Success Story
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DRIVES PROGRESS IN
THE SPICKET RIVER REVITALIZATION PROJECT
In Lawrence, MA EPA brownfields grants have helped the community create a network of
greenspaces along the Spicket River.
HIGHLIGHTS
The Greenway initiative is reversing
decades of environmental injustices
impacting poor neighborhoods
along the Spicket by: helping to
end decades of illegal dumping
and polluting; removing 100 tons of
debris and over 2,000 abandoned
tires from its banks; transforming
vacant lots and brownfields along to
safe and healthy open spaces and
parks; reducing chronic flooding; and
creating recreational opportunities on
a healthier river.
The initiative serves as a catalyst for
revitalizing the historic mill district,
as well as economic and community
development throughout Lawrence.
Engaging Lawrence's youth helps to
ensure long-term stewardship of the
Spicket.
A $2.6 million Commonwealth's
Gateway City Parks grant has
provided the means to finalize the
design and construction of the 2.5-
mile Spicket River Greenway.
SPICKET RIVER GREENWAY: 2012
"This project will open the doors to community recreation and
neighborhood revitalization. The river way is a true asset and, with this
partnership, all will soon realize Lawrence's gem."
—Mayor William Lantigua
City of Lawrence
EPA's Brownfields and Land Revitalization program and the National Park
Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program have had
a successful 12 year partnership with Groundwork USA. Groundwork USA is
a network of independent non-profit organizations called Groundwork Trusts
focused on stabilizing and revitalizing their communities through projects and
programs that improve their environment, economy and quality of life.
CONTACTS: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617)918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
Lawrence, MA has a land area of just seven square
miles and an urban community of 72,000 residents.
Lawrence's population has a large Latino population
hailing primarily from the Dominican Republic and
Puerto Rico. Nearly half of its population is under the
age of 24. This demography has intensified the demand
for open space and recreational amenities, especially
among children and teenagers. However, a survey by the
Trust for Public Land found that Lawrence has the least
amount of open space per resident in Massachusetts.
Similar to the community led efforts of the brownfields
program, the Urban Waters initiative is an effort to
restore and protect urban water bodies and adjacent
lands. U.S. EPA's goal is to integrate and leverage
existing programs to foster increased understanding
and a sense of ownership of waters and surrounding
land in communities across the country. This is
especially important as urban waters impact large
populations and can influence far-reaching land-use
decisions.
Project Motivation
Groundwork Lawrence is assisting the city and
residents of Lawrence, Massachusetts—a former
iconic mill community—achieve riverfront restoration
and neighborhood revitalization through rediscovery
of a precious resource: the Spicket River. A vibrant
river once filled with wildlife, the Spicket became a
mechanism by the textile mills along its banks for
flushing trash and pollutants downstream for much
of the twentieth century. With the sharp decline of
the textile industry in the 1950s and subsequent mill
closures in the 1970s, vacant lots and abandoned mills
littered the banks of the Spicket, and neighborhoods
surrounding the river became home to Lawrence's
poorest residents. Both the Spicket and its surrounding
neighborhoods became targets for illegal dumping.
The entire city has experienced a long period of decline
and disinvestment since the collapse of the textile mills.
This once booming industrial center now has one of the
highest poverty and unemployment rates in the state.
In an effort to restore health and vitality to the river
and the community, the Spicket River Revitalization
Project began. The keystone of the overall project is
the Spicket River Greenway (Greenway): a network of
open spaces and walking paths linking neighborhoods,
schools and parks along the 2.5-mile long Spicket
River. The river flows through the Arlington and North
Common neighborhoods, the city's most underserved
and densely built neighborhoods and then into the
Merrimack River downtown. By design, the Greenway
will leverage residents' efforts to achieve environmental
justice in the neighborhoods adjoining the Spicket River
by providing access to a healthier river, to recreational
opportunities that did not exist before, and to safe and
healthy open spaces and parks. The Greenway also
serves as a pathway to community-wide revitalization
and economic development.
Groundwork Lawrence was launched in 1999
as an incubator project of the Merrimack River
Watershed Council. Based on a model started in the
United Kingdom nearly 30 years ago, Groundwork
Lawrence was one of three Groundwork USA pilot
communities, including Bridgeport, Connecticut and
Providence, Rhode Island. In 2001, Groundwork
Lawrence incorporated as an independent 501 (c)3
nonprofit organization and oversees the Spicket River
Revitalization Project from its office in a refurbished
mill building downtown, located adjacent to the
neighborhoods where most of the work is focused.
The Groundwork USA network is composed of
over 20 independent Groundwork Trusts across the
country, including Lawrence and two other Trusts in
Massachusetts. Groundwork USA receives support
from EPA's Brownfields Program and the National
Park Service's (NPS) Rivers, Trails and Conservation
Assistance Program.
The Past
A former textile mill manufacturing city first incorporated
in 1856, Lawrence, Massachusetts is a Gulf of Maine
Watershed community located just north of Boston
where the Merrimack, Shawsheen and Spicket Rivers
converge. The Spicket originates in Salem, New
VSt'
Aerial photo showing the
- 2.5 mile Spicket River flowing
through Lawrence, MA
Ji^t.l'L' "I I-5*,?
-------
"Restoring the Spicket River corridor and
converting it into a community asset was one
of our organization's founding objectives." The
Greenway will improve long underserved residents'
access to the river and to quality open spaces."
—Heather McMann
Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence
Hampshire and enters Lawrence through Stevens
Pond. From Stevens Pond, the river's natural course
was straightened to accelerate flushing of trash and
pollutants downstream from textile mills and to facilitate
the filling and development of its marshy floodplain for
residences in 1906.
Lawrence's location along these three rivers attracted
the interest of manufacturers such as the Essex
Company eager to harness the rivers to support textile
operations. By the early 1900s, Lawrence was home
to the world's leading manufacturer of woolen textiles.
Demand for labor in the city's vast mills attracted
immigrants from across the world. With the advent of
synthetic fibers in the 1940s, and the migration of textile
mills to the southern United States and later overseas,
many the mills in Lawrence closed in the 1970s,
resulting in a dramatic decline in jobs and population.
The closed mills became vacant lots and brownfield
sites that lined the banks of the Spicket, while the
Arlington and North Common neighborhoods—the
poorest in Lawrence—became dumping grounds. To
make a bad situation even worse, the alterations to the
river reduced the width and area of the river's natural
flood plain. This area, encompassing most of the North
Arlington Neighborhood, has been subject to regular
and severe flooding.
The Present
Discussed by Lawrence residents and leaders for
over 30 years, the Greenway was first formalized as
a community goal in 1998. Through a series of Urban
RiverVisions design meetings, often held in the homes
of Lawrence residents, the community mapped out
the Greenway project in 2001. Elevating community
awareness of the river's impaired state was the
pivotal next step; this was accomplished by creating
a recognizable logo and bilingual signage system for
the river greenway that gave the river a presence and
identity within the neighborhood. Creating stewards of
the Spicket was accomplished in part by establishing
the Groundwork Lawrence Green Team, a program that
involves local "at risk" youth in community organizing
and environmental service and education projects. In
September 2002, the youth-led Green Team kicked off
the Spicket River: Keep it Clean Campaign with the
first Spicket River Cleanup. In 2003, Tufts University
graduate students completed an inventory of parcels
and land uses adjacent to the Spicket River, and a
Spicket River Paddle-A-Thon was held to raise funds
for the Greenway and awareness about the river and
its recreational potential. The Green Team partnered
with the Urban Ecology Institute in 2004 to conduct
ecological assessments and determine the degree
of variation of life forms (plant and wildlife) along the
Spicket.
In concert with the riverfront awareness and restoration
efforts, several vacant lots and brownfields along
the river have been transformed into open space,
community parks and community gardens. The Dr. Nina
Scarito Park (Scarito Park), named in honor of a local
obstetrician, was the first brownfield-to-open space
project completed in 2006. This neighborhood park
III "
"^_-
"This is going to be a positive thing. It will
bring more of the green areas needed, and
create a lot of encouragement in the community.
Once people see something positive in a vacant
lot, it will encourage neighbors to keep the area
clean as well."
—Ana Luna
Executive Director of Arlington Community Trabajando
CONTACTS: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617)918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
City of Lawrence
WILLIAM KENNEDY
COMMUNITY PARK
William Kennedy Community Park, former site of
:14 residential homes in the North Common Neighborhood that
were repeatedly damaged by floods—FEMA tore down the
houses after a particularly damaging storm in 2001
neighborhood when the park opened—finally the
children have a safe place to play!"
—Angelita Iraola
Brook Street Resident
now resides on the former Brook Street site, a 2.7-
acre industrial brownfield. The site was first developed
as a small mill complex in the late 1800s, and later as
a commercial laundry in 1949. By the late 1980s, the
laundry buildings had been demolished, leaving the site
vacant along the banks of the Spicket for over 20 years.
Through bank mergers, the Bank of America (BOA)
became the owner of the Brook Street site. BOA worked
with the city to pay back taxes on the site, then donated
the land and $200,000 towards park construction.
Redevelopment of the park was further funded by a
Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) awarded
to the city and through a Massachusetts Urban Self
Help grant. Through its Brownfields Program, EPA
funded the assessment and cleanup of the site.
Forward planning coupled with the success of Scarito
Park allowed three additional revitalization projects
along the Spicket to move forward rapidly. Built on
a vacant lot acquired by the city using a Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant and
CDBG funds, the construction of the William Kennedy
Community Park was completed in 2007. The park
provides much-needed open space for local residents
while helping to absorb storm water and minimizing
the impact of chronic flooding on the surrounding
neighborhood.
The former Covanta incinerator facility, located
within a 19th Century mill complex on Stevens Pond
and the Spicket River burnt municipal trash for
nearly 20 years. At its peak of operation, the facility
emitted 800 pounds of mercury and 400 pounds
of lead each year. The highest rate of childhood
lead exposure and the second highest rate of
childhood asthma in the Commonwealth are found in
Lawrence.
Through a campaign led by a Lawrence youth group,
the SK8 Kids, and with city matching CDBG funds and
Massachusetts Urban RiverVisions and Urban Self Help
grants, Misserville Park was rehabilitated into a skate
park in 2007. The park also comprises a basketball
court and an outdoor schoolyard gardening classroom
opportunity for the adjacent Leonard School. Jarrod
Curtis, one of the original SK8 Kids and now a college
student, cut the ribbon at the dedication ceremony for
Misserville Park and had this to say about the effort,
"It's simply amazing to stand here today, I learned
perseverance and it's very gratifying knowing that I've
contributed something."
The fourth Greenway project completed involves
the cleanup and redevelopment of the former
Covanta incinerator facility, a five-acre brownfield site
contaminated with mercury, lead and other pollutants.
Partially funded by EPA, cleanup was completed in
2008 and Manchester Park opened in September 2009.
It is home to playgrounds, picnic tables and benches,
greenspace and community gardens. With 32 innovative
projects from across the country nominated for the
award, Manchester Park received the esteemed 2010
Brownfield Renewal Award for Social Impact from the
trade publication Brownfield Renewal. The awards are
presented to projects that represent the "gold standard"
of brownfields redevelopment across the country
and serve as models for other communities. Heather
McMann, Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence,
commented on the award, "Nearly a decade of work—
community activism, fundraising, planning, cleanup
and building—went into the realization of Manchester
Street Park. The reward for that work is a neighborhood
reborn—the vision of a community now sustained by
and sustaining this beautiful, healthy, thriving place."
In 2011, the project earned a second national award:
the Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Award from
the National Community Development Association
-------
(previously the Audrey Nelson Award). These awards
are given to local communities in recognition of their
exemplary actions to better the lives of low-income
people and neighborhoods.
The Path Forward
On the ground for over a decade now, Groundwork
Lawrence, in partnership with the City of Lawrence and
its residents, has made significant progress on the path
to riverfront restoration and neighborhood revitalization
through the Greenway Initiative. The Spicket River
Cleanup, an annual event led by the Green Team,
completed the ninth river cleanup in September 2010.
Since 2002, over 4,500 local residents, students,
business owners, and other volunteers have cleared
100 tons of debris and over 2,000 abandoned tires from
the banks of the Spicket River.
The building of a vast network of nearlylOO public and
private partnerships and the leveraging of over $6
million in public and private funding led to the cleanup
and transformation of this area. More than 10 acres of
vacant lots and brownfields have gone from blight to
open space creating neighborhood parks and improving
long underserved residents' access to the river and
to safe and healthy open spaces. These changes
also allow for better management of storm water
runoff and will reduce flooding in Arlington and other
neighborhoods adjoining the Spicket River.
The Greenway initiative is also producing economic
benefits. Property values of homes in the North
Common Neighborhood surrounding the new open
spaces and parks increased significantly—making this
area one of the fastest appreciating zip codes in the
country in 2006. Crime has decreased significantly
in these areas according to local law enforcement.
And when the nationwide foreclosure crisis hit, the
combination of parks and homeownership investments
helped stabilize the low-income neighborhoods.
The Greenway Initiative complements and supports
efforts underway such as the Union Crossing project
to revitalize the historic mill district where the Spicket
meets the Merrimack River. This effort will transform a
complex of 19th century textile mills surrounding the
Merrimack River into a new Lawrence neighborhood
and link the mill district to adjacent downtown and
residential neighborhoods along the Spicket and
elsewhere. The project will create renovated and newly-
built space, including affordable family and workforce
housing, commercial office, retail, and community
facilities, as well as new greenspace and public access
Spicket River Cleanup in 2007,
when over 700 volunteers removed
17 tons of garbage and about 200
tires out of the river
"We have thousands of ardent stewards who
have been working with us for over a decade to
clean the river banks and streambed. These same
residents and youths are the best assurance for the
long-term care of the Greenway and will continue
to care for the Spicket River Greenway for decades
to come."
—Heather McMann
Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence
to the Merrimack. Groundwork Lawrence assisted with
site design and facilitation of community meetings
during the Master Planning phase; it will assist with
designing the green infrastructure elements like
the storm water management, Riverwalk Trail, and
community gardens.
In July 2010, Lawrence was awarded a $2.6 million
grant from the Commonwealth's Gateway City Parks
program. Gateway grants are awarded to support
significant park projects for underserved populations
across the Commonwealth. The grant allows Lawrence
to finalize the design and construct the 2.5-mile Spicket
River Greenway that will link the network of existing
and new open spaces, parks and neighborhoods
along the restored riverfront to each other and to the
downtown and developing mill district. Total completion
of the Greenway is slated for 2012. State Senator Barry
Finegold said of the award, "This grant will continue to
help with regional growth and prosperity in Lawrence,
and improve the lives and futures of its residents."
CONTACTS: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617)918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
URBAN WATERS
Urban environments, particularly in underserved communities, are typically characterized by paved or covered
"impervious" surfaces, working waterfronts with industrial facilities, abandoned industrial sites, and other
underutilized or contaminated lands. These characteristics, in combination with aging and inadequate storm
water management infrastructure, generate excess and untreated runoff that transports sewage and hazardous
wastes into local water bodies. Urban patterns of historical development often make waterways inaccessible to
adjacent neighborhoods. Lack of access to waterways limits the ability of communities to connect and participate
in restoring waterways as healthy living ecosystems and reap the benefits of living close to the water in the city.
Addressing these issues to ensure healthy and accessible urban waters can help grow local businesses and
enhance educational, recreational and social opportunities in nearby communities.
EPA is learning from community efforts already underway and supporting communities as active participants in
the restoration and protection of urban waters. EPA works to increase access to waterways, which promotes a
sense of public ownership of water resources and integrates environmental goals with other pressing priorities like
economic development, education, job creation, and greenspace creation and preservation.
URBAN WATERS RESOURCES
www. epa.gov/urbanwaters
Watershed Planning and Management
• Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure -
cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home. cfm?program_id=298
• Directory of EPA Watershed Publications -
water, epa.gov/type/watersheds/publications. cfm
• Key EPA Water Internet Tools Course -
www. epa. gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/epatools
• Watershed Central and Wiki - wiki.epa.gov/watershed2
Water Quality and Pollution Prevention
• EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online -
www. epa-echo.gov/echo
• Nonpoint Source Pollution -
www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/index.html
• Water Quality Assessment Tools and Models -
water, epa.gov/scitech/datait/models/index. cfm
Community Information
• Groundwork USA - www.groundworkusa.org
• National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program -
www. nps. gov/ncrc/programs/rtca
• Adopt Your Watershed -
www. epa. gov/owow_keep/adopt/index. html
• Community Culture and the Environment A Guide to
Understanding a Sense of Place - www.epa.gov/care/
library/community_culture.pdf
• EPA Smart Growth - www.epa.gov/smartgrowth
• Surf Your Watershed - cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm
Outreach Development
• Coastal Urban Waters Toolkit -
www. epa. gov/owow/oceans/debris
• Getting In Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed
Outreach Campaigns -
www. epa. gov/owow/nps/toolbox/guide. htm
• Non-Point Source Toolbox - www.epa.gov/nps/toolbox
Funding
• Brownfields Grants to Support Assessment/Cleanup
of Contaminated Property, Environmental Workforce
Development and Job Training Grants, and Targeted
Brownfields Assessments -
www.epa.gov/brownfields/grantjnfo/index.htm
• Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed
Protection - cfpub.epa.gov/fedfund
• Sustainable Finance Website -
www. epa. gov/owow/funding/trainings. html
• Watershed Funding Resource Directory -
water, epa. gov/aboutow/owow/funding. cfm
Case Studies
• Case Studies for Stormwater Management on
Compacted, Contaminated Soils in Dense Urban Areas
www.epa.gov/brownfields/tools/swcs0408.pdf
• Urban Agriculture on Brownfields Website -
www. epa. gov/brownfields/urbanag
• Targeted Watershed Grant Case Studies -
water, epa. gov/grants_funding/twg/initiative_index. cfm
For more information on the Spicket River Greenway, and on other brownfield related Groundwork projects, contact
Groundwork Lawrence at 978-974-0770, or visit the Groundwork Lawrence web site at: www.groundworklawrence.org
Brownfields Success Story
Groundwork Lawrence
Spicket River Greenway Project
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-11-024
April 2011
www.epa.gov/brownfields
------- |