Four individuals and five organizations in Massachusetts were recognized Wednesday at the 2018 Environmental Merit Awards ceremony of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s New England regional office. The environmental leaders were among 28 recipients across New England honored for their work to protect New England’s environment.
Among the honorees was Pleasant Bay Alliance in Harwich.
The Pleasant Bay Alliance was formed by four towns - Orleans, Chatham, Harwich and Brewster - to coordinate the resource management plan for Pleasant Bay and its watershed. All four towns signed on to the 20-year Pleasant Bay Targeted Watershed Management Plan, designed to reduce nitrogen, find best practices for managing it, and install innovative treatments. This resulted in the first-of-its-kind watershed permit under DEP's pilot program. The four towns created a road map for other Cape communities as they work to reduce nitrogen pollution in shared watersheds. The EPA said the success of restoring Cape Cod's waterways depends on trailblazers like the Pleasant Bay Alliance and its towns.