MacMaster Applies Pressure In Melrose's Brazil Street Response

MELROSE, MA — Ward 5 Alderman Shawn MacMaster already called on Mayor Gail Infurna to have the city hire an independent environmental specialist to inspect the homes affected in the Brazil Street sewage disaster. Now he's calling on his fellow aldermen to help apply the pressure.

MacMaster called for a Special Meeting of the Board of Aldermen to support a resolution demanding the city to bring in an expert to inspect the homes that were flooded with sewage filth and feces June 20. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 1, at 7:45 p.m.

Calling a Special Meeting is rare, but MacMaster said timing is of the essence. If the resolution passes, Infurna and her administration would have to either change course or stand firm in opposition to the city's legislative body.

"Although I realize that this is a non-binding measure, it is the only legislative recourse that I have to compel the mayor to do right by the Brazil Street victims, all of whom have reasonable concerns for their health and safety in light of the cursory home inspection that was done by the health inspector," MacMaster told Patch.

The mayor's office told Patch Tuesday afternoon it will release a statement for the board Wednesday. While the city has admitted there were "glitches in our system" in the aftermath of the sewage backup, Infurna's office has twice denied MacMaster's request to bring in a specialist. Health Director Ruth Clay said that was because the Department of Public Health told her there are no state standards for such testing.

The resolution needs six votes for passage, meaning MacMaster would need to find support from at least two colleagues who have not yet spoken out strongly on the Brazil Street matter. Ward 7 Alderman Scott Forbes and at-large Aldermen Monica Medeiros and Mike Zwirko joined MacMaster in calling for the Special Meeting, and they have supported at least some of his efforts thus far, so presumably he could count of their votes. Medeiros and Zwirko are also running for mayor.

If MacMaster has their support, he would still need two out of the remaining seven aldermen.

Meanwhile, just one alderman could put a wrench in the works. It only takes one objection to MacMaster's calling of immediate consideration to push the resolution to Aug. 19's board meeting, and from there it could go to the Appropriations Committee. It wouldn't kill the resolution, but it would miss the point of urgency MacMaster is looking for.

Public sentiment has been behind the Brazil Street victims and an objection could meet criticism. However, only two of the remaining seven aldermen are running for re-election in the fall with a third — at-large Alderman Manisha Bewtra — running for mayor, so there may not be as much pressure to align with public sentiment for others nearing the end of their terms.

For weeks, MacMaster has been calling for a specialist to measure air toxicity and bacteria levels in the affected homes. Clay already cleared one of the homes as "habitable" — though the residents disagreed with that assessment — and revised her initial go-ahead of another home after being informed there was sewage still in the heating and cooling unit beneath the living room. Two of the homes remain unsuitable for living.

The residents of both homes that had been cleared were dissatisfied with Clay's inspection, which they said took less than 60 seconds in both cases and consisted of peeking into a couple of rooms.

The city defended Clay's inspections, saying the homes met the state's standards of habitation.

Read the full resolution below:

WHEREAS, a major sewer backup occurred on Brazil Street in the City of Melrose on the morning of June 20, 2019, resulting in vast amounts of raw sewage infiltrating the homes at 9 Brazil Street, 12 Brazil Street, 13 Brazil Street, and 18 Brazil Street, and causing eleven residents to be displaced from their homes; and

WHEREAS, a professional cleanup and restoration firm deemed the sewer backup Level 3 Contamination, otherwise referred to as “Black Water,” which is highly contaminated and often contains a variety of microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, and intestinal parasites; and

WHEREAS, the extent and severity of the sewer backup caused raw sewage to remain in the homes for more than forty-eight hours before surface-level cleaning and sanitation could be completed; and

WHEREAS, raw sewage still remains in an HVAC line at 12 Brazil Street, and contaminated floors and walls have yet to be removed at 13 Brazil Street; and

WHEREAS, raw sewage becomes toxic and friable within forty-eight hours of discharge; and

WHEREAS, exposure to toxins, bacteria and pathogens can cause serious health problems; and

WHEREAS, sensitive populations such as senior citizens and children are at a heightened risk for adverse health effects, including respiratory problems, from exposure to toxins, bacteria and pathogens; and

WHEREAS, a senior citizen resides at one of the affected homes, and four young children between the ages of 5-7 reside at two of the other affected homes; and

WHEREAS, the Melrose health inspector admits to having applied the minimum inspectional standard, overlooking problems that were present and later came to light at two homes that she initially deemed “fit for human occupancy”; and

WHEREAS, the “minimum standard” of inspection is being used by the City of Melrose to determine habitability of the affected homes, despite the fact that residents have expressed concerns about becoming ill over time due to the uncertain environmental condition of their homes; and

WHEREAS, the health inspector’s determination has resulted in hotel accommodations being discontinued for the residents of two of the four homes who had been placed in emergency housing; and

BE IT RESOLVED, we the members of the Board of Aldermen, do hereby urge the administration to retain an independent environmental specialist to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the four homes and that, until such inspection occurs and until such homes have been certified by an independent authority as being safe for human habitation, that the residents whose hotel accommodations were discontinued be relodged at the expense of the City of Melrose.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that on this First day of August in the year Two Thousand and Nineteen, a copy of this resolution be spread upon the records of the Board of Aldermen.