MassDOT is providing resources to Chelsea residents who may be impacted by the dust and noise of ongoing repairs to the Tobin Bridge.
Lead paint chips had been falling off the bridge into the neighborhood. Last year, nets were set up around the structure to contain some of the debris. Now, MassDOT is working to remove all the old paint before repairing damage to the steel supports and repainting.
Chelsea residents can determine if their home falls within the eligible zone by putting their address into MassDOT’s online map. Those within the zone can pick up a free air conditioning unit, two HEPA air purifiers, a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, and two white noise machines.
Outreach to residents for the mitigation project included English and Spanish flyers handed out to local organizations in Chelsea like the Chamber of Commerce, the Polish Political Club and CAPIC Head Start.
Some residents learned about the pickups after two dates in late August had already passed, according to Mónica Elias-Orellana, director of Health Equity and Mobility at GreenRoots, an environmental protection organization. Two additional dates were added and, now, residents will be able to pick up the equipment on Saturday, Sept. 7, Thursday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 14.
Jim Arsenault, a Chelsea resident who was at the Polish Political Club on Tuesday afternoon, said the mitigation is important because he has seen the negative impacts of lead on the neighborhood.
“I think what started this was all the lead chips, all the paint just falling off the bridge, down the lower part of Broadway, which is a legitimate complaint. Lead is lead.” He continued, “They should have done something like this before. Those people suffered.”
Some residents say that rollout of the mitigation equipment has been confusing. On a flyer handed out to locals, people were prompted to check their eligibility by scanning a QR code, but then were unable to find their address through that tool.
“The rollout just came by so fast with very little notice that a lot of people don’t know if they’re qualified,” Elias-Orellana said.
She added that lead chips can travel, so she is curious as to how the department came up with the parameters around eligibility.
“There’s a specific window of buildings from the distance of the Tobin Bridge [in the eligibility zone],” she said. “But even then, we’ve seen the lead chips further out.”
Arsenault said a friend of his found out he is not eligible, even though he lives close by.
“But he’s not eligible, because he is one street away,” Arsenault said. “How do they figure that out? How far the dust is going?”
MassDOT did not respond to a request for comment.
Elias-Orellana said she appreciates that MassDOT is taking steps to help residents, but she wonders if the efforts are enough. She said the last midday pickups, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., were difficult for residents who are working. Others have struggled to carry the supplies back home.
She also wants to further the discourse. “Why do our environmental justice communities like Chelsea have to battle a lot of these health inequities and historical inequities and discriminatory decisions that have been in place for so long? So this is something that we want to have a conversation around.”
“We want to improve the health outcomes in Chelsea. We need to continue these conversations.”
