DEP upholds plan to remove sand from Saugus roadbed

SAUGUS – The long fight over the fate of the abandoned I-95 roadbed in East Saugus is over: The Department of Environmental Protection upheld a plan to remove sand in Saugus to restore Winthrop Beach.A group of 18 citizens led by Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian filed an appeal with the DEP after the Saugus Conservation Commission approved a project that would allow the state to remove 236,000 cubic yards of sand.The appeal, written by Manoogian, requested a halt to construction until a land ownership question is resolved and sought assurances that a marsh restoration project will be paid for along with more “clarity and specificity” on several of the Conservation Commission?s order of conditions.On Thursday, Manoogian said it?s not a matter of winning or losing, but “making sure the project gets done as it?s proposed.”?Basically what DEP has done is they really acknowledged that the marsh restoration is linked, and obviously an important part of the sand removal,” said Manoogian. “They have incorporated language that would trigger the phasing of this that you can?t go to one step until they start grading and so forth.?I obviously would have liked for there to be funding in place and more specificity on how they?re going to accomplish the funding aspect. Although there?s no funding commitment at this point in time, there is acknowledgment of the importance of the marsh restoration project.”Manoogian also said he was happy the DEP added more “clarity and specificity” to their superseding order of conditions.?They didn?t just say, ?Oh, Saugus citizens go home, you lost ?? They didn?t do that,” said Manoogian. “They issued a superseding order that actually took out references to the Saugus Conservation Commission and put in its place the department. There?s going to be reporting to the (DEP). The people of East Saugus not only have the Conservation Commission oversight but they can also rely on the DEP oversight to make sure this gets done.”According to a letter from the DEP dated Aug. 20, phase two of the extraction project, which consists of removing material in the northernmost area, “cannot take place until another project, called the Ballard Street Salt Marsh Restoration and Flood Control Project, is designed, permitted and implemented.”?The removal of this portion of the historic 1-95 embankment is closely related to the Ballard Street Salt Marsh Restoration and Flood Control Project,” said the letter. “This pro-active salt marsh restoration project includes significant elements of local flood control improvement and is identified in the Draft Salt Marsh Restoration Plan for the Rumney Marshes.”The DEP conditions also stipulate that the material extracted in phase one shall not exceed 258,903 cubic yards and requires a calculation of the total amount extracted be reported to the DEP and the Conservation Commission within 30 days of completion.DEP Spokesperson Ed Coletta said anyone can appeal the decision within 10 business days, which would be by Sept. 4.