Page 8 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, July 16, 2021 FUNDING | FROM PAGE 1 er Clark said, “Even one person forced to drink polluted water is too many. Yet, in Malden and across our district, thousands of families receive drinking water through lead pipes and service lines.” She summed up her sentiment about securing the funding request and, hopefully, helping buttress the city’s ambitious project quite simply. “Malden deserves this,” Assistant Speaker Clark said. The CPF is part of a nationwide push, backed by a $45 billion budgetary expenditure pushed by President Joe Biden to eliminate the nation’s remaining lead pipes, calling them “a clear and present danger” to local communities in an address to Congress in April. There are as many as 10 million lead service lines in the United States, with an estimated 220,000 in Massachusetts, according to state and federal environmental officials. Wednesday’s site tour was led by Mayor Gary Christenson at 54 Corey Rd., which is located on the West End highlands, and also on hand were Malden City Council President Neal Anderson, Special Assistant to the Mayor Maria Luise, Malden City Engineer Lip, Malden Water EnPROJECT TALK: Discussing the project on Wednesday, from left, were Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House Katherine Clark, Malden Senior Engineer Glen Calla, City Engineer Yem Lip, Malden City Council President Neal Anderson (Ward 7), Mayor Gary Christenson and some employees from Moriarty Excavation. (Advocate Photo) SITE TOUR: On hand for the site tour of a live lead service line replacement on Corey Road in Malden on Wednesday were, from left to right, Matt Moriarty from Moriarty Excavation, John DeSantis from the Malden DPW Water Dept., Senior Engineer Glen Calla, Mayor Gary Christenson, U.S. House Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts 5th District), Malden City Council President Neal Anderson (Ward 7), City Engineer Yem Lip, Malden DPW Water Specialist Josh London and a Malden resident of Corey Road. (Advocate Photo) gineer Calla and Malden DPW Water Supervisor John DeSantis. “We are grateful to Assistant Speaker Clark for her support of the $3.36 million CPF request,” Mayor Christenson said Wednesday. “The requested funding will allow for the replacement of both the public and private sides of service lines and remove a significant health hazard for low-income residents who cannot afford the cost.” Malden has been identified as the community with the highest percentage of lead service lines in the Greater Boston Area. The $3.36 million funding request would accelerate the replacement of lead service lines delivering drinking water to Malden residents. “I am proud to have secured $3.36 million in community project funding in the House Appropriations bill to finally replace these lines in Malden and am grateful to everyone who has spent years advocating for this project,” Assistant Speaker Clark said. According to city officials, Malden has approximately 3,200 lead service lines and is under a consent decree issued from the Massachusetts DepartFUNDING | SEE PAGE 13 CHA Everett Hospital CHA Cambridge hospital Recognized for quality and safety REPLACEMENT PROCESS: Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (left) discussed details of the lead water service line replacement process with Malden City Engineer Yem Lip (right) on Corey Road on Wednesday. (Advocate Photo) GR21_171
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