Winthrop Approves $980,000 Lead Pipe Loan, Hears Airport Air Quality Warning

WINTHROP — December 16, 2025 — Winthrop Town Council approves $980,000 loan to remove lead water lines and hears first-ever airport particulate data. The council voted unanimously to borrow $980,000 under a 10-year, zero-interest DEP loan for the town's seventh consecutive lead service line removal project, with DPW Director Steve Calla reporting fewer than 500 lines remain in the ground. Aaron Toffler, executive director of the Massport Community Advisory Committee, told the council that ultrafine particulate readings on Baysview Avenue in Point Shirley regularly reach 60,000 to 100,000 units per cubic centimeter — three to five times the World Health Organization's recommended threshold — and said the MCAC's $500,000 annual Massport-funded budget covers just three monitors across Winthrop and East Boston. Outgoing Councilor Jim Aiello pressed the MCAC to advocate for redirecting Massport's estimated $5 million in planned carbon offsets into local investments like heat pumps and solar panels, saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if Massport turned around their policy and said that $5 million should be spent in Winthrop and East Boston." Residents also questioned whether an organization fully funded by Massport can effectively challenge it, with one calling for the town to use its existing payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement as direct leverage instead.