BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced that more than $691,000 in grants have been awarded to nine municipalities, three non-profit community groups, and two private organizations as part of the Marine Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act (MOSPRA) Grant Program. The MOSPRA Program, administered by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), was established following the 2003 Bouchard oil spill in Buzzard’s Bay to protect the Massachusetts coastline from contamination through spill prevention and response efforts. Grant awards may be used to purchase equipment, conduct marine oil spill response training, provide navigational aids, and other activities to reduce the likelihood of a marine oil spill and better prepare municipal and state agencies for spill response.   

“Marine oil spills pose a threat to the health of our coastline, both to humans and habitat alike. Responding to a spill quickly and effectively is key to reducing its impacts,” said MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple. “This funding will bolster the capabilities and resources of communities and emergency responders to prevent and mitigate oil releases up and down the Massachusetts coast.” 

The grant recipients are: 

Town of Barnstable – $74,085
The Town of Barnstable will use its award to purchase four sets of combined Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and night vision equipment. Oil spills in water present a challenge for imaging-based detection methods and the equipment will allow for the easy detection of oil spills on water and assist in the deploying of spill response equipment during nighttime conditions. This funding will allow vessel operators to have FLIR available for an additional five of the vessels operated by the town.

USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee, Inc. – $145,880
The USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee will use this award to hire a qualified marine contractor to survey the USS Kennedy in her entirety to determine the location and volume of petroleum products remaining onboard the vessel. This survey will include opening and inspecting all fuel oil tanks, lube oil storage tanks, hydraulic oil storage tanks and waste oil storage tanks, as well as individual machinery lube oil sumps to determine the volume and location of petroleum products contained therein. Upon completion of the survey, the contractor will remove and dispose of petroleum products from lube oil and hydraulic oil storage as well as individual machinery lube oil sumps.  

Boston Harbor Docking Pilots, Inc. – $40,152
Boston Harbor Pilot Association, LLC – $48,422
The Boston Harbor Docking Pilots and the Boston Harbor Pilot Association will use this funding to purchase seven vessel navigational systems and infrastructure. The system provides independent precision positioning for the pilot while controlling the ship, resulting in safer navigation. Safer navigation of ships is a key preventative tool to reduce potential oil spills related to groundings or collisions.  

Town of Bourne Fire/Rescue and Department of Natural Resources – $15,000
This funding will be used to conduct four oil spill training sessions that will include all Bourne Fire/Rescue and Department of Natural Resources staff. The training will include classroom instruction on oil spill response fundamentals, use of MassDEP oil spill response trailer equipment, response tactics and strategies, limitations of oil spill response equipment, boom towing and anchoring, use of Geographic Response Strategies as a tactical response tool, and scenario-based oil spill response discussions.   

Town of Bourne Fire/Rescue – $5,500
Bourne Fire/Rescue will use this funding to expand the effectiveness of their unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) program, which began in 2022. The funds will enable the town to provide training and certification for another eight department employees, providing a minimum of two pilots per shift ensuring coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The funding will also be used to purchase a portable ground station for the UAS. The additional equipment and more trained pilots will improve emergency response to oil spills in the town’s waterways.  

Buzzards Bay Coalition – $91,222
New Bedford Harbor requires a dockside pump-out facility to prevent the discharge of oily bilge water into marine waters. The Buzzards Bay Coalition will use this grant funding to evaluate necessary characteristics of a successful dockside pump-out site, identify sites likely to fulfill these characteristics, rank each site for its suitability, work with stakeholders to rank and prioritize the best available pump out technologies, and complete conceptual site designs for pump-out facility designs at the top three ranked selected locations. 

C-O-MM Fire District – $26,775
The Centerville-Osterville-Marston Mills (C-O-MM) Fire District will use this funding to conduct marine oil spill response training. The training will be delivered to all 51 fire department members. The grant will ensure the C-O-MM Fire District maintains a high degree of readiness through frequent training and exposure to the equipment, tactics, and techniques required to effectively deploy oil spill response equipment to protect the community, its resources, and the environment. 

Fall River Fire Department – $13,200
The Fall River Fire Department will use this funding to conduct first responder oil spill training at Battleship Cove in Fall River. The training will review the oil spill prevention trailer and associated equipment and train personnel on the deployment of the equipment to contain a marine oil spill. The City of Fall River has a MassDEP Oil Spill Prevention and Response Trailer staged on its facility, and it’s the Fire Department’s responsibility to deploy this equipment in a safe and efficient manner to help protect Mount Hope Bay in the event of a marine oil spill. 

Hingham Police Department – $60,000
The Hingham Police Department and Harbormaster will use this funding to purchase a hand-held thermal imaging camera and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV or drone). The UAV will be equipped with advanced sensors and imaging capabilities that offer unique advantages in combating oil spills. The training will teach and certify four pilots to fly UAVs as well as operate the advanced sensors and includes the cost to certify the pilots. 

Lynn Fire Department – $14,373
The City of Lynn will use this funding to purchase drone software, a laptop computer, and drone operating time for mapping. The mapping portion of the project entails flying the drone from the Swampscott line near Stacy’s Brook, to Nahant, then from Nahant through Lynn Harbor and up the Saugus River. The project covers approximately five miles of coastline. The mapping project will provide a baseline view of the coastline and identify possible routes of entry for oil spills from tributaries and outfalls along the coast. Routes will be created and saved that will allow faster response to report of possible spills. The program will better prepare and allow faster response to reduce the damage from oil spills in the Lynn Area and Broad Sound.   

New England Wildlife Center – $75,000
The New England Wildlife Center will use this funding to train wildlife first-responders, purchase additional wildlife response kits, and most critically, provide more veterinary “bed space” for impacted wildlife. The funding will expand New England Wildlife Center’s capabilities and enhance a valuable and crucial resource that may be needed during future releases of oil or other material that harms wildlife. 

Salisbury Fire Department – $14,233
The Town of Salisbury will use this funding to purchase a drone unit and associated equipment, software, and training to aid in the prevention, and response to, marine oil and/or hazardous material spill incidents within the waters of the Merrimack River or Atlantic Ocean. The drone will be used as a shared resource with the fire departments of Salisbury, Amesbury, Newburyport, Newbury, West Newbury, and Merrimack. Personnel from each agency will be trained as operators, and the drone will be available to any community.  

Saugus River Watershed Council – $45,500
Saugus River Watershed Council will use this funding to develop site-specific spill response plans and preparedness training for the Saugus and Pines rivers to the Atlantic Ocean, including their deltas and areas of critical environmental concern. The work will include meeting with local officials and stakeholders such as local fire departments, hiring a contractor to prepare an Oil Spill Detection and Preparedness Plan, hiring a consultant to locate hazards within the Saugus and Pines rivers, creating specific plans for each community, and informing stakeholders, and the public about the plans.  

Town of Plymouth Harbormaster – $22,244
The Town of Plymouth will use this funding to purchase two drone units that will aid in the prevention of, and response to, marine oil and/or hazardous material spill incidents within the waters of Plymouth Harbor, Plymouth Bay, and Cape Cod Bay. The town will also utilize the equipment to support its state and federal partners, as well as its neighboring communities of Kingston and Duxbury, if these communities require drone-enabled assistance for spills within their jurisdictional waters.

“Thank you to MassDEP for investing in our communities and for equipping them with the tools that they need to prevent and mitigate potential hazards,” said State Senator Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn). “To ensure the vitality of our coastline for generations to come, it is crucial that we continue to take a proactive approach to environmental resilience and readiness.”

“The grants awarded under Marine Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act program are a beneficial tool in the continuing efforts to protect Massachusetts’ coastal waters from the devastating impact of oil spills,” said State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “Through this grant program, we're improving education and clean up response for organizations and municipalities that work on our rivers, ponds, and along the coastline. This funding not only prepares our communities with vital resources, but also emphasizes the commitment that we must have to take proactive measures in safeguarding our waterways into the future.”

“I am so grateful for the funding that the Saugus River Watershed Council (SRWC) received through the Marine Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act Grant Program. The 16th Suffolk District encompasses an area of critical environmental concern, which makes this funding all the more necessary,” said State Representative Jessica Ann Giannino (D-Revere). “Protections need to be in place to preserve such environmentally significant land, so I am happy to hear that the SRWC will be utilizing this funding to develop site-specific spill response plans and preparedness training for the Saugus and Pines rivers to the Atlantic Ocean.”

More information on the 2024 MOSPRA Grant Program is available on MassDEP’s website.  

MassDEP’s mission is to protect and enhance the Commonwealth’s natural resources – air, water and land – to provide for the health, safety and welfare of all people, and to ensure a clean and safe environment for future generations. In carrying out this mission, MassDEP commits to address and advance environmental justice and equity for all people of the Commonwealth; to provide meaningful, inclusive opportunities for people to participate in agency decisions that affect their lives; and to ensure a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

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