NEWBURYPORT — A year after it was threatened with closure, only to be saved at the last minute through the work of local legislators, the shellfish purification plant on Plum Island is again facing an uncertain future.
Now, those same legislators who fought for its survival last year, in partnership with a group of clammers determined to keep the shellfish industry alive in Massachusetts, are once again hoping to ensure the last state-run purification plant in the country doesn’t fade into history.
Third-generation shellfisherman John “Jack” Grundstrom of Rowley said cutting funding for the plant would be catastrophic for the state, putting many clammers’ livelihoods in jeopardy.
“It affects the whole industry,” Grundstrom said. “The big thing we’ve tried to do with the shellfish industry is to make it sustainable. … If we don’t have local clams, including the ones that come from the depuration plant, the vendors will start buying clams from Maine or wherever else they can get them.”
Gov. Deval Patrick announced earlier this month he planned to cut $400,000 in funding for the plant, which has operated since 1928 on a spit of land at the tip of Plum Island Point. The last of similar plants placed in service in the early 1900s, the Plum Island facility provides a place where fishermen can cleanse shellfish dug from semi-contaminated flats in Newburyport, Salisbury, Boston, Weymouth, Quincy, Hull, Revere, Saugus and Winthrop.
Patrick also sought to eliminate the plant’s funding last year, but Rep. Mike Costello, D-Newburyport, and Sen. Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, managed to strike a deal allowing it to continue for another fiscal year.
Last year’s threatened closure served as a wake-up call to Grundstrom and other local clammers, who said the loss of the plant would lead to the closure of numerous semi-contaminated clam flats from Newburyport to Greater Boston, decimating the entire shellfish industry in the state.
Grundstrom has been working behind the scenes on solutions that would enable the plant to remain open long-term. While he’s keeping mum on the plans, he hinted last week that some in the industry are hoping to see the state-run purification plant turned over to private operators.
“There are better ways to do it and they are being considered,” Grundstrom said. “I don’t expect the plant to close down.”
While the clams in Grundstrom’s hometown of Rowley are harvested from Plum Island Sound in a still-pristine environment where they can be dug and taken directly to market, the once-thriving clam flats in Newburyport and elsewhere produce shellfish that must be cleansed for several days before they are deemed safe for human consumption.
Clammers pay a fee to use the Plum Island Purification Plant, but it does not cover the operating costs.
Costello said state funding for the plant is an annual battle. He said the executive branch has historically seen the $400,000 line item appropriation in the budget as something it can cut easily cut. But he believes the administration is not looking at the big picture.
“The plant employs a half-dozen workers in our area,” Costello said. “The clams (cleansed at the site) are taxed, and the shuckers pay a tax. When the master digger sells the clams to a wholesaler, it’s taxed again, and when it’s sold to restaurants, it’s taxed.”
Finally, the patron who purchases the clams pays a tax, he said.
Costello believes he and Baddour will once again succeed in convincing the governor to reinstate funding for the plant given the financial implications that would result in its closure.
“There’s a hidden economic benefit the state’s receiving from keeping the plant open,” Costello said. “And we believe that more than makes up for the cost to keep it open. … I think it’s been a good investment for us statewide.”
Costello said the results of a recent study on whether the Plum Island plant could be expanded to treat a greater capacity of shellfish is expected to be released this week. He’s hoping the study provides some guidance on how the plant can service shellfishermen who work flats that are sometimes closed during heavy rains, stripping them of the ability to clam for long periods of a time.
As for a plan to privatize the facility, Costello said on Friday he was not aware of any proposal and would be skeptical of such a move.
He said privatization might place a higher financial burden on clammers if they had to pay a private company to clean their shellfish. The resulting cost would be similar to closing the plant, essentially putting fisherman out of business, he said.
If a privatization effort does go forward, Costello said it should include input from local fishermen as well as the master diggers from Greater Boston who use the facility.
“I’d want to have all the master diggers at the table from the region to have a healthy discussion about what privatization would look like,” Costello said.