Sticker shock has forced politicians from towns along the Merrimack River to shut down a plan with a $370,000-plus price tag to clear the water and riverbanks of discarded hypodermic needles, infuriating local environmentalists.

“They walked away from the table and didn’t want to do anything,” said Rocky Morrison of Methuen-based environmental nonprofit Clean River Project. “They didn’t want to put one dollar into this river. It’s awful. It’s sickening.”

As previously reported in the Herald, 15 towns that border the river invited bids from outside contractors to clean up the thousands of sharps that litter the river’s water and beaches. The Clean River Project was one of just two responders, but local community leaders say the organization’s proposal was a poor fit.

“For the price and for what we had, as a business plan, it just didn’t make sense,” Methuen Mayor James Jajuga said. “That’s why we rejected it.”

Karen Sawyer Conard, executive director of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, said Morrison made the only serious proposal. His plan to clean up the sharps would saddle the towns with an annual bill of $376,500.

“The communities struggled with spending all of this money. Doing what he’s proposed would not necessarily solve the problem long term,” Sawyer Conard said.

Morrison’s plan involved setting up large booms along the river to catch needles and other debris. In 2017, volunteers collected more than 1,700 discarded sharps along the water. The organization is also raising funds to purchase a boat skimmer that could safely collect debris from the water.

But in the end, Newburyport Mayor Donna Holaday was the sole supporter of Morrison’s proposal, according to Sawyer Conard.

On March 5, city staff warned Newburyport residents that heavy flooding from nor’easters washed many hypodermic needles up along the shores of the Merrimack, particularly in Joppa Park and Cashman Park.

Morrison said he plans to rally residents from across the Merrimack Valley and petition state legislators to tackle the problem, calling local politicians’ dismissal of the initiative “disgraceful.”

Rusty Russell, executive director of the Merrimack River Watershed Council, agreed that the river and surrounding areas are “riddled with needles” and need a cleanup solution.

“You really need a professional crew to do that, with professional gear,” he said.

Sawyer Conard said Morrison is mischaracterizing the towns’ response to the issue and said they will explore alternative ways of cleaning up the river.

“We’ve been discussing it now, as a result of the failure of this proposal,” Jajuga said.

“It concerns me. I worry about children. This is not just a Methuen issue, this is a statewide issue, particularly with the opioid crisis as prevalent as it is,” he said. “There’s more that needs to be done.”