The town of Scituate is getting nearly $1.7 million in federal money to fortify the sea wall at Third Cliff that was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi said the federal cash would be used to not only repair but also strengthen and reinforce revetments on Third Cliff and help the town weather future storms.
“Improvements for foreshore protection are extremely costly, and these funds will help give us some much-needed relief in addressing coastal needs along our 15 miles of shoreline,” she said.
Scituate has been hard hit by coastal storms over the years, and has spent millions in local and state money on shoreline protection.
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The federal money comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and will cover 75 percent of the cost of the project, according to a press release from US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey and Congressman Stephen Lynch.
In addition to announcing the grant for Scituate, the three US legislators also announced that FEMA will provide $1.3 million more to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to help communities pay for disaster recovery during the extremely snowy winter of 2015.
Lynch said the communities in his district were particularly hard hit by the continuous storms. “Governor [Charles] Baker and I testified before FEMA strongly advocating for additional federal assistance, and I am pleased that our work and the efforts of our Congressional delegation were successful,” he said.
Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com