2024 State of the Environment Message - Mayor Dominick Pangallo

Happy Earth Day! Today, we celebrate our planet and our shared commitment to environmental stewardship. While so many of us are working hard toward this mission every single day, today offers a special opportunity to reflect on our responsibilities as stewards of the world we call home and to renew our dedication to those efforts.

That’s why I’m proud to announce that in the week ahead I will be inviting all 75 Mayors and Town Managers who lead coastal communities across Massachusetts to join in a new alliance to share best practices, coordinate our actions related to resiliency, and leverage federal and state funding opportunities in the most strategic manner possible. My hope is the Massachusetts Coastal Communities Alliance can serve as a platform for information sharing and positive action in the face of the climate crisis.

As we celebrate Earth Day locally, I want to thank all of the volunteers and City staff who made this weekend’s 3rd Annual Great Salem Clean-Up Possible and to take this opportunity to share the many actions our City is taking to promote sustainability and protect our environment right here in Salem.

Each action we take – even the small ones – can make a significant difference.  We all have a role to play in safeguarding our environment, so let’s use this Earth Day to inspire further positive change.  Let’s work together to further our work toward fostering a cleaner, healthier community. Together we can build a sustainable future where nature thrives, and our children will inherit a world filled with hope and possibility.

Solving one of our greatest threats — the climate crisis — requires meaningful action from all of us here in our own community and in communities across the country and the globe. Early in my administration I joined the Climate Mayors – a bipartisan nationwide alliance of 750 U.S. mayors – to ensure we’re bringing solutions to tackle the most complex climate challenges facing Salem today. We’re dedicated to this work through our Resilient Together climate planning initiatives and our new Sustainability and Resilience Department, our ongoing efforts to create a world-class port for offshore wind, our traffic-reducing transportation initiatives, and our work to ensure our buildings and infrastructure better meet our sustainability and resiliency goals. Our commitment to ideas that meaningfully address these challenges is so important and I look forward to working with my fellow Mayors to continue pursuing new, innovative solutions that build sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities for all.

The efforts outlined below are just some of the City of Salem’s ongoing commitment to building a more sustainable and resilient city. On this Earth Day, let’s continue to work together to protect our planet and create a greener – and brighter – future for all.

• Offshore Wind Marshalling Port

Salem is ready to do our part to help advance Massachusetts’ offshore wind efforts. In February, an historic agreement was finalized to transform vacant industrial land on the coast of Salem into a port for assembling offshore wind turbines. Along with this milestone moment came the signing of one of the most beneficial Community Benefits Agreements in our city’s history and the potential for a substantial expansion of our commercial tax base. On the site where, until quite recently, there was a giant coal pile, oil tanks, and vast barges unloading coal by the ton – all to support the operation of one of the dirtiest coal power plants in America - a new, green energy future will be assembled. That work will be powered by labor from communities disproportionately impacted by our fossil fuel legacy and organized and trained for the clean energy economy that’s ahead of us. The 6.1 GW of offshore wind power made possible from the Salem port is one-fifth of the nation’s goal and enough to power 3.5 million homes and businesses, reducing our carbon emissions equal to removing half of all gasoline-powered vehicles from Massachusetts streets. Here in Salem, when we’ve looked to the future, we’ve always looked to the sea and to what’s possible on its distant horizon. I’m so proud that Salem will be part of this important and historic effort!

• Specialized Energy Code

In January Salem became the first North Shore municipality, and the 32^nd in the Commonwealth, to adopt a new Specialized Energy Code. The new code will go into effect July 1st and applies to new construction only; it originated in the 2021 Massachusetts Climate Act and ensures that new construction is consistent with our 2050 net zero goal. Adoption of the Specialized Code was identified as an action item by Resilient Together, Salem's shared climate action plan with the City of Beverly.

• Electric Vehicle Charging

Last year we completed the installation of five more publicly accessible charging stations in the downtown area, bringing Salem to a total of 10 publicly accessible City-owned charging stations downtown and 22 total throughout the city. Our goal is for Salem to reach 5,000 registered EVs by 2030 and 20,000 by 2050, and we’re on a strong pace toward that target, with the number of zero emissions and hybrid vehicles registered in Salem jumping from 874 in 2022 to 1,525 at the start of 2024. We’re doing our own part with our municipal fleet as well. The Salem Police Department has added two electric vehicles, along with a charging station, and plans to purchase two more this year, and the Salem Council on Aging has applied for a grant to purchase an electric van this coming year.

If you’re interested in electric vehicles, the Sustainability and Resilience Department and Salem Alliance for the Environment are marking Drive Electric Earth Month with a special even, Salem Kicks Gas, on Sunday, April 28^th from 1-4 PM at Salem High School. Enjoy baked goods from Kim Gregory Pure Pastry while you check out electric bikes, scooters, and battery-powered outdoor equipment, as well as some cool cars. Test rides and drives may be available for some models, including potential electric vehicles from Porsche, Jeep, Tesla, Rivian, Ford, Hyundai, Chevrolet, and more. Bring your license, helmet, and sense of adventure! See Salem Kicks Gas for more details and a full list.

• Decarbonization and electrification

We continue working to support residential energy efficiency improvements and electrification/decarbonization efforts, especially through the Beverly/Salem Energy Challenge.  The Outreach and Engagement Coordinator from our Sustainability and Resilience Department  is available to advise residents and businesses on the best and most cost-effective ways to implement these types of projects. Check out www.salemma.gov/calendar to find out when the next drop-in hours with the Coordinator will take place. And, in partnership with Chamber of Commerce we’ll host the annual Living Green Expo at Old Town Hall on Saturday, May 11^th.  There will be lots of resources and information for residents and businesses alike. 

The City is also continuing to finalize a far-ranging energy audit of all of our municipal and school buildings. The audit process has identified multiple projects that will save energy and money, reduce emissions, and improve user comfort. Many of the initial projects from this audit are preparing to get underway this spring and summer, and more are planned for the years ahead.

• Cleaning the Municipal Electric Supply

The City successfully secured a new electricity contract for municipal and school buildings, which goes into effect in December. Not only is the new contract less than National Grid’s Basic Service costs, it will double the percentage of our additional renewable energy going into City electricity accounts. In all, municipal electricity will come from 38% renewable sources, exceeding the state’s requirement of just 27%. This cleans our own electricity supply and also serves to accelerate market toward the overall cleaning of the New England grid.

• Salem PowerChoice

Through Salem PowerChoice the City bulk purchases electricity supply on behalf of residents and businesses. The program has resulted in significant savings for residents, along with reduced emissions as we require cleaner electricity supply in our bulk purchasing. Since the program launched in January 2016 Salem PowerChoice participants have saved a combined total of more than $16 million on electricity costs and, because of the program’s commitment to renewable electricity, reduced emissions by 196,266 metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of removing 39,621 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.

• Resilient Together: The Point/El Punto

The City of Salem’s Sustainability and Resiliency Department is nearing the end of the second year of Resilient Together: The Point/El Punto - a two-year grant to identify ways to improve the resiliency of the Point neighborhood. The project is focused on direct impacts of climate change, as well as building and empowering the community to be more resilient.  Incorporating feedback from community members through extensive public engagement, the initiative has developed a design for a flood barrier in Palmer Cove Park to protect the neighborhood from future coastal flooding as sea level continues to rise. The City is pursuing funding to move this project forward toward construction.

• Resilient Together: Collins Cove to Willows

Our Engineering Department, working with Salem Sound Coastwatch, has wrapped up an analysis of the Collins Cove and Willows neighborhoods that identified vulnerable areas, developed models for projected flooding, mapped evacuation routes, and provided a high-level strategy for how to move forward to address flooding there. In the coming year the City will move forward with the next steps to better prepare and protect this part of the City for the impacts of the climate crisis.

• Seawall Projects on Columbus Ave and Juniper Beach

Following the collapse of part of the Juniper Beach seawall in January, the City implemented a series of emergency repairs. Now, we are preparing finalized engineering plans for both the permanent repair of that wall and improvements to the Columbus Avenue seawall to also help provide additional protection against coastal surge and rising tides.

• Willows Phase 2 and Pier Resilience

Ahead of celebrating Salem’s 400^th+ anniversary in 2026, the City of Salem is investing in improvements and upgrades to our many Signature Parks. A part of that work is completing planned improvements to the Willows that include addressing the deteriorating seawall and replacing the pier, which has been destroyed by winter storms over recent years, with a new and more resilient and accessible public pier.

• The Winter Island Park Pathway and Bank Restoration Project

In October the City secured a Coastal Resiliency Grant from the state to address coastal erosion at Winter Island Park. The Winter Island Park Pathway and Bank Restoration Project will consist of community engagement, pedestrian traffic management, and shoreline erosion and invasive plant species assessments. Ultimately it will help address the severe and ongoing issue of erosion of the park’s pathways and coastal banks. Coastal erosion, combined with excess invasive bittersweet, threatens the ability of future Salem generations to enjoy this special park’s unique natural resources and historically significant assets. Project updates can be found on the Public Input website here.  

• Willow Avenue Pipe

Just offshore of the beach at the end of Willow Avenue a visible 24-inch sewer pipe connects to 20-inch main joining poses a significant environmental threat. Built in 1908, this aging infrastructure moves as much as 2 million gallons of untreated sewage in 24 hours. A rupture in the pipe could release large volumes of that sewage into Salem Sound and also inundate the City’s sewer system in the neighborhood with seawater. This year the City funded temporary measures to stabilize and strengthen the pipe, as well as pro-active measures to respond in the event of a break, and is pursuing the funding necessary to conduct the longer-term and more permanent resiliency upgrade necessary to relocate the pipe out of the harbor.

• Ocean Avenue Pump Station

The circa 1970s Ocean Avenue Pump Station lacks an emergency generator and only one of the two Archimedes screw pumps is currently functioning. During periods of heavy rainfall, this pump station is critically important to protecting 21 acres of our City in the South River drainage area. The $11 million improvement project is now at 60% design and continues to move forward. The current facility moves about 20 cubic feet of water per second, but with the improvements that number will increase to 100 cubic feet of water per second.

• Tree Plantings

This past year marked the 22^nd year in a row that Salem has been designated as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. We’re excited to continue that commitment to expanding our urban canopy with the coming spring planting season. Starting in May, nearly 80 new trees will be planted in Forest River Park as part of the ongoing Signature Park investments in that special public space. We’re planning to plant around 44 new street trees across the City during the Spring planting season, plus several new trees at two schools. In 2021 Salem joined the state’s “Greening the Gateway Cities” program, which plants additional trees – for free – on public and private property. Our goal is 2,400 trees through that program and I’m excited to share we’ll plant the 1,000^th “Greening the Gateway Cities” tree in Salem in the next few weeks – stay tuned for details about the celebration! As part of Salem 400+, the City launched the Century Tree Program, to plant taller trees that are intended to be enjoyed for generations to come. If you have a location to suggest – on either public or private property – for a Century Tree, send an email to centurytree@salem.com.

• Composting

In addition to our extensive curbside recycling and waste reduction programs, this year the City of Salem is expanding our curbside composting efforts. You can join the many Salem residents who participate in curbside composting for just $11.99/month for weekly pick-ups or $8.99/month for every other week pick-ups.

For a limited time, Salem residents newly joining the service will get a free, 13-gallon curbside composting bin. We’re working to minimize our community’s trash tonnage, and diverting food waste is a critical part of that effort. It’s better for the environment and it mitigates increases in trash disposal costs that the City – and taxpayers - incur.

• Alternative Transportation

By supporting alternative transportation options we can reduce the number of vehicles on our roadways, lessening congestion, improving air quality, and reducing carbon emissions. Salem has taken a number of steps to allow residents and visitors to get around Salem without needing a passenger vehicle, if they choose, including our innovative Salem Skipper, the Bluebikes bike share program, investments in safer streets, sidewalks, multi-use paths, and bicycle lanes, and our on-going work to advance the South Salem commuter rail stop, to bring more public transit options to more residents, students, and workers in our community.  Now we’re preparing to launch a regional pilot of the Skipper with Beverly and Danvers, and we’re pursuing funding opportunities to get the South Salem commuter rail stop fully designed in the coming year.