Contacts: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617) 918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Success Story

Community Engagement Drives Progress in 

the Spicket River Revitalization Project

In Lawrence, MA EPA brownfields grants have helped the community create a network of 

greenspaces along the Spicket River.

Hig h lig h t s

The Greenway initiative is reversing 

decades of environmental injustices 

impacting poor neighborhoods 

along the Spicket River by: helping to 

end decades of illegal dumping 

and polluting; removing 100 tons of 

debris and over 2,000 abandoned 

tires from its banks; transforming 

vacant lots and brownfields along the

river into safe and healthy open 

spaces and parks; reducing chronic 

flooding; and creating recreational 

opportunities on a healthier river. 

The initiative serves as a catalyst for 

revitalizing the historic mill district, 

as well as economic and community 

development throughout Lawrence.

Engaging Lawrence’s youth helps to 

ensure long-term stewardship of the 

Spicket. 

A $2.6 million Commonwealth’s 

Gateway City Parks grant has 

provided the means to finalize the 

design and construction of the 2.5-

mile Spicket River Greenway.

“This project will open the doors to community recreation and 

neighborhood revitalization. The river way is a true asset and, with this 

partnership, all will soon realize Lawrence’s gem.”

—Mayor William Lantigua

City of Lawrence

EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization program and the National Park 

Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program have had 

a successful 12 year partnership with Groundwork USA. Groundwork USA is 

a network of independent non-profit organizations called Groundwork Trusts 

focused on stabilizing and revitalizing their communities through projects and 

programs that improve their environment, economy and quality of life.
Similar to the community led efforts of the brownfields 

program, the Urban Waters initiative is an effort to 

restore and protect urban water bodies and adjacent 

lands. U.S. EPA’s goal is to integrate and leverage 

existing programs to foster increased understanding 

and a sense of ownership of waters and surrounding 

land in communities across the country. This is 

especially important as urban waters impact large 

populations and can influence far-reaching land-use 

decisions. 

Project Motivation

Groundwork Lawrence is assisting the city and 

residents of Lawrence, Massachusetts—a former 

iconic mill community—achieve riverfront restoration 

and neighborhood revitalization through rediscovery 

of a precious resource: the Spicket River. A vibrant 

river once filled with wildlife, the Spicket became a 

mechanism by the textile mills along its banks for 

flushing trash and pollutants downstream for much 

of the twentieth century. With the sharp decline of 

the textile industry in the 1950s and subsequent mill 

closures in the 1970s, vacant lots and abandoned mills 

littered the banks of the Spicket, and neighborhoods 

surrounding the river became home to Lawrence’s 

poorest residents. Both the Spicket and its surrounding 

neighborhoods became targets for illegal dumping. 

The entire city has experienced a long period of decline 

and disinvestment since the collapse of the textile mills. 

This once booming industrial center now has one of the 

highest poverty and unemployment rates in the state. 

In an effort to restore health and vitality to the river 

and the community, the Spicket River Revitalization 

Project began. The keystone of the overall project is 

the Spicket River Greenway (Greenway): a network of 

open spaces and walking paths linking neighborhoods, 

schools and parks along the 2.5-mile long Spicket 

River. The river flows through the Arlington and North 

Common neighborhoods, the city’s most underserved 

and densely built neighborhoods and then into the 

Merrimack River downtown. By design, the Greenway 

will leverage residents’ efforts to achieve environmental 

justice in the neighborhoods adjoining the Spicket River 

by providing access to a healthier river, to recreational 

opportunities that did not exist before, and to safe and 

healthy open spaces and parks. The Greenway also 

serves as a pathway to community-wide revitalization 

and economic development. 

Groundwork Lawrence was launched in 1999 

as an incubator project of the Merrimack River 

Watershed Council. Based on a model started in the 

United Kingdom nearly 30 years ago, Groundwork 

Lawrence was one of three Groundwork USA pilot 

communities, including Bridgeport, Connecticut and 

Providence, Rhode Island. In 2001, Groundwork 

Lawrence incorporated as an independent 501(c)3 

nonprofit organization and oversees the Spicket River 

Revitalization Project from its office in a refurbished 

mill building downtown, located adjacent to the 

neighborhoods where most of the work is focused. 

The Groundwork USA network is composed of 

over 20 independent Groundwork Trusts across the 

country, including Lawrence and two other Trusts in 

Massachusetts. Groundwork USA receives support 

from EPA’s Brownfields Program and the National 

Park Service’s (NPS) Rivers, Trails and Conservation 

Assistance Program.

The Past 

A former textile mill manufacturing city first incorporated 

in 1856, Lawrence, Massachusetts is a Gulf of Maine 

Watershed community located just north of Boston 

where the Merrimack, Shawsheen and Spicket Rivers 

converge. The Spicket originates in Salem, New 

Contacts: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617) 918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields

Lawrence, MA has a land area of just seven square 

miles and an urban community of 72,000 residents. 

Lawrence’s population has a large Latino population 

hailing primarily from the Dominican Republic and 

Puerto Rico. Nearly half of its population is under the 

age of 24. This demography has intensified the demand 

for open space and recreational amenities, especially 

among children and teenagers. However, a survey by the 

Trust for Public Land found that Lawrence has the least 

amount of open space per resident in Massachusetts.

Aerial photo showing the 

2.5 mile Spicket River flowing 

through Lawrence, MA
Hampshire and enters Lawrence through Stevens 

Pond. From Stevens Pond, the river’s natural course 

was straightened to accelerate flushing of trash and 

pollutants downstream from textile mills and to facilitate 

the filling and development of its marshy floodplain for 

residences in 1906. 

Lawrence’s location along these three rivers attracted 

the interest of manufacturers such as the Essex 

Company eager to harness the rivers to support textile 

operations. By the early 1900s, Lawrence was home 

to the world’s leading manufacturer of woolen textiles. 

Demand for labor in the city’s vast mills attracted 

immigrants from across the world. With the advent of 

synthetic fibers in the 1940s, and the migration of textile 

mills to the southern United States and later overseas, 

many the mills in Lawrence closed in the 1970s, 

resulting in a dramatic decline in jobs and population. 

The closed mills became vacant lots and brownfield 

sites that lined the banks of the Spicket, while the 

Arlington and North Common neighborhoods—the 

poorest in Lawrence—became dumping grounds. To 

make a bad situation even worse, the alterations to the 

river reduced the width and area of the river’s natural 

flood plain. This area, encompassing most of the North 

Arlington Neighborhood, has been subject to regular 

and severe flooding. 

The Present

Discussed by Lawrence residents and leaders for 

over 30 years, the Greenway was first formalized as 

a community goal in 1998. Through a series of Urban 

RiverVisions design meetings, often held in the homes 

of Lawrence residents, the community mapped out 

the Greenway project in 2001. Elevating community 

awareness of the river’s impaired state was the 

pivotal next step; this was accomplished by creating 

a recognizable logo and bilingual signage system for 

the river greenway that gave the river a presence and 

identity within the neighborhood. Creating stewards of 

the Spicket was accomplished in part by establishing 

the Groundwork Lawrence Green Team, a program that 

involves local “at risk” youth in community organizing 

and environmental service and education projects. In 

September 2002, the youth-led Green Team kicked off 

the Spicket River: Keep it Clean Campaign with the 

first Spicket River Cleanup. In 2003, Tufts University 

graduate students completed an inventory of parcels 

and land uses adjacent to the Spicket River, and a 

Spicket River Paddle-A-Thon was held to raise funds 

for the Greenway and awareness about the river and 

its recreational potential. The Green Team partnered 

with the Urban Ecology Institute in 2004 to conduct 

ecological assessments and determine the degree 

of variation of life forms (plant and wildlife) along the 

Spicket. 

In concert with the riverfront awareness and restoration 

efforts, several vacant lots and brownfields along 

the river have been transformed into open space, 

community parks and community gardens. The Dr. Nina 

Scarito Park (Scarito Park), named in honor of a local 

obstetrician, was the first brownfield-to-open space 

project completed in 2006. This neighborhood park 

“Restoring the Spicket River corridor and 

converting it into a community asset was one 

of our organization’s founding objectives.” The 

Greenway will improve long underserved residents’ 

access to the river and to quality open spaces.”

—Heather McMann

Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence

“This is going to be a positive thing. It will 

bring more of the green areas needed, and 

create a lot of encouragement in the community. 

Once people see something positive in a vacant 

lot, it will encourage neighbors to keep the area 

clean as well.”

—Ana Luna

Executive Director of Arlington Community Trabajando

The Nina Scarito Park, 

former Brook Street site, a 

2.7-acre industrial brownfield

Contacts: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617) 918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields
now resides on the former Brook Street site, a 2.7-

acre industrial brownfield. The site was first developed 

as a small mill complex in the late 1800s, and later as 

a commercial laundry in 1949. By the late 1980s, the 

laundry buildings had been demolished, leaving the site 

vacant along the banks of the Spicket for over 20 years. 

Through bank mergers, the Bank of America (BOA) 

became the owner of the Brook Street site. BOA worked 

with the city to pay back taxes on the site, then donated 

the land and $200,000 towards park construction. 

Redevelopment of the park was further funded by a 

Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) awarded 

to the city and through a Massachusetts Urban Self 

Help grant. Through its Brownfields Program, EPA 

funded the assessment and cleanup of the site. 

Forward planning coupled with the success of Scarito 

Park allowed three additional revitalization projects 

along the Spicket to move forward rapidly. Built on 

a vacant lot acquired by the city using a Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant and 

CDBG funds, the construction of the William Kennedy 

Community Park was completed in 2007. The park 

provides much-needed open space for local residents 

while helping to absorb storm water and minimizing 

the impact of chronic flooding on the surrounding 

neighborhood.

Through a campaign led by a Lawrence youth group, 

the SK8 Kids, and with city matching CDBG funds and 

Massachusetts Urban RiverVisions and Urban Self Help 

grants, Misserville Park was rehabilitated into a skate 

park in 2007. The park also comprises a basketball 

court and an outdoor schoolyard gardening classroom 

opportunity for the adjacent Leonard School. Jarrod 

Curtis, one of the original SK8 Kids and now a college 

student, cut the ribbon at the dedication ceremony for 

Misserville Park and had this to say about the effort, 

“It’s simply amazing to stand here today, I learned 

perseverance and it’s very gratifying knowing that I’ve 

contributed something.” 

The fourth Greenway project completed involves 

the cleanup and redevelopment of the former 

Covanta incinerator facility, a five-acre brownfield site 

contaminated with mercury, lead and other pollutants. 

Partially funded by EPA, cleanup was completed in 

2008 and Manchester Park opened in September 2009. 

It is home to playgrounds, picnic tables and benches, 

greenspace and community gardens. With 32 innovative 

projects from across the country nominated for the 

award, Manchester Park received the esteemed 2010 

Brownfield Renewal Award for Social Impact from the 

trade publication Brownfield Renewal. The awards are 

presented to projects that represent the “gold standard” 

of brownfields redevelopment across the country 

and serve as models for other communities. Heather 

McMann, Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence, 

commented on the award, “Nearly a decade of work—

community activism, fundraising, planning, cleanup 

and building—went into the realization of Manchester 

Street Park. The reward for that work is a neighborhood 

reborn—the vision of a community now sustained by 

and sustaining this beautiful, healthy, thriving place.” 

In 2011, the project earned a second national award: 

the Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Award from 

the National Community Development Association 

“In this city, the park transformation is an 

important thing. There was so much joy in the 

neighborhood when the park opened—finally the 

children have a safe place to play!”

—Angelita Iraola

Brook Street Resident

Contacts: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617) 918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields

The former Covanta incinerator facility, located 

within a 19th Century mill complex on Stevens Pond 

and the Spicket River burnt municipal trash for 

nearly 20 years. At its peak of operation, the facility 

emitted 800 pounds of mercury and 400 pounds 

of lead each year. The highest rate of childhood 

lead exposure and the second highest rate of 

childhood asthma in the Commonwealth are found in 

Lawrence.

 William Kennedy Community Park, former site of 

14 residential homes in the North Common Neighborhood that 

were repeatedly damaged by floods—FEMA tore down the 

houses after a particularly damaging storm in 2001
(previously the Audrey Nelson Award). These awards 

are given to local communities in recognition of their 

exemplary actions to better the lives of low-income 

people and neighborhoods.

The Path Forward 

On the ground for over a decade now, Groundwork 

Lawrence, in partnership with the City of Lawrence and 

its residents, has made significant progress on the path 

to riverfront restoration and neighborhood revitalization 

through the Greenway Initiative. The Spicket River 

Cleanup, an annual event led by the Green Team, 

completed the ninth river cleanup in September 2010. 

Since 2002, over 4,500 local residents, students, 

business owners, and other volunteers have cleared 

100 tons of debris and over 2,000 abandoned tires from 

the banks of the Spicket River.

The building of a vast network of nearly100 public and 

private partnerships and the leveraging of over $6 

million in public and private funding led to the cleanup 

and transformation of this area. More than 10 acres of 

vacant lots and brownfields have gone from blight to 

open space creating neighborhood parks and improving 

long underserved residents’ access to the river and 

to safe and healthy open spaces. These changes 

also allow for better management of storm water 

runoff and will reduce flooding in Arlington and other 

neighborhoods adjoining the Spicket River. 

The Greenway initiative is also producing economic 

benefits. Property values of homes in the North 

Common Neighborhood surrounding the new open 

spaces and parks increased significantly—making this 

area one of the fastest appreciating zip codes in the 

country in 2006. Crime has decreased significantly 

in these areas according to local law enforcement. 

And when the nationwide foreclosure crisis hit, the 

combination of parks and homeownership investments 

helped stabilize the low-income neighborhoods. 

The Greenway Initiative complements and supports 

efforts underway such as the Union Crossing project 

to revitalize the historic mill district where the Spicket 

meets the Merrimack River. This effort will transform a 

complex of 19th century textile mills surrounding the 

Merrimack River into a new Lawrence neighborhood 

and link the mill district to adjacent downtown and 

residential neighborhoods along the Spicket and 

elsewhere. The project will create renovated and newlybuilt space, including affordable family and workforce 

housing, commercial office, retail, and community 

facilities, as well as new greenspace and public access 

“We have thousands of ardent stewards who 

have been working with us for over a decade to 

clean the river banks and streambed. These same 

residents and youths are the best assurance for the 

long-term care of the Greenway and will continue 

to care for the Spicket River Greenway for decades 

to come.”

—Heather McMann

Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence

to the Merrimack. Groundwork Lawrence assisted with 

site design and facilitation of community meetings 

during the Master Planning phase; it will assist with 

designing the green infrastructure elements like 

the storm water management, Riverwalk Trail, and 

community gardens. 

In July 2010, Lawrence was awarded a $2.6 million 

grant from the Commonwealth’s Gateway City Parks 

program. Gateway grants are awarded to support 

significant park projects for underserved populations 

across the Commonwealth. The grant allows Lawrence 

to finalize the design and construct the 2.5-mile Spicket 

River Greenway that will link the network of existing 

and new open spaces, parks and neighborhoods 

along the restored riverfront to each other and to the 

downtown and developing mill district. Total completion 

of the Greenway is slated for 2012. State Senator Barry 

Finegold said of the award, “This grant will continue to 

help with regional growth and prosperity in Lawrence, 

and improve the lives and futures of its residents.”

Spicket River Cleanup in 2007, 

when over 700 volunteers removed 

17 tons of garbage and about 200 

tires out of the river

Contacts: U.S. EPA Region 1 (617) 918-1111 or visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields
URBAN WATERS

Urban environments, particularly in underserved communities, are typically characterized by paved or covered 

“impervious” surfaces, working waterfronts with industrial facilities, abandoned industrial sites, and other 

underutilized or contaminated lands. These characteristics, in combination with aging and inadequate storm 

water management infrastructure, generate excess and untreated runoff that transports sewage and hazardous 

wastes into local water bodies. Urban patterns of historical development often make waterways inaccessible to 

adjacent neighborhoods. Lack of access to waterways limits the ability of communities to connect and participate 

in restoring waterways as healthy living ecosystems and reap the benefits of living close to the water in the city. 

Addressing these issues to ensure healthy and accessible urban waters can help grow local businesses and 

enhance educational, recreational and social opportunities in nearby communities. 

EPA is learning from community efforts already underway and supporting communities as active participants in 

the restoration and protection of urban waters. EPA works to increase access to waterways, which promotes a 

sense of public ownership of water resources and integrates environmental goals with other pressing priorities like 

economic development, education, job creation, and greenspace creation and preservation.

URBAN WATERS RESOURCES

www.epa.gov/urbanwaters 

Watershed Planning and Management

•	 Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure -

cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298

•	 Directory of EPA Watershed Publications -

water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/publications.cfm

•	 Key EPA Water Internet Tools Course -

www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/epatools

•	 Watershed Central and Wiki - wiki.epa.gov/watershed2

Water Quality and Pollution Prevention

•	 EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online -

www.epa-echo.gov/echo

•	 Nonpoint Source Pollution -

www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/index.html

•	 Water Quality Assessment Tools and Models -

water.epa.gov/scitech/datait/models/index.cfm

Community Information

•	 Groundwork USA - www.groundworkusa.org

•	 National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program -

www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/rtca

•	 Adopt Your Watershed -

www.epa.gov/owow_keep/adopt/index.html

•	 Community Culture and the Environment A Guide to

Understanding a Sense of Place - www.epa.gov/care/

library/community_culture.pdf

•	 EPA Smart Growth - www.epa.gov/smartgrowth

•	 Surf Your Watershed - cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm

Outreach Development

•	 Coastal Urban Waters Toolkit -

www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/debris

•	 Getting In Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed

Outreach Campaigns - 

www.epa.gov/owow/nps/toolbox/guide.htm

•	 Non-Point Source Toolbox - www.epa.gov/nps/toolbox

Funding

•	 Brownfields Grants to Support Assessment/Cleanup

of Contaminated Property, Environmental Workforce 

Development and Job Training Grants, and Targeted 

Brownfields Assessments - 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/grant_info/index.htm

•	 Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed

Protection - cfpub.epa.gov/fedfund

•	 Sustainable Finance Website -

www.epa.gov/owow/funding/trainings.html

•	 Watershed Funding Resource Directory -

water.epa.gov/aboutow/owow/funding.cfm

Case Studies

•	 Case Studies for Stormwater Management on

Compacted, Contaminated Soils in Dense Urban Areas - 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/tools/swcs0408.pdf

•	 Urban Agriculture on Brownfields Website -

www.epa.gov/brownfields/urbanag

•	 Targeted Watershed Grant Case Studies -

water.epa.gov/grants_funding/twg/initiative_index.cfm

For more information on the Spicket River Greenway, and on other brownfield related Groundwork projects, contact 

Groundwork Lawrence at 978-974-0770, or visit the Groundwork Lawrence web site at: www.groundworklawrence.org

Brownfields Success Story

Groundwork Lawrence

Spicket River Greenway Project

Solid Waste 

and Emergency 

Response (5105T)

EPA 560-F-11-024

April 2011

www.epa.gov/brownfields