Swampscott Group Receives Clean Water Award

Some of the information for this article was submitted by Clean Water Action.

Clean Water Action, a national environmental organization, has awarded two North Shore groups the John O’Connor Grassroots Leadership Award, one of them to a Swampscott based group.

Swampscott's HealthLink and the Salem Alliance for the Environment (SAFE) were recognized at the  Clean Water Action of Massachusetts’ 17th Annual Benefit on Oct. 1, at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Martha Dansdill, a Swampscott resident and executive director of Healthlink, said the award was gratifying because it recognizes the group's work drawing attention to the health hazards associated with the Salem Station power plant.

Pollution knows no boundaries and it puts the health of everyone in the vicinity at risk, she said.

Cindy Luppi, co-director of Clean Water Action’s New England offices, said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the death of one of New England’s most courageous and spirited environmental leaders, in whose honor the group hands out awards each year.

“John O’Connor pioneered effective community organizing techniques. He valued grassroots leadership and mobilized local involvement in our own backyards. We congratulate these groups for acting in his spirit,” she said.

HealthLink and Salem Alliance for the Environment (SAFE) are receiving the award for their hard work over more than a decade to clean up air pollution from the Salem Harbor Station power plant. 

This year the plant owner, Dominion, announced that it will shutter the polluting, coal-burning plant in 2014. But both these groups have made it clear that plant closure is not in itself a complete victory.

They have pushed to keep green jobs at the forefront of the discussion around transitioning Salem away from coal burning and worked to ensure that Salem’s tax base remains viable as it moves towards a true clean energy future.

“This is a major achievement and we salute these groups for their courage, persistence, creativity, campaign savvy, and their commitment to democracy,” Luppi said.

"It is safe to say that, without their multi-year leadership and their push for safer, clean tech development in Salem to fill the economic void created by the plant's closure, Salem Harbor Station would not have made its announcement this year," Luppi said.

"On behalf of all who breathe the air in Massachusetts, congratulations and thank you," she said.

“SAFE’s struggle to close down the coal-fired monster in our midst morphed from a small group in a living room in Salem Willows, to a larger group in a church, to a city and region-wide network of people ranging from 25 to 83 years old,” said Pat Gozemba, Co-Chair of SAFE. “We’re all committed to a cleaner energy future. SAFE appreciates the ongoing support of CWA.”

“HealthLink is thrilled to have almost 15 years of effort result in significantly lower disease causing pollution in the air we breathe and to be recognized for all of the community's work,” said Jane Bright, spokesperson for HealthLink. “It has been an extraordinary journey and we thank CWA for all of the support and guidance over this long effort to protect the public, and for this very meaningful award.”

Clean Water Action is an organization of 1.2 million members working to empower people to take action to protect America’s waters, build healthy communities and to make democracy work. 

For 36 years Clean Water Action has succeeded in winning some of the nation’s most important environmental protections through grassroots organizing, expert policy research, political advocacy and citizen suit litigation.