Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan will visit Monson on Thursday to announce a net sent of incentive programs to help home and building owners repair or rebuild tornado-damaged properties.
By MATT MURPHY
BOSTON – Just days after the two-month anniversary of the deadly tornadoes that ripped through western Massachusetts, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan told lawmakers Wednesday that federal funding will be made available to start clearing fallen trees blocking fire access roads through Brimfield State Forest.
Sullivan will be in Monson on Thursday afternoon to announce a new set of incentive programs to help home and building owners repair or rebuild damaged properties, with a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy technology and administered by the Department of Energy Resources and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Monson was one of the hardest hit communities by a series of tornadoes that touched down in western Massachusetts on June 1. The House and Senate in June passed a supplemental budget that included $15 million in tornado relief funds.
Testifying on Wednesday before the House Bonding Committee, Sullivan said that disaster funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency can be applied to cleanup within the state forest of fire access roads for public safety, but that the Department of Conservation and Recreation was working to develop a plan to remove an estimated 133,000 downed trees in the forest – an effort that could spill over into next year.
“We will start with the access roads first done as part of FEMA activities,” Sullivan said, fielding a question about Brimfield State Forest from Rep. Todd Smola, a Republican from Palmer.
Smola also raised the issue of providing local assistance for the removal or repair of structurally deficient dams, which can often be cost prohibitive despite the threat they pose to recreational property and businesses if left unattended.
“Has there been any thought given to helping with the removal or repair of these dams?” Smola asked during the hearing centered around state bonding and capital spending projects.
Sullivan said that there are 3,000 dams under the jurisdiction of DCR, including many in serious disrepair. “The balance you need to strike is always an interesting exercise between recreation, public safety, which always comes first, restoring the river and in some case providing power,” Sullivan said.
The secretary told the committee that 20 dams have been identified as having potential for low-level hydro power, and the state is searching for private companies that might be interested in repairing those dams to access the electricity.
Sullivan also noted the ongoing discussion between the administration and Rep. James Cantwell, who sits on the Bonding Committee, and Sen. Marc Pacheco, about the possibility of creating a low-interest revolving loan fund for dam and seawall repairs.
Sullivan also said that his executive office was seeking $150 million in fiscal 2012 capital spending authority from the five-year capital plan being developed by the administration. He said the $150 million funding level would be consistent with what the agency has received in past years to fund park and conservation projects, Superfund site clean-up, farming support programs and energy efficiency programs.
Sullivan said he is very excited about the new Boston Public Market project, which will bring 100 construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs to downtown Boston through the creation of a public market at 136 Blackstone Street that will promote fresh, sustainable, locally grown and harvested produce, dairy, seafood and other goods.