gardner: Powow River Bacteriological Investigation - $46,550
Town of Amesbury
This project will obtain water quality data and conduct watershed assessment activities for the upstream Powow River segment (Tuxbury Lake to Lake Gardner segment) and from Lake Gardner. A long-term restoration plan to address bacteria issues for these two areas will be developed to improve water quality.

Paines Creek and Stony Brook Stormwater Mitigation - $58,000
Town of Brewster
This project will continue improvements to untreated stormwater discharges for the Paines Creek and Stony Brook Watershed in Brewster. The town will conduct a site survey and preliminary design of stormwater improvements for two priority sites - the Route 6A Triangle and Paines Creek Road North of the Route 6A intersection to reduce: suspended solids, sediments, pathogens/bacteria, and nutrients. Preliminary design plans up to the 50% review stage will be prepared for both sites. The project will be completed within four months.

Improving Water-Quality in Urban Watersheds - $150,000
City of Cambridge
This project will quantitatively measure the total amounts of phosphorus, metals, and polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are removed by two types of street sweeping technologies from a well-defined urban area representing a single land-use category during the monthly street-sweeping periods for a maximum of 15 months. The project is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey, the City of Cambridge, MassDEP, and U.S. EPA. The data acquired will be used by MassDEP and EPA to refine existing stormwater runoff models, estimate urban non-point source reductions of total phosphorus relative to the lower Charles River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), and develop appropriate load-reduction credits to facilitate additional high-efficiency vacuum sweeping in the Lower Charles River Basin and other areas statewide. Information derived from this study will greatly enrich the knowledge base about effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) and will help prioritize municipal good housekeeping decisions for TMDL implementation and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II compliance.

Stormwater Mitigation: Kingston Bay - $53,600
Town of Duxbury
This project will advance the stormwater mitigation work already underway in Kingston Bay to address the second worst outfall identified, as well as mitigate four other outfalls selected after water quality sampling and analysis. Project goal is to bring technical documents to a level of engineering and design for Best Management Practices implementation. 

Bacterial Source Assessment in the South River - $49,430
Town of Marshfield 
This project will assess potential sources of bacteria in the South River through iterative source tracking sampling, prioritize potential solutions and problem areas according to feasibility and expected improvement, and provide designs for BMPs to improve the top three priority areas. Project goal is to reach water quality goals supportive of opening South River shellfish beds and safe recreation. The project will complement and enhance MassDEP's bacterial source tracking program.

Identifying Stormwater Remediation Upper Ipswich River Basin - $26,000
Town of North Reading
The negative impacts of impervious surfaces and the installation of stormwater conveyance systems on infiltration, recharge, stream hydrology and wetlands is a growing concern. This project builds on and expands previous stormwater remediation and habitat restoration work in the Upper Ipswich Basin. The project will assess stormwater conveyance, streambank erosion, sediment plumes at outfalls and water quality in small-scale catchments. The overall objective is to use the collected assessment information to develop implementation plans for low-impact BMPs that mitigate non-point source pollution caused mainly by stormwater runoff. 

Furnace and Oldham Pond Watershed Restoration Plan - $47,150
Town of Pembroke
This project will develop a long-term watershed restoration plan for both Oldham and Furnace ponds that will prioritize future watershed protection activities to obtain the most cost-effective pollutant removal and estimate the anticipated benefits. The study will determine the pollutant sources, in this case phosphorus, and estimate how much needs to be removed under existing and build-out conditions. Specifically, the town will: amend an existing Quality Assurance Project Plan; implement a monitoring program; conduct field reconnaissance; conduct pollutant modeling and build-out analysis; identify load reduction measures; prepare a watershed restoration plan; and develop engineering designs for the top three to five structural BMPs recommended in the plan.

Water Quality Assessment of Windsor & Cady Brooks - $69,300
City of Pittsfield
This project will implement recommendations of the MassDEP Surface Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Report and will assess sources of sediment to Windsor and Cady brooks. Significant sediment deposits and the re-suspension of these materials during storm events and/or high flows may be contributing to increased turbidity that is impacting Cleveland Reservoir - the City of Pittsfield's principal water supply. Appropriate management measures to prevent sediment from entering the reservoir will be identified.
   
Provincetown Harbor Stormwater Mitigation - $90,240
Town of Provincetown
This project will continue improvements to the West End outfalls which continue to pollute the harbor with bacteria and impact the overall water quality. This project will include a site survey, subsurface investigations, a preliminary design of Commercial Street between stormwater outfalls at the West End lot to Atlantic Avenue, consisting of stormwater collection improvements, infiltration facilities, and installation of porous pavement. Preliminary design plans up to the 50% review stage will be prepared for this section of Commercial Street. The project will be completed within four months.

Three Town Pathogen BMP Development Project - $82,790
Town of Sharon
This project will survey sub-watersheds in Sharon, Stoughton, and Walpole to identify suitable sites for retrofitting with structural stormwater BMPs that address pathogens and other pollutants of concern. Conceptual designs for BMPs will be developed at nine or more sites and less detailed cost estimates at an additional 21 sites. A methodology will be demonstrated for identifying and prioritizing BMP retrofit opportunities in these communities.

Connecticut River Water Quality Monitoring & Source Tracking - $77,206
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
This project will continue an on-going volunteer-based bacteria monitoring program in the Connecticut River watershed in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties. This will include monitoring of bacteria levels along the main stem of the river, collection of baseline bacteria data on tributaries suspected to be sources of bacteria, and new monitoring and field reconnaissance at specific locations for bacteria source tracking. Data collected will be shared through posting the data to an established web site targeting recreational river users, as well as outreach through local media and forum outlets.

Water quality investments are a critical component of Gov. Patrick's Massachusetts Recovery Plan, which combines state, federal and, where possible, private efforts to provide immediate and long-term relief and position the Commonwealth for recovery in the following ways:

* Deliver immediate relief by investing in the road, bridge and rail projects that put people to work today and providing safety net services that sustain people who are especially vulnerable during an economic crisis;

* Build a better tomorrow through education and infrastructure investments that strengthen our economic competitiveness, prepare workers for the jobs of the future and support clean energy, broadband and technology projects that cut costs while growing the economy; and

* Reform state government by eliminating the pension and ethics loopholes that discredit the work of government and revitalize the transportation networks that have suffered from decades of neglect and inaction.

For more information about what the federal recovery law means for Massachusetts, please visit www.mass.gov/recovery

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