New Bedford awarded $72.7 million in federal infrastructure funds for harbor cleanup
NEW BEDFORD — It’s the light at the end of a dark sediment-filled tunnel with bald eagles soaring above. It’s only taken about 40 years.
With the approval of $72.7 million in federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, the Environmental Protection Agency-led cleanup of New Bedford Harbor will be ccompleted in three years.
Mayor Jon Mitchell said it was such a long time coming that many people probably assumed it was never going to happen, but with the cleanup of the Superfund site, New Bedford is primed to become a center of the offshore wind industry.
“It’s really exciting for us and it’s really symbolic of how New Bedford has reinvented itself time after time after time to provide opportunities for its residents so it’s great news from the EPA,” he said at Tuesday’s announcement.
Sen. Edward Markey served on the Congressional committee that created the Superfund project. In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act was passed. New Bedford was added to the National Priorities List in 1983 as one of the most contaminated sites.
Markey said he’s proud to be able to say that the incredibly important historic project can be completed with the announcement of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding considering all the damage done to the harbor by companies that used the harbor as a dumping ground and put profits first.
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“Now we’re on the cusp of a new era, and this funding is possible because of the incredible investment which we made in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill of 2021 which President Biden signed,” he said. “That funding is coming back here in the form of jobs that are going to be created to finish this project and the new jobs that are going to be created along New Bedford Harbor.”
The total cost for the harbor PCB cleanup – or “pristine clean bay” as Markey called it, is close to $1 billion. Approximately half of that amount has been funded by the federal and state governments’ cost recovery efforts.
The EPA’s investment in completing the cleanup of New Bedford Harbor on 18,000 acres accelerates the private investment that will be integral to New Bedford’s future, Congressman Bill Keating said.
“This is an example not only in our Commonwealth but an example for our country in how we move forward and take adversity and turn it into strength,” he said. “This is economically viable, environmentally vibrant, this is a place to invest, this is a place to work, this is a place where everyone has the chance to move forward, and this is a proud day.”
Keating said he’s pleased to hear about the latest $4 million settlement with Cornell Dubilier Electronics, Inc., a South Carolina-based company with a manufacturing facility in New Bedford, thinking back to a $366 million settlement between the United States, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and AVX Corporation from September 2013.
With all the contaminated sediment that has been removed from the harbor and safely disposed of, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said she will be proud to tell her young grandson from Boston that EPA was an integral part of offshore wind development.
“This is good for public health, this is good for quality of life, it is good for economic development and I am so proud that this is a site in this country that is at the forefront of the clean energy revolution,” she said.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito described a new future for New Bedford made possible by municipal leaders including the mayor and ward councilors along with Acushnet and Fairhaven officials who did the planning and hard work at the municipal level. She said readiness and acceleration are key.
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“We can’t afford to lose a minute to take advantage of all the incredible opportunities with the future of offshore wind and renewable energy and also making sure that other industries that have always been a part of the New Bedford history, commercial fishing and recreational fishing, all of the attributes associated with the tourism industry here, also are part of this incredible story,” she said.
She also thanked the state Department of Environmental Protection for working with the EPA on this project in the role of lead regulator making sure the money is properly put to use and everyone is held accountable while helping open the door to new economic development opportunities.
Fairhaven Select Board member Bob Espindola said the funding is also vital to the town and its 30 miles of shoreline with the dredging of New Bedford Harbor benefitting the town’s working waterfront, shipyards and multitude of marine-based enterprises.
“This award takes on one of the clearest examples of environmental justice head on,” Espindola said.
U.S. Army Corps New England District Commander Col. John Atilano said he’s often asked to do the possible and repeated one of Sen. Markey’s favorite sayings while reflecting on the remediation that has been completed and the work ahead of them.
“We don’t get the easy jobs, we get asked to do the impossible, and for us to do the impossible I’ve got to have two things – I’ve got to have authorization and I need a big check,” he said. “I love how Senator Markey always says a dream without money is a just a hallucination, and that’s 100 percent right.”
He said bald eagles are already returning to the harbor, a welcome sign of an improving environment, and completion of the rest of the project to take just three more years.
“We can almost see the light at the end of a dark sediment-filled tunnel, and what a beautiful light it is,” he said.
Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Federal funding to help wrap up Superfund site cleanup
