Water Quality Report > Currents Spring 2001 > Saugus River Watershed Council

At a community meeting in May, Roseland Property Company presented plans to build a residential development of 765 rental units at the 99-acre Rowe Quarry site in Revere and Malden. This plan is part of a larger project which involves filling and reclaiming the quarry, and could result in total build-out of 2,300 residential units, 120,000 square feet of retail space, and a 120-room hotel.

The Saugus River Watershed Council is committed to ensuring that the reclamation and subsequent development of Rowe Quarry are conducted in an environmentally sound manner to protect the wildlife and natural resources of the adjacent Rumney Marshes Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The Council is particularly concerned with ensuring that pollution from the project doesn't undermine ongoing efforts to restore shellfish beds located in the Sea Plane Basin.

Plans for filling and quarry reclamation have been going through the state's environmental permitting process. The Fill Management Plan and Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan filed in March 2001 addressed many of the concerns raised previously by the Saugus River Watershed Council about the quality of fill being used and the need to ensure adequate protection from stormwater pollution.

The improved reclamation plans have been approved by the state's MEPA permitting office, and a Land Reclamation Agreement is being negotiated with Revere and Malden to monitor filling the quarry.

The Saugus River Watershed Council will continue monitoring the project to ensure protection of Rumney Marsh. Our priorities include addressing groundwater and site contamination issues, monitoring the quality of fill used to reclaim the quarry, preventing stormwater pollution, restoring wetlands, protecting and enhancing a vegetated buffer zone to the Rumney Marshes, incorporating significant open space into the overall master plan, protecting shellfish beds in the Sea Plane Basin and creation of a public park on the south side of Salem Street.

Overlook Ridge, Rowe Quarry - Project Update