SWAMPSCOTT — Residents encouraged the Select Board to allocate a portion of the $2.1 million remaining in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the pollution mitigation effort of Fisherman’s Beach at its latest meeting.
In 2015, Swampscott and the Environmental Protection Agency entered into a consent decree settlement. The town now submits compliance reports to the EPA every six months. Last year, the town made all the reports public after requests from community members.
In September 2023’s compliance report, the Enterococcus level was not documented. Enterococcus is a form of bacteria in which beach pollution is measured. The report attributes the lack of results to a “lab error.” The most recent report was released on March 1, however updated results were not included.
In August, October, and November of 2022, Fisherman’s Beach was tested for Enterococcus concentration. The results measured at 81,641; 173,289, and 120,333 per 100 milliliters respectively, suggesting a high level of pollution. According to Mass.gov, an acceptable level of enterococci is 104 units per 100 milliliters.
At Wednesday’s meeting, resident Arthur Friedman encouraged the town to consider purchasing a testing machine by Idex Corporation with the goal of obtaining more consistent and accurate results. Resident and co-founder of Save King’s Beach Andrea Amour referred to the effort to reduce pollution at Fisherman’s Beach as an “obligation.”
“We were acting in good faith when we signed this document almost ten years ago,” Amour said. “I don’t believe that we’re acting in good faith anymore… unless we contribute a significant amount of funding expeditiously to be able to fix Fisherman’s Beach.”
When the ARPA funds topic later arose, the Select Board ultimately decided to postpone a full discussion until its next meeting, and asked Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald to prepare a cohesive document that includes all of his recommendations.
In March’s compliance report, the Fisherman’s Beach Sewer Improvements Project is described. It includes “targeted pipe replacement and rehabilitation of sewer mainlines, sewer laterals, and sewer manholes to repair identified structural defects and potential points of exfiltration into the storm drain.” However, the report says that construction will not begin until funding is established.
