SWAMPSCOTT — The town hosted a group of Lynn officials, Massachusetts legislators and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton on Friday afternoon, who discussed the water-contamination issues at King’s Beach and pledged to work together to resolve them.
Among the officials who participated in the meeting at the Swampscott Town Hall were state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), state Rep. Peter Capano (D-Lynn), Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson, Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald, Swampscott Selectman David Grishman, Executive Director of Lynn Water & Sewer Commission Daniel O’Neill, Swampscott Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta and Lynn Department of Public Works Commissioner Andrew Hall.
“The goal of the meeting was to bring all the stakeholders together,” said Crighton, who represents both communities. “We had a fruitful conversation. Real work will start soon.”
The two municipalities and the state-level officials have been working on the King’s Beach contamination for a long time, Crighton said, and it was an opportunity to come together, recognize that they were able to get a $5-million earmark for Lynn and Swampscott in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) bill and discuss how to put that money to the best use possible as quickly as possible, recognizing that this is just the starting point.
“Then we need to build a strong case for tackling this with a great deal of expediency,” Crighton said.
The meeting started with a 30-minute, closed-doors session, during which Fitzgerald gave an overview of the conditions at King’s Beach, Swampscott’s efforts that have been made to date and some reflections on the approach and possible next steps towards making the beach safe to use by the communities.
Later, participants of the meeting made a trip to the outfall point at King’s Beach where discharges from Lynn and Swampscott meet.
Moulton said that he has learned a lot about the issue from the meeting and promised to support the state delegation in resolving the situation however he can.
“What’s clear is that Lynn and Swampscott have to work together,” Moulton said. “Everyone at the state level and federal level wants to see a joint plan because it is a mutual problem.”
Fitzgerald indicated in his presentation that Swampscott would need about $20 million to complete the sewer repairs to stop the contamination of King’s Beach from the town’s discharge.
Some portion of an additional investment could be available through ARPA, as the federal government provided $4.5 billion to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Moulton said; however, Lynn and Swampscott need to make a compelling, joint plan to get the money from the commonwealth.
“Money comes in phases in government,” said Crighton. “We need to demonstrate that we can do as much as we possibly can with $5 million to build our argument for a greater investment.”
Grishman stressed that this regional issue was a matter of environmental justice, as some people from both communities are not able to go anywhere else in hot weather to cool off but King’s Beach.
“It is absolutely essential that we figure this out and we are going to do it,” said Nicholson.
While Swampscott has been working on sleeving aged and cracked clay sewer lines with plastic in the Stacey’s Brook drainage area, the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission has been updating its Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) plan and preparing to conduct a complex search for illicit-discharge sources.
Nicholson said that he was eagerly awaiting the initial results of the IDDE-plan update as they were the key part of the contamination resolution. The next steps would include more meetings to create the right plan.
“We are committed to working through that process and doing it in a transparent, collaborative way,” said Nicholson.
Bringing officials of the local, state and federal levels together to focus on the King’s Beach problem as well as cooperating with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health, should help Swampscott and Lynn strategically align a schedule, scope and budget to address the short- and long-term infrastructure needs of Stacey’s Brook, said Fitzgerald.
“This is an amazing resource,” Fitzgerald said while at the beach. “Can you imagine coming down here in five years, cutting down a ribbon and being able to say we have been able to protect it for future generations?”
