Category Archives: Clean the Creek

CELEBRATING EARTH DAY FROM GOOD HARBOR BEACH!

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Despite the wind and chilly temperatures, this morning a wonderful multi-generational group of dedicated Earth-stewards met at GHB to clean the beach and to celebrate our beautiful Earth in kind thoughts and prayers. The clean-up was organized by Reverend Sue from the Annisquam Village Church and sponsored by the Cape Ann Climate Coalition Interfaith Group, Clean the Creek, The AVC Creation Care Team, and the Plover Ambassadors.

Thank you to Everyone who attended and for your deep love of Good Harbor Beach. Captioned where possible

Reverend Sue in the red coat

Rory McCarthy (left) grassroots Clean the Creek organizer

Three Generations of Sibley Earth Stewards

399 cigarette butts found in one small stretch of Nautilus Road

Good Harbor Beach Earth Stewards

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO CLEAN THE GOOD HARBOR BEACH CREEK!

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Our beautiful Good Harbor Beach is in very serious trouble. Over the past several years the water at the tidal creek has tested with increasingly higher and higher levels of Enterococci Bacteria, indicating there is fecal matter in the water. Swimming at the Creek is no longer allowed at any time of year because of the astoundingly high levels of bacteria. Surfers surfing at the mouth of the Creek have come down with dysentery-like symptoms. Families are unfortunately allowed to play along the banks of the Creek in the sand, where fecal matter levels may even be higher, but without comprehensive testing, there is no way of knowing.

From the EPA – Enterococci are indicators of the presence of fecal material in water and, therefore, of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. These pathogens can sicken swimmers and others who use rivers and streams for recreation or eat raw shellfish or fish.

The Clean the Creek grassroots action group has organized a petition. Below is the description of the petition as well as a link to sign the petition, a link to the Clean the Creek website, and a link to a health form. If you have become ill after swimming at Good Harbor, please report as it will be very helpful in organizing data

Website: https://cleanthecreek.org

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/clean-the-creek?recruiter=1301225170&recruited_by_id=413c14f0-c4d8-11ed-9ed2-c185d585f8a6&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=us_web_gs_ua_sap_20220830_generic-petition_conversions-sap&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_35728476_en-US%3A3

Health Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFetMaHkCEd_N48CkNezWtJ6SKW_KMNLZErjDs1LdVbYEzUw/viewform

CLEAN THE CREEK Petition Description

According to a recent investigation by the city, sewer infrastructure is one of the main causes of GHB creek pollution. Also heavy rains lead to significantly higher levels of bacteria such as enterococci. Enterococci bacteria is an indicator that there is fecal matter in the water. Exposure to Enterococci Bacteria can cause symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, pain when urinating, fatigue, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding gums, and subsequent infections that include meningitis, endocarditis, UTI, wound infections, sinus infections, and periodontitis. In our ongoing surveys a lot of these symptoms have been reported.

Clean the Creek is a grassroots organization devoted to creating a healthier ocean environment at Good Harbor Beach and surrounding water bodies of Cape Ann. Please help us reduce the ongoing bacterial water pollution impacting our health and environment. We are asking that the City of Gloucester act on the following:

●  Increase testing frequency and expand to other  areas.

●  Find the underlying cause(s) to address the issue head-on.

●  Partner with the State and Federal government to gain the  necessary

support needed to solve the problem.

●  Make it a top priority to find the proper supporting staff for our Board

of Health to champion this issue.

●  Hold DPW accountable for monitoring the safety and well-being  of

our waterways in regards to sewage overflow, upkeeping infrastructure, and oversight of new

projects which add to increased waste.

Sign the petition to act for our Mayor and City Council in Gloucester, MA!

*Must be a resident of Gloucester*

CLEAN THE CREEK HYBIRD MEETING AT SURFARI!

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CLEAN THE CREEK

HYBRID MEETING AT SURFARI

THURSDAY, MARCH16TH at 6:30 pm

Bacteria levels (fecal matter) at the Good Harbor Beach Creek are unacceptably high, actually at astoundingly high levels. This is not just a summertime/warm weather issue any longer. Please come to the meeting to learn about how we can all help, short and long term plans to mitigate the issue, how development is impacting the bacteria levels, the wide ranging area from where the bacteria is being emitted (it’s not just “one broken pipe”), and plans to seed Mussels at the Creek.

Rory from Clean the Creek shares information on the upcoming meeting:

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well. Christian has kindly opened up Surfari for another hybrid meeting for Clean The Creek next Thursday, March 16, at 6:30pm. There will be a zoom link sent out next week for those that can not make it in person. Hope to see everyone soon!

We are moving ahead and gaining traction. With that said, here is a list of committees that are available to join, including an e-board. If you would like to start your own committee, please reach out and we will incorporate it!

Committee options: community outreach (going to local residents, restaurants, and places like the blue shutters), Graphic design that can create a flyer/yard sign, posting flyers around the city, working with the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board (organizations that support Gloucester and its economy), citizen science – finding ways to test the water and maybe partner with a local university/organization, and a group to work on finding grants/working with our local congressmen to find funding.

Next week we will discuss our next steps, continuing public outreach, setting a date for a low tide creek walk through and beach cleanup, finding economic data related to GHB, citizen science opportunities, grants/federal fund updates, and any other information that you want to share. Your experience and opinion is important and we want to hear it!

For those that have gotten sick from swimming or surfing in and around the Creek, we need your help. It has been recommended to collect the details of everyone that has gotten sick in a more formal way. We would greatly appreciate it if you could fill out a form. We will compare the dates of your illness to water data. This form can be anonymous and you will be listed as “anonymous stakeholder”.

Looking forward to Clean The Creek!

Best,

Rory