The following “wish list” is alphabetical, not in order of priority.
* Acid Rain Permit for Salem Harbor power plant. Public Hearing Thursday, December 11, 2008, 7:00 pm. Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), Metropolitan Boston/Northeast Regional Office, 205B Lowell Street, Wilmington, MA 01887. Contact: Cosmo Buttaro, Department of Environmental Protection, 978-694-3281 Cosmo.Buttaro@state.ma.us.
* Algae - The nuisance algae on Nahant and Lynn beaches is unpleasant to beachgoers and lowers real estate values. Many thanks to the Nahant Department of Public Works and to Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach for their work on algae cleanup.
* Alternative and renewable energy - Including solar, tidal power, energy conservation, wind, etc. SWIM supports the work of the Nahant Alternative Energy Committee.
* Banned in Boston: No Discharge Area - SWIM met in November, 2008 with the Nahant Board of Selectmen concerning the proposed Lower North Shore No Discharge Area. SWIM thanked the Selectmen for writing a letter of endorsement and requested that the Selectmen contact Lynn and Revere asking them to also endorse the project, in order to speed the process and protect the waters of Lynn, Revere, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant. This is necessary to protect our shores from pollution. See link to "Banned in Boston, But Not in Nahant."
* Climate Change/Global Warming - A map of Nahant showing areas under water if global warming triggers sea level rise is most revealing. See http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=42.4242,-70.9179&z=3&m=8.
to view and download a Google Map of what Nahant will look like if global warming continues. The web site shows Nahant if sea level rises 8 meters. If sea level rises only 3 meters (10 feet), the Nahant rotary and most of the causeway would be underwater. You can play around with different sea level rises and different map/image types, and you can also look at the big picture: greater Boston under global warming, or any place else. Venice, anyone?
* Earth Day - SWIM distributed compost bins and rain barrels at cost for Earth Day on Nahant Town Meeting day. Watch for 2009 plans. SWIM will work on Beach CleanUps planned by other Nahant groups and by Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach.
* Endangered species - Six species of endangered whales and four species of sea turtles frequent Massachusetts Bay. The International Union for Conservation of Nature reports that a quarter of mammal species are in danger of extinction. What can SWIM do to help save endangered marine species? See www.iucn.org.
* Fisheries - SWIM tries to keep in touch with fisheries issues, regulations and legislation that affect the environment, so neither fish nor fishermen become endangered species. The Massachusetts Ocean Plan being created in 2009 relates directly to these issues. See SWIM Home Page.
* Interpretive signs on Nahant Beach - SWIM supports Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach in its signage program, but does not have an active role. See www.lynn-nahantbeach.org/
* Legislation - SWIM watches ocean-related legislation, including the Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals Bill being considered by the Commonwealth Great and General Court (state legislature.)
* Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) - SWIM unsuccessfully fought offshore LNG terminal adjacent to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and above an old radioactive dump site. In February, 2008 a fully-loaded LNG tanker became disabled and went adrift off Cape Cod. It was towed to the future site of the offshore LNG terminal south of Gloucester, east of Nahant. Fortunately there was not a major Nor’easter at the time. See Whale Center of New England, www.whalecenter.org.
* Open Space. SWIM’s focus is on the sea, but we support the work of the Nahant Open Space Committee. Migratory shore birds in particular need both water and land.
* Pesticides/Greenscapes - Need to minimize use of pesticides and other chemicals by citizens and town in order to minimize toxic runoff into Nahant waters. See http://www.greenscapes.org/
* Recycling - See http://www.nahant.org/services/trash.shtml for a comprehensive list of where, how, and when to dispose of and recycle various waste products, including hazardous and toxic items.
* Toxics in Toys and Safer Alternatives - SWIM supports Clean Water Action and Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow in their efforts to make consumer products safe, especially for children.
SWIM can work on an issue only if someone volunteers to spearhead action.
SWIM cannot spend more than a small fraction of its time or funds lobbying.
SWIM’s focus is on the North Shore ocean and shore, but we are part of one blue globe.
Please come to a SWIM meeting if you want to help with one of SWIM’s projects or spearhead a project of your own to help the environment.
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