Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JAnUAry 19, 2024 PROJECT | FROM PAGE 2 Option #3, the Regional Project would provide protection against the SPN for all structures and critical infrastructure in the Region, but need modifications if sea level rise accelerated. It includes new walls and dikes with walkways along 1.7 miles of Lynn Harbor; 0.6-mile sand dune and beach at Point of Pines with a new river wall; and 0.6-mile raised parkland behind Revere Beach and a ponding area; and, a major floodgate structure at the mouth of the Saugus River with nine (9) gated openings (50 & 100 feet wide) to maintain natural flushing in the estuary and safe navigation. The total cost was $250 million at 2023 price levels (’23pl), including purchasing and protecting the 1,650-acre estuary for flood water storage. The Regional Project was economically justified with 64% Federal cost sharing as authorized by Congress in 1992, and was Gerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 widely supported, but it was placed on hold in 1993. By 2023 accelerated sea level rise was adopted at “high” but different rates by both the Commonwealth and the Federal government which would require modifications to the Regional Project. The Corps’ retired Project Manager (PM), with the help of both his Environmental Manager and the MA Assistant Secretary of Environmental Affairs during the initial investigation, and folks in the region, all helped to remind the communities in 2020 that the project would still protect them from accelerated sea level rise. The five communities then sponsored a letter of support to have the Corps review and update the project with a required Corps’ study, the Boston North Shore Feasibility Study, up to a 3-year effort depending on the scope of work, which was authorized by President Biden in December 2022, but is yet to be funded. The Regional Project, Option #3, was reviewed to inform the communities of some likely changes and impacts from sea level rise, previously described in the EIS/ EIR, focusing on the 5 feet of sea level rise above 2000 levels adopted by the Corps for 2100, provide the SPN level of protection, and prevent pollutants from entering the estuary. See the Option #3 map for the modified Regional Project. Over the next ten years with over half of properties along the rivers prone to flooding several times a month from rising high tides, residents would likely protect their properties with low level walls or berms, just as Revere is currently developing along Riverside. By 2034 when a Regional project could be built, the Floodgates would close several times a year to prevent damage from intense storms, catastrophic flooding, and overtopping of walls, but increase operations with rising sea levels. The Feasibility study would evaluate when walls would need to be raised a few feet, to raise the start of damages, and to reduce the number of closures and potential impacts on navigation and the estuary. Sand dune/beach systems using I-95 sand proved the most effective solution to prevent overtopping based on results from post storm surveys, and physical and numerical modeling. Revere Beach, previously restored with I-95 sand, and Point of Pines would benefit from 3.4 miles of dune/ beach systems to prevent The Floodgate Project (Courtesy graphic to The Saugus Advocate) overtopping the oceanfront and protect the region from higher tides and more intense storms. Protecting the Nahant Causeway, assumed using a dune/beach system, is needed since it reduces wave action in Lynn Harbor, at Point of Pines, and at the entrance to the Saugus River. Plans exclude raising bridges which have been raised or planned to be raised. The modified Regional plan to include the Revere and Nahant dune/beach systems would cost about $300 million (’23 pl) to protect the region against the SPN through 2100 while sea levels rise 5-feet. If low-level walls (3 to 6 feet) are required, it would increase the plan’s cost to a maximum of about $185 million, for a total project cost of $485 million. The Study would also consider other options, including a Wall Only Option #1 Plan (without a floodgate) for 2100, a 5-foot rise in sea level and SPN protection, which would require walls up to 12 feet high above the back yards of residents and along roadways which would significantly obstruct views around the estuary’s 25-mile shore at a cost of about $580 million (’23 pl). A Non-structural Option #2 Plan would require raising homes and other buildings up to 12 feet high at a cost exceeding $540 million; however, streets, roads and yards would be frequently inundated. An option for total retreat and removal of all buildings from the floodplain would likely double the initial estimate of $7.3 billion (’23 pl) with the larger sea level rise floodplain. The restoration of Rumney Marsh, a Massachusetts’ “Area of Critical Environmental Concern”, is an added environmental benefit of the Regional Plan prepared with the help of the US Environmental Protection Agency team member. It would inPROJECT | SEE PAGE 5
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