Medford Granted Funding for 2013 Oil Spill Restoration

MEDFORD, MA — Medford has been awarded state funding for restoration projects following the 2013 oil spill in the Upper Mystic River, the Town of Arlington announced Friday.

According to the announcement, the Commonwealth has awarded Medford and Arlington a combined $81,600 for restoration projects stemming from a tanker-truck fuel oil spill in 2013.

The money will be used to reduce riverbank erosion at an existing outfall along the Upper Mystic River, create a native habitat following input from community groups and increase awareness along the river.

The funds utilize $44,100 from a settlement between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and J.P. Noonan Transportation, Inc. of West Bridgewater and supplemented by the state's Natural Resource Damage Trust. An additional $26,500 was made availabe through the NRD trust from environmental fines and penalties.

Image by DearEdward from New York, NY, USA - Mystic River Bridge, CC BY 2.0, Link

Joe Lipovich (Patch Staff) contributed to this report