BOSTON — Leaders and community members from the Commonwealth came together in person and remotely for the Metropolitan Beach Commission’s annual hearing.
The meeting was hosted by Save the Harbor/Save the Bay Executive Director Chris Mancini, and the commission co-chairs Rep. Adrian Madaro of the first Suffolk district and state Sen. Brendan Crighton.
Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Brian Arrigo gave testimony on the Massachusetts beaches.
“Access to open spaces, especially beaches, truly builds healthy communities,” Arrigo, the former Mayor of Revere, said. “Every person needs access to clean water to swim in, to cool off in, and experience the fun that we can provide at our public spaces.”
According to Arrigo, DCR was focused on making beach-areas more accessible and welcoming for those with disabilities and those with language barriers.
Arrigo also said DCR was committed to clean water on Massachusetts waterfronts but said 2023 quality lagged behind previous quality scores due to summer’s wet weather.
“Water safety and water quality is absolutely a top priority for this administration,” Arrigo said.
Crighton, co-chair of the MBC, pressed Arrigo on the topic of public communication of water quality like the long-embattled King’s Beach, which stretches from Lynn to Swampscott.
Crighton questioned if more could be done to expedite the water testing process to keep people up to date on when beaches are safe to swim in, a process that currently takes around a day before alerts like red “no swimming” flags go up or come down.
“When those flags go up, when those notifications go online, it’s always late,” Crighton said. “Looking at the flags, there’s just not a level of trust in them actually telling people in the beach water is safe.”
However, he pointed out that because of how frequently King’s Beach is closed, it hasn’t really suffered from inaccurate warnings the way that Nahant Beach and Constitution Beach in East Boston have.
“It’s not a bigger issue at King’s because King’s is closed every day,” Crighton said.
Crighton also raised questions about having more staff on-site to warn beachgoers about water-quality issues.
Lynn Councilor-at-Large Nicole McClain said in a comment on the digital meetings chat that she hoped DCR would spend more time in her city.
“It would be great to have a visit to Lynn from DCR,” McClain said. “Perhaps an event where local organizations could help with installing the new signs and raise awareness regarding the meaning of the flags, education on water quality, etc.”
Speaking to the issue of King’s Beach specifically, Arrigo said tackling the beach problems was a priority for the Commonwealth.
“The administration and Governor (Maura) Healey are committed to working with the Department of Environmental Protection, working with the cities, and working with you (Crighton) to make that a hopefully and eventually clean space with clean water,” Arrigo said.
Swampscott resident Andrea Amour, who runs the organization Save King’s Beach, attended the meeting virtually and spoke to The Item afterward.
“It was an incredible disappointment,” Amour said of the meeting.
During Arrigo’s remarks, Amour vented in the virtual meeting chat about her frustration with Arrigo for not bringing up the topic of King’s Beach.
“Shocked that he isn’t talking more about clean beaches, particularly in terms of King’s Beach,” Amour commented. “It feels like it’s just going to continue to be forgotten rather than take an interest in fixing this resource.”
During public comments in the meeting, Amour blasted MBC leadership for taking little action on issues surrounding King’s and Nahant Beach and said she was frustrated by the lack of attention toward “basic human needs.”
“People are getting sick at these beaches,” Amour said. “People are getting sick at King’s Beach. I got sick at King’s Beach.”
Amour urged leaders not only to address the bacteria issues at King’s and Nahant Beach but also to do a better job of making people aware of the health risks. At one point, Amour addressed Arrigo, who visited the beach in September with other state leaders, directly.
“You actually walked through that sewage, and so to have that happen and have you not discuss directly the issues that are happening at King’s Beach just makes me so upset,” Amour said. “I’m honestly in disbelief that this isn’t being discussed.”
In comments after the hearing, Amour said she was frustrated speakers didn’t draw a clear distinction about the safety issues facing beaches in the area.
“I think there were a lot of general statements made about how great our beaches are, and how clean they are and I think that really whitewashed the narrative,” Amour said.
In response to Amour’s comments, Crighton defended Arrigo’s and local leaders work and assured Amour the issues facing King’s Beach and Nahant Beach remained a top priority for local leaders.
“I can assure you that your delegation, as well as the commissioner, are putting all of our efforts behind making sure that the water is clean,” Crighton said. “More importantly, in the immediate term, making sure that people aren’t swimming at the beaches (is a priority).”
Amour told The Item, in the future, the resources will be allocated toward fixing the basic health and safety inequalities before any more funds go toward “nice to have” projects.
“It sounds like people are doing really nice upgrades when (Lynn, Swampscott, and Nahant) don’t have really basic infrastructure needs,” Amour said. “If those things aren’t being met, we can’t graduate to those ‘nice to have’ things.”
