A Generator for Pump Station at GLSD ~ IN YOUR CORER with SENATOR DIZOGLIO

Hello Valley Patriot Readers,

The snow is just about gone, it’s now light out at 7 p.m., and the temperatures are getting warmer by the day.

Spring is here, and before you know it, we’ll be outside swimming and boating in no time, whether it’s at a beach or on the banks of the Merrimack River.
But if a midsummer storm were to knock out power in our area for an extended period of time, it could mean serious environmental and public health problems for the Merrimack.

The Riverside Pump Station delivers 10 billion gallons of wastewater to the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District’s sewage plant and serves over 250,000 people in the region.

The district is in need of an emergency generator to prevent millions of gallons of sewage from possibly flowing into the river during an outage. While my office has filed legislation this session to limit the effects of combined sewer overflow and other environmental concerns, a power failure — without the protection of the generator — could spell disaster.

That’s why I’m working hard to get the governor’s administration, in particular the Department of Environmental Protection, to release the funding for a generator that was secured in last year’s Environmental Bond Bill. The State Senate, recognizing the tremendous need for action on this issue, set this funding aside and all it needs now is Governor Baker’s support to see it released.

A sewage spill could have dire consequences for our entire region, as coastal communities lying at the mouth of the Merrimack River are home to fishing-related industries and depend on tourism in the summer months. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage flowing along their shores would have dire consequences for communities like Newburyport and Salisbury. But before a sewage spill reaches the mouth of the Merrimack, it will have already made its way downriver, impacting people in communities such as Methuen, Haverhill, Merrimac and Amesbury.

This generator will provide our entire river with greater security in the event of a widespread power failure, keeping our river clean and free of pollutants and waste.

I’m currently in conversations with colleagues in government and the administration regarding the need to install a generator as soon as possible. If you’d like to help in this effort, please feel free to contact my office at Diana.DiZoglio@masenate.gov or call (617) 722-1604. Thank you! ◊

Yours in service, Diana DiZoglio
State Senator
1st Essex District