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Alewife Sewage Pollution Control Public Meeting #2
Thursday, December 15th at 6 pm Zoom Register Here
1. EXPRESS Gratitude for Addressing Climate Change
We thank Cambridge, Somerville, and MWRA for agreeing to include Climate Change Projections in the updated sewage pollution control plan. If applied properly, this is a huge win for the Alewife Brook!
2. CALL FOR IMMEDIATE ACTIONS
Because the great cities of Cambridge and Somerville, and the MWRA are asking for an additional 36 months for their planning work, we are calling for:
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS
- An updated Alewife Master Plan, from Alewife T to Mystic River.
- An hydrological, dredging, and dechannelization study to be completed in 2023. *
- Department of Conservation and Recreation Maintenance work, including brook trash and fence removal.
- Simple odor control.
3. CALL FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN NEW SEWAGE POLLUTION CONTROL PLAN
To date, we have collected 1000 petition signatures from good folks in Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, and Medford. The public demands the following improvements to the Alewife Brook sewage pollution problem:
INCLUDE IN ALEWIFE SEWAGE POLLUTION CONTROL PLAN
- An end to untreated sewage pollution.
- Separated sewer systems to keep sewage out of stormwater.
- Green infrastructure on State Land to clean and detain stormwater.
- Grey infrastructure to eliminate untreated CSOs. **
- Necessary MWRA system-wide sewer upgrades.
- Flood mitigation and control measures.
- More extensive odor control.
* A hydrological, dredging, and dechannelization study will help determine important next steps. Sediment removal through dredging could improve Alewife Brook water quality and reduce flooding. Such a study will also lay the groundwork for applications of Federal and State funds to help restore the Brook.
In their 05/11/2022 letter to MWRA, EPA stated, “The channelized nature of Alewife Brook, as well as the amount of sediment in the Alewife constructed channel that takes up flood storage capacity (this sediment volume was estimated by USGS in 2005 to take up approximately 0.5 million cubic feet), exacerbates the flooding issue. MWRA has the technical staff and state public authority status to take a leadership role in convening additional agencies such as the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (owner of the Alewife Brook and Mystic River Reservations) to start to identify potential projects.”
** Grey infrastructure might include a CSO treatment plant at the Alewife T, underground CSO detention tanks, and improved and accurate CSO volume and flow metering.
Alewife Sewage Pollution Control
Public Meeting #2
Thursday, December 15th at 6 pm
ZOOM REGISTER HERE
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