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 Brenda Cotto-Escalera, Director of CCAG
617-418-8241
The Chelsea Creek Action Group (CCAG) is a grassroots organization formed by East Boston and Chelsea residents, the Chelsea Green Space and Recreation Committee (Green Space) and the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH).
CCAG seeks to reclaim the neglected, contaminated Chelsea Creek as an environmental, recreational, economic, and educational asset for East Boston, Chelsea, Revere and the region. CCAG is a vehicle for informing and empowering residents, including youth, to build stronger community leadership and healthier, more vibrant neighborhoods, as they learn about how environmental justice issues affect them directly.
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New Fence Panels Installed at Condor Street Urban Wild!
The final interpretive steel fence panel has been installed at the Urban Wild. This fence was built with NOAH's $15k Small Grants funding and $40K gift from an anonymous source.
The artist for all six completed and installed fence panels was Leigh Hall, an East Boston Chelsea Creek Action Group member, and a resident of East Boston. |
 Specific Projects:
- Condor Street Urban Wild: For decades, this 4.5-acre abandoned, contaminated site was closed to the public. Working with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Boston Parks and Environment Departments, CCAG helped secure a $1.2 million Supplemental Environmental Project mitigation settlement to implement community plans for the site. The Urban Wild is now East Boston’s first public park along the Chelsea Creek.
- Hess Site: CCAG has been advocating for the cleanup and redevelopment of this contaminated site, based on the results of the community-created development plan. It was recently purchased by the BRA, and CCAG is now working with residents and others for dialogues and meetings with BRA concerning their plans for the site.
- Chelsea Riverway: With the National Parks Service, CCAG has worked to develop an unused rail line along Chelsea Creek into a multi-use, recreational pathway. The ultimate goal is to connect this trail to the East Boston Greenway and larger regional trail efforts in the Mystic River watershed.
- Mill Creek/Parkway Plaza Restoration Project: CCAG is leading the restoration of Mill Creek’s endangered salt marsh in Chelsea; developing public access; and involving the community in the redevelopment of the adjacent Parkway Plaza. An intergenerational park has been created.
- Eastern Minerals Salt Pile: CCAG is campaigning to end the pollution caused by a Ferro-cyanide containing, multi-ton salt pile located directly on the Chelsea Creek. The owner is currently looking to expand the current pile significantly.
- Defeat of Proposed Power Plant: A proposal to construct a two-stack power plant along the Chelsea Creek has been defeated. This project would have significantly increased diesel emmisions in an area with two elementary schools and a senior living complex, as well as residential dwellings.
- CAD Cell: A landowner was proposing to place a Contained Aquatic Disposal (CAD) cell in the middle of Chelsea Creek in order to bury contaminated sediment from sites in other communities.
- Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA): With the EPA, a CRA to identify residents’ top environmental and public health concerns in relation to Chelsea Creek was conducted. Residents chose the following: air and water quality, open/green space, asthma and respiratory illnesses, noise, and traffic. Access the CRA at the EPA Website.
- Youth Crews: CCRP is involving Chelsea and East Boston teens to work together as teams on different projects. They are learning how to be local leaders as they participate in the clean up and re-development of polluted sites, scientific field studies, developing programs, holding community events, etc.
 Chelsea Creek Then:
Chelsea Creek – as the Chelsea River is commonly called – connects East Boston, Chelsea, and Revere and flows into Boston Harbor. Three hundred years ago, the Creek was bordered by extensive salt marshes. In May of 1775, the first naval battle of the American Revolution was fought on Chelsea Creek, ending with the sinking of the British ship Diana. By the late 1800s, the Meridian Street drawbridge had been built, and many industries, such as New England Pottery Company and Condor Street Iron Foundry, were operating along Chelsea Creek.
 Chelsea Creek Now:
Today, Chelsea Creek’s salt marshes are nearly gone, replaced by heavy industrial uses servicing much of New England. All of the jet fuel for Logan International Airport is stored along Chelsea Creek, as well as 70-80% of the region’s heating oil and road salt for 250 Massachusetts communities. There are also freight forwarding companies, abandoned boat/salvage yards, a tannery, and unused contaminated land. The river known as the Chelsea Creek is considered to be the most contaminated tributary flowing into Boston Harbor; and the second most pollluted body of water in the Commonwealth.
What This Means For Residents:
Chelsea Creek is the source of more environmental and public health burdens than benefits for the residents of East Boston and Chelsea. Even though Chelsea and East Boston are nearly surrounded by water, there’s little public access making it difficult for residents to enjoy their waterfront. This unfair burden on urban working class communities is a case of environmental injustice. In addition, Chelsea Creek is considered to be the second-most polluted body of water in the Commonwealth.
The latest version of Professors Daniel Faber and Eric Krieg’s report “Unequal Exposure to Ecological Hazards” indicates that even after five years of regional, grassroots, environmental justice work and the creation of the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Policy, ecological hazards in low-income communities and communities of color have increased. Chelsea and East Boston remain in their original ranking of third and fifth, respectively, most environmentally overburdened communities in Massachusetts.
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