KENNEDY, KERRY, MEEHAN, McGOVERN ANNOUNCE $300,000 FOR PROTECTION OF ASSABET RIVER

Federal Funds Will Be Used to Complete Plan to Remove Harmful River Sediments

Contact: Michael Mershon
(202) 225-6101

November 9, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC- Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Senator John F. Kerry, Representative Jim McGovern, and Representative Marty Meehan announced today that the final Army Corps Budget contains $300,000 needed to complete an ongoing investigation to determine the best method of reducing phosphorous sedimentation in the Assabet River. The funds are included in conference report on the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy and Water Appropriations that should soon pass the House and Senate and be signed into law.

This funding will augment $500,000 in state funding and $150,000 in previously appropriated federal funds to enable the Assabet River Consortium and the Army Corps to complete the work, which began in 2005, by early 2007.

“The Assabet River and the Assabet River Watershed are irreplaceable resources that we must protect for generations to come,” Senator Kennedy said. “The Consortium communities are working closely with the Army Corps, the State, and the Environmental Protection Agency to devise a long-term plan to reduce harmful sedimentation, and I’m thrilled we’ve been able to help those efforts along.”

Senator Kerry said, “This will help protect our environment by completing an investigation into the build-up of phosphorous sediment in the Assabet River. Once it's completed, I am confident the Assabet River Consortium and The Army Corps of Engineers will be able to provide long-term solutions that will reduce dangerous phosphorous sediment build up in the Assabet River and its watershed.”

"The Assabet River Consortium is doing tremendous work," Rep. McGovern said.
"And I'm pleased that we were able to secure this important federal funding.
These funds represent an investment in the healthy future of the Assabet
River and the families that live nearby."

"The Assabet River is an invaluable resource for our area, and I'm pleased that we were able to work together to secure this funding," Congressman Meehan said. "Our work will ensure the Assabet's continued vitality and will go a long way toward helping restore the river's habitat and water quality."

“The federal funding for the Assabet River Sediment Remediation study represents a significant benefit to the Assabet Consortium Communities (Shrewsbury, Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough, Hudson, and Maynard), as well as a recognition of a unique collaborative effort between the municipalities, the environmental community represented by the Organization for the Assabet River, and the state and federal regulators,” said Paul Blazar, Consortium Chairman. “It is all of our hope that the study results will lead to a long-range plan for the remediation of phosphorus in the river in a manner that is both effective and affordable for our local taxpayers.”

The Assabet River begins in Westborough and ends in Concord, a distance of nearly 32 miles, and its watershed encompasses 177 square miles with 9 tributaries. Over 170,000 people reside in the Assabet Watershed.

The Assabet River Consortium comprises the towns of Shrewsbury, Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough, Hudson, and Maynard. For more information about the Assabet River, please visit www.assabetriver.org .