FEMA cuts $49M-plus from Island End River Flood Resilience Project

By Neil Zolot

Everett and Chelsea could lose $49,999,999 in funding for the Island End River Flood Resilience Project as a result of the Trump Administration’s cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program (BRIC), which provides disaster prevention aid to municipalities across Massachusetts. The action revokes $90 million for 18 Massachusetts communities, a regional planning commission and two state agencies. The funds allocated for this project is the largest award in the state for 500 acres with businesses that produce over $7 billion annually in local economic activity.

“Losing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding that was initially approved in 2018 under the Trump Administration means not being able to address critical flooding that often threatens thousands of residential homes, access to our regional supply of fresh produce as well as a major and vital transportation corridor to the North Shore,” Mayor Carlo DeMaria reacted. “In addition to crippling our regional economy, this flooding is expected to happen almost weekly within five years and would cause the release of petrochemicals and hazardous materials that had been isolated for public health and safety.”

The area in question is the two banks of the Island End River. The Everett side to the west is an industrial area. The Chelsea side to the east is Admiral’s Hill and Mary O’Malley Park. “The Island End River (IER) is a tributary to the Mystic River and is tidally influenced,” begins the 202-page February 2023 Expanded Environmental Notification Form submitted by Everett and Chelsea to the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs prepared by consultants Fort Point Associates. “The area is home to critical infrastructure including the New England Produce Center, the regional FBI headquarters, Mass. General Hospital, Chelsea’s Carter Street Pump Station, Williams Middle School and High School.”

It also calls the project “critical for the flood protection of the IER floodplain and surrounding low-lying areas in Everett and Chelsea, which include the residences of environmental justice communities, significant transportation (rail and roadway) infrastructure, health care facilities, a grocery store serving much of the community and a public high school, that will become part of the projected IER floodplain by 2070.”

“This investment is critical for the well-being of our communities and benefits the environment, workforce, businesses and residents,” State Senator Sal DiDomenico, in whose district the area is located, said. “Climate change is creating severe and frequent natural disasters across our nation and the cancellation of federal funding threatens the viability of this essential project that would protect our communities and residents from severe flood risks over the coming years. The importance of this resilience development is without question. The $50 million allocated for this project underscores the importance of promoting coastal resilience for Everett, Chelsea and the region. I will continue doing everything I can to support Everett and Chelsea as they figure out what is next for this project.”

Governor Healy agreed: “Massachusetts cities have been devastated by severe storms, flooding and wildfires. We rely on FEMA funding to not only rebuild but also take steps to protect against future extreme weather, but the Trump Administration has suddenly ripped the rug out from under cities and towns that had been promised funding to help them upgrade their roads, bridges, buildings and green spaces to mitigate risk and prevent disasters in the future. This makes our communities less safe and will increase costs for residents, municipalities and businesses.”

“With a reduction of FEMA funds, the feasibility of funding this large-scale project is certainly in jeopardy at this time,” Everett Planning and Development Director and Planning Board Administrator Matt Lattanzi told The Advocate. “From the last meeting we had between the relevant parties from Everett and Chelsea, the near-future consisted of planning, design and stakeholder discussions, which can move forward with the funding already in place. It is the construction of the project that was most-reliant on the federal funds, so some progress can still be had for the overall project, but construction schedules will, likely, be pushed out.”

The Island End River Flood Resilience Project is a collaborative effort between Everett and Chelsea to prevent projected coastal storm surge flooding from the IER across a 500-acre floodplain that will impact more than 5,000 residents, 800+ buildings and 11,000 jobs in southeast Everett and southwest Chelsea. The Cities are working to construct a coastal storm surge barrier, storm surge control facility, nature-based approaches along the riverfront, a revitalized coastal park and related amenities at the IER. The approximately six-acre Project Site is currently composed of a mix of commercial and industrial uses and supporting roadway and utility infrastructure. The existing banks of the river are highly degraded by legacy industrial uses and are comprised of hardened slope stabilization measures and littered with debris. This Project will construct an approximately 4,650-linear-foot storm surge barrier, an approximately 2,900-square-foot underground storm surge control facility, approximately 20,000 square feet of nature-based approaches along the riverfront, and associated wetland and public access improvements along the IER. The storm surge control facility will be a gate or gates that control tidal flows. Nature-based solutions include upgrading river slopes by planting.

BRIC is an annual FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant funded by FEMA and administered through a partnership with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). BRIC makes federal funds available to states, territories, federally recognized tribal governments and local governments for hazard mitigation activities, which have become all the more important in recent years given the severe rise in extreme weather events caused by climate change.

“Climate studies show changes in sea levels pose a risk to areas not presently prone to flooding,” DeMaria’s Chief of Staff, Erin Deveney, said at a City Council meeting in 2023. “We see risks to flooding in older areas of the city. If we don’t take action there could be flooding. The response is to the mutual benefit of both communities.”

On April 16, the state’s four food banks (The Greater Boston Food Bank, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank and the Worcester County Food Bank) gathered for an advocacy day for the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP). Established in 1995, it is a funding mechanism for the state’s hunger-relief efforts, enabling the food banks to distribute high-nutrition food to over 894 emergency food providers statewide. It is also considered an economic stimulant that supports local farms and agriculture. The event celebrated 30 years of the program and called for a $55.5 million line item in the Fiscal 2026 state budget to help maintain the state’s hunger-relief efforts, positioned as a “replacement mechanism” after $3.3 million in federal Department of Agriculture funds have been cut from the state’s food system, effectively canceling 122,000 cases of food slated for families in need. Meanwhile, threats to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) loom alongside high grocery prices and inflation.

DiDomenico attended. “We all know what’s happening at the national level is an assault, an assault on people in need,” he said. “There’s an assault on programs that benefit people in need, and food science programs and SNAP. These have been on their radar since day one and, because of that, we have to prepare even more and give more at the state level to combat what is happening at the federal level. So, the $55.5 million ask for MEFAP this year is, in my mind, very reasonable.”

DiDomenico condemns cancellation of federal funding for Everett and Chelsea by the Trump Administration

The Trump Administration recently cancelled the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program, also known as BRIC, which provides disaster prevention aid to cities across the state, including a nearly $50 million grant for Chelsea and Everett. This action revokes funding from the Island End River Coastal Flood Resilience project, which is located in Everett and Chelsea. State Senator Sal DiDomenico has worked alongside the Cities of Everett and Chelsea and the state delegation to secure both federal and state funding for this project to protect New England’s fresh produce distribution center and thousands of environmental justice residents from coastal flooding for the next 50 years. In all, businesses in the 500 acres protected by this project produce over $7 billion annually in local economic activity.

“Climate change is creating severe and frequent natural disasters across our nation, and the cancellation of federal funding threatens the viability of this essential project that would protect our communities and residents from severe flood risks over the coming years,” said Senator DiDomenico, who is Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “This investment is critical for the well-being of our communities, and it benefits the environment, workforce, our businesses, and residents. The importance of this resilience development is without question, and I will continue doing everything I can to support Everett and Chelsea as they figure out what is next for this project.”

In total, the cancellation of this grant program revokes $90 million for 18 communities, a regional planning commission and two state agencies in Massachusetts. The $50 million allocated for this project is the largest award in the state and underscores the importance of promoting coastal resilience for Everett, Chelsea and the region.