Good Morning Gloucester

The scheduled clean up by National Grid has begun at the site of the former Gloucester Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP). An area has been cordoned off however, Maritime Gloucester is fully operational and accessible and there is a crew working onboard the Schooner Adventure.

Geoff Deckebach, Schooner Adventure’s lead shipwright, works unfazed on ship’s improvements.

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National Grid has created a website to provide the public with information about the environmental remediation project in and adjacent to Gloucester’s Inner Harbor.

“From 1854 until 1952, the former Gloucester Gas Light Company (GGLC) operated a facility along the Gloucester waterfront to convert coal and oil into manufactured gas. Compounds from this Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) operation are present below the ground surface along portions of Harbor Loop and Rogers Street and in the harbor. This area is referred to as the former MGP Site and includes both upland and marine areas in and along Gloucester’s Inner Harbor.

Portions of the United States Coast Guard Gloucester Station, Solomon Jacobs Park, a commercial property owned by National Grid, commercial properties associated with fish processing, cold storage, retail operations, and portions of city streets are located within the upland areas of the Site. The marine area of the Site includes piers, floating docks, and other structures associated with some of the waterfront properties along Harbor Loop, as well as portions of the Federal Navigation Channel. Studies have confirmed the MGP Site does not pose a risk to current occupants on any of these properties or to members of the public.

As required by state environmental cleanup regulations (i.e., the Massachusetts Contingency Plan), National Grid is proposing to conduct cleanup (“remediation”) activities in both the upland and marine portions of the former MGP Site. Various state agencies, including the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office, have or will review and approve the remediation approach.” READ MORE HERE