To the editor:
For months, the Stacey Brook UV Pilot Project has been a source of constant noise pollution, with a professional noise survey confirming levels that were 23 to 27 dB(A) above ambient. Despite clear evidence of this violation of Massachusetts law (310 CMR 7.10), the City of Lynn has taken no action. City officials have consistently deflected complaints and deferred responsibility to MassDEP, knowing that the agency’s sound-measuring equipment was unavailable due to calibration.
Now, as MassDEP’s equipment is set to return this week, and the UV Pilot is slated for inspection, the city announced the project’s early conclusion. The timing is no coincidence. It’s a calculated decision to prevent MassDEP from conducting its own noise measurements and imposing fines. With penalties for non-compliance reaching as much as $25,000 per day, the city’s sudden change in narrative, and eagerness to report the project as a success. It’s clearly an attempt to turn a costly municipal failure into a public relations victory.
By shutting down the project now, the city subverts official verification of the noise violation and the fines that would follow. Mayor Jared Nicholson’s claim that the shutdown is due to staying “within the originally approved budget” and having collected “enough data” is another deliberately deceptive change in the narrative to produce a win for a failed effort. The real reason is not a successful project completion, but a pivot to avert the consequences of a MassDEP finding and salvage the optics of a summer-long folly.
Thank you,
Joe Negri
Lynn
