Tag Archives: Clean the Creek

CLEAN THE CREEK MEETING TONIGHT, BOTH VIRTUAL AND AT SURFARI!

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Thank you to everyone that joined Mayor Verga’s presentation last night. It was very informative and offered a great way to engage!
We have a CTC meeting tonight at 6:30pm at Surfari. The meeting will be hybrid. Please follow the zoom link if you can not make it in person.
Zoom:

 

Topic: Clean The Creek

Time: May 25, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75858550839?pwd=ixtk4BXVwzlDZVKlcgGuKHucfMQmsb.1

Meeting ID: 758 5855 0839

Passcode: 1LTFvb

We are looking for a volunteer to take notes during the meeting. Please let us know if you can do that!
Agenda:
1. Decision making process. We will discuss and vote on the decision making process that can include:
CTC DECISION-MAKING PROCESS….thank you to Courtney Hayes for this outline!
  1. OC proposes and researches key decisions – loops in relevant sub-committee members.
  2. OC and sub-committee members conduct additional research: interview vendors, experts, and impacted stakeholders to map out pros and cons of decisions.
  3. Conduct full member meeting discussion: committee members present in-depth pros and cons of the decision. All attending members then discuss and debate.
  4. Vote: after a thorough review (outlined above), conduct a vote by show of hands.
2. Committee and organizing structure (continuing the decision making process). Describe committees (organizing committee and testing committee etc). See who will volunteer to be the liaison for the committee (take charge of emails for the committee, organizing, and reporting back to the CTC group at large).
3. Discuss mission statement.
4. Discuss next steps based on the results of Part 1 of the agenda….including interpretation of the mayor’s meeting.
6.Discuss potential fiscal sponsorships.
Moving forward, if anyone believes they have gotten sick from swimming in/near the creek please reach out to your doctor instead of posting on social media. That was one thing highly emphasized last night and we want to respect that and follow the city’s lead.
We need to create a structured and organized group and hope to do that through committees, voting, and the policies put in place and/or discussed to potentially put in place this evening.
We also want to emphasize our goal to work with and support the city because we are all stewards of the beach!
As always, this is a community effort and we want to hear from you and have you get involved and take on leadership positions! Your voice matters and it is important to have as many people involved with the “nuts and bolts” as possible.
Best,
Rory and Lyndsay

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

CELEBRATING EARTH DAY!

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Please join us tomorrow, Saturday, at 9am at Good Harbor Beach <3

 

Reflections on Earth Day from Town Green founder Dick Prouty

Dear Friends,

When we started TownGreen in 2015, the level of understanding of the threat of climate change was not widespread. Yes, TownGreen had some good Sustainability Fairs with large attendance, and we had a nice solarize campaign in 2017-2018 with well over 100 roof installations at discounted prices. But was there a general awareness that our very existence on the coast was threatened by sea level rise, extreme heat, and more severe climate threats? Not really.

Now, eight short years later, the tide of public opinion is quickly changing. I am heartened by the rapid growth of support for climate action. TownGreen’s community education programs, informed by the valuable research from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, brings climate change home to our local neighborhoods and beloved icons of Cape Ann, such as Good Harbor Beach. Our programs are resulting in a heightened community awareness of climate impacts and increasing threats to our region. The challenge now is to identify and implement mitigation and adaptation strategies as best we can.

I am thankful for the large numbers of people who have made a difference by supporting TownGreen. There are literally hundreds of you who have contributed to our annual fund, who regularly attend TownGreen webinars and in-person events, and lend your hearts and minds to concrete climate action. Thank you. There is no greater mission than being in this climate fight to save our Cape Ann community for future generations. We are grateful to be working alongside such a wonderful group of friends.

All the best on Earth Day 2023!
Dick Prouty, Chair, TownGreen Board of Directors

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE GOOD HARBOR BEACH CLEAN-UP AND EARTH DAY CELEBRATION!

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Reverend Sue from the Annisquam Village Church writes

The Cape Ann Climate Coalition Interfaith group is hosting our 2nd Annual Earth Day event on Saturday, April 22nd at 9 a.m. We will begin with a beach clean-up and then gather at 9:30 for an interfaith ritual.  The event is being co-sponsored by the AVC Creation Care Team, Clean the Creek and the Piping Plover Ambassadors.  A flyer is attached.  If you would like to help lead the event, please let me know.
Peace, Sue

 

I hope you can join us!

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*

LINK FOR CLEAN THE CREEK HYBRID MEETING THURSDAY EVENING AT SURFARI AT 6:30

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Rory McCarthy, who is spearheading the effort to Clean the Creek, writes –

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well. We have a hybrid meeting this Thursday, March 16th. The meeting will be at Surfari and on zoom at 6:30pm.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75690729110?pwd=5P3oTDuadOJfBTkloBEw8TVACdkZz1.1

Meeting ID: 756 9072 9110
Passcode: asiA43

Agenda:
1. Our mission and how we can work together to resolve the problem with the city
2. Governing and decision making structure
3. Committee involvement…ribbed mussels, citizen science, data, beach walk through, press etc.
4. Public Outreach
5. Health data collection…if you have gotten sick please, please, please fill out the form – it is super important
6. Goals for the next 3-6 months
7. Plans of action: emails, signs, grants/funding, etc
8. What are we missing? Please let us know if you think we need to address something

It is super important that we all work together, get the word out, and empower each other by sharing our ideas and experiences. We need to work with the city to better understand the problem in order to provide solutions.

Let’s work together to Clean The Creek!

Best,

Rory and Lyndsay

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