The following is a letter directred to Leo Roy, DCR commissioner.
Slap in the Face to the City of Revere – Burial of Cohasset’s Whale
Dear Editor,
I write to you today with regard to the 30-foot whale that washed up onto Revere Beach on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. As a resident who lives along Revere Beach, and as the state representative who represents Revere, many constituents contacted me on Friday and through the weekend voicing concerns about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) decision to bury the whale in the sand of America’s First Public Beach. I, too, have serious concerns about the burial of the whale in our sand, and I have some questions regarding the actions taken on Friday.
Why did NOAA recommend and request that the whale, in its entirety, be buried in Revere as opposed to towing it back out to sea, perhaps in pieces? It has been proven that this was the same whale that washed up onto a town beach in Cohasset approximately a week prior. Why was the recommendation not made to bury it in the first place? How did officials and NOAA allow it to be towed out to sea in Cohasset? Even though it was a town-owned beach, I would imagine the same entity that DCR called in should have been called into Cohasset a couple weeks ago. Further, was the whale the washed up at Boston Light on Friday buried? Did the seals that washed up in Lynn and Swampscott get buried in the sand too?
All too often, Revere bears the brunt of Greater Boston’s environmental burdens (ash in the unlined landfill that is located within the Rumney Marshes Area of Critical Environmental Concern, low airplanes flying over our neighborhoods, the gas tanks that service all of New England, the traffic of the North Shore). As Revere’s representative, my constituents deserve better. Our leaders at state and federal agencies need to start stepping up to protect communities like Revere instead of always protecting more affluent communities in the Commonwealth. In my opinion, the whale should have been respectfully cut up into pieces and towed out to sea; not buried in the sand of a beach where millions of people recreate throughout the year.
I am requesting that NOAA and DCR exhume the whale, and remove it from America’s First Public Beach. Thank you for your consideration of this letter, and I look forward to further discussions on this issue.
Respectfully,
RoseLee Vincent
State Representative
16th Suffolk District
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Are you Curious or Worried about Vaping?
Dear Editor,
This summer the Massachusetts Department of Public Health launched a statewide information campaign called “The New Look of Nicotine Addiction†and it’s all about vaping. The website of the campaign, GetOutraged.org, is a resource to help parents of teenagers better understand what vaping is, how vaping can harm their teens,’ developing brains and to provide ideas for how parents can talk with their children about vaping and JUULing.
Youth are being targeted by the vaping and tobacco industries. Unfortunately their tactics are working with nearly 1 in 4 high school youth in MA reporting that they use e-cigarettes. How? Vape “juices†come in thousands of different flavors, such as Swedish Fish, s’mores, and mango. Sweet flavors attract young people and are the leading reason that youth are vaping. But these products are not harmless; there is nicotine in them, even possibly in some of those that say they have none. Nicotine is highly addictive and can damage a young person’s developing brain. It changes the way synapses are formed, which can harm the parts of the brain that control attention and learning. Nicotine exposure can also lead to mood disorders, and can permanently lower impulse control.
If you would like to know more about vaping, please visit GetOutraged.org.
There you can see what vaping products look like, get more answers to frequently asked questions and learn more about how to talk with your kids about vaping. Printed materials are available to order free of charge or to download and you can learn about other actions you can take.
Talk with your kids about vaping and make sure they know it’s harmful. Visit GetOutraged.org to learn more or contact me, Edgar Duran Elmudesi, of the Metro Boston Tobacco-Free Community Partnership, at 617-451-0049 x549, or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Edgar Duran Elmudesi, MSW
Metro Boston Tobacco-Free Community Partner
