Great news! At the urging of Chair Councillor Patty Nolan, the Health & Environment Committee of the Cambridge City Council voted unanimously to push forward Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) legislation. The new legislation will soon go to City Council for a final vote!
Thank you to the Health & Environment Committee’s Chair Patty Nolan, Councillors Wilson, Siddiqui, Azeem, and Sobrinho-Wheeler for pushing forward legislation to end sewage pollution. Thank you also to Vice Mayor McGovern and Councillor Zuzy for their participation and support.
Thank you to Emily Norton and Julie Wood from Charles River Watershed Association. Thank you to Patrick Herron from Mystic River Watershed Association.
Thank you especially to Cambridge’s excellent City Engineer Jim Wilcox, who shares his 15 years of deep knowledge of combined sewer projects in the city.
Here’s what the legislation will do, if passed by the City Council:
It asks the City Manager to…
- Work with the newly formed Coalition to End Sewage Pollution.
- Create a Combined Sewer Overflow Commission.
- Provide a cost-benefit analysis of a 25-year level of CSO control.
- Improve stormwater regulations.
- Include green stormwater infrastructure.
- Improve public outreach regarding sewer infrastructure planning.
Why is this important?
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority has not taken seriously feedback from watershed advocates. Despite enormous public outcry, the MWRA refuses to include feedback from the public in their sewage pollution plans. The amount of sewage that is dumped into Alewife Brook is illegal and MWRA knows it. But MWRA wants to continue using Alewife Brook as an open sewer, despite having the financial ability to fix the problem.
The collaborative planning process between Cambridge, Somerville, and MWRA is ongoing. This local legislation is separate from that effort. It creates another avenue for Cambridge to create it’s own a path towards community health by ending sewage pollution.
What’s next?
1. MWRA, Cambridge, & Somerville will host their big public Sewage Pollution Planning Meeting on 9/25. This is the last public meeting that they will hold before submitting their sewage pollution plans to EPA and MassDEP.
Please register for the big public Sewage Pollution Meeting now.
September 25, 2025 | 6 pm | on Zoom: Register here
2. We expect Cambridge City Council to deliberate on the newly proposed legislation. The vote from the Health & Environment Committee will happen as early as September 29th.
The Presentations.
You can watch the video of the Committee’s hearing here on Combined Sewer Overflows from September 9th, 2025.
The Committee listened to a presentation from City Engineer Jim Wilcox. Emily Norton and Julie Wood from the Charles River Watershed Association had an awesome presentation. Patrick Herron from Mystic River Watershed Association was amazing! Lastly, Kristin Anderson & Eppa Rixey from Save the Alewife Brook presented.
City Engineer Jim Wilcox said, “The crown jewel of the CAM 004 [CSO sewer separation project from twenty years ago] was the construction of the Alewife Wetland. This wetland was constructed in the Alewife Reservation as part of sewer separation work. We need to demonstrate that we’re not increasing flooding… the Alewife Wetland serves two purposes. One is it provides what’s called stormwater detention, which is control of flows [meaning reduction of flooding]… It also provides treatment of stormwater through the plants and soils. This is a four acre installation,… a $12 million component of the CAM 004 [Huron and Concord Ave area ] sewer separation project.”
The 3.4 acre Alewife Stormwater Wetland reduces flooding and improves storm water quality. Note: there are many more acres of state land available near Alewife Brook for more constructed Stormwater Wetlands. Photo credit: MWRA
Emily Norton, Executive Director of Charles River Watershed Association stated, “It is not legal to dump sewage in our rivers.”
Patrick Herron, Executive Director of the Mystic River Watershed Association said, “Imagine if you have just used the toilet and you live in a combined sewer area in Cambridge, you flush the toilet and whatever happened in that toilet arrives at Alewife Brook in the condition that it left. It’s not treated…. There are real consequences to this… We would support one of two outcomes: complete sewer separation OR a 25-year level of control.”
Eppa Rixey, Steering Committee Member from Save the Alewife Brook said, “We don’t see Cambridge committing to sewer separation in the Long Term Sewage Control Planning process.” Cambridge needs to include sewer separation in the Long Term Sewage Control Plan.
The Roundtable Discussion
Chair of Health & Environment Committee Councillor Patty Nolan said,
“It’s a public health threat, in addition to a calamity and an economic disaster when that flooding occurs… It’s an existential threat that affects our lives across so many different domains. We need to keep that in mind as we think about ways to do this… How can we not address this when this is something critical to our future and livability as a city? We’re Cambridge. We can solve this. And if we can’t, then who can? We look forward to hopefully having the Coalition work together with both the Council and the City Staff as we move forward, understanding this will supplement the work that’s being done.”
Slowness of the Project Progress
With the Long Term Sewage Planning process now in its fourth year, Councillors at the meeting expressed concerns. They believe the City needs to move faster to end sewage pollution.
Cost Concerns were raised
Vice Mayor McGovern said, “What are we doing at the State level to push our State Representatives and State Senators to figure out what they can do, to figure out how to get more money?”
Councillor Cathie Zusy asked, “Will we [Cambridge] be paying the $30 million [for the CSO tank at Bellis Circle / Sherman Street] or will MWRA be paying for it?”
Cambridge’s City Engineer Jim Wilcox replied, “that is part of the cost-sharing discussion with MWRA.”
Charles River Watershed Association’s Executive Director Emily Norton said, “I respect that MWRA tries to keep rates low. But how much do we value clean water? How much do we value not having toilet paper and tampon applicators going into our basements? How much do we value being able to swim in the Charles River? Our Cut the Crap campaign is also directed at MWRA. People want to see this. Let’s have a conversation about how we pay for it. There are creative ways to raise funds.”
Councillor Patty Nolan said, “Cambridge has been spending $30 to $50 million each year on sewer infrastructure and stormwater control.”
Neighborhood construction concerns came up.
Councillor Azeem said, “The neighbors feel that [sewage pollution] is a negative impact already. So maybe the neighborhood would be willing to put up with disruption in the short run, if it meant that [sewage pollution] would become less of a problem in the future.”
Cambridge City Engineer Jim Wilcox said, “When we do these sewer separation projects, it’s not just doing the sewer separation work. We also have to look at the condition of the other utilities that are in the street, particularly water utilities, gas utilities. So it’s not just sewer separation work, it’s also other work that needs to be done at the same time.”
Councillor Wilson said, “That health conditions have developed from not handling this sooner is a concern to me… In terms of timeline, where is the level of urgency when working with our capital partners [MWRA & Somerville]?”
Vice Mayor McGovern said, “I know the concerns around doing too much construction and too much upheaval in neighborhoods. And I know construction is never a pleasant thing. But it’s necessary. And I’m glad that we’re a city that is continuing to invest in infrastructure improvements. I, too, want to be on record saying, how can we move more quickly?”
Thank you to all of the members of Save the Alewife Brook who participated by providing written and spoken comments for the Health & Environment Committee meeting:
Suzanne Egean Beverly, Ann Stewart, Gwen Speeth, Heather Hoffman, John Tortelli, Ann McDonald, Rob Moir from The Ocean River Institute, Susan Callanan, Christopher Logan, Eric Grunebaum, Marina Goreau Atlas, Lois Josimovich, Lori Stokes, Melanie Abrams, Reva Stein, katherine dander, MARCIA CIRO, Peggy Lynch, Meredith Olsen, Elizabeth Thomason, Silvia Dominguez, Martha cleveland, Carlee Blamphin, Amy Cohen, Patty Hnatiuk, Naomi Dworkin, Mark Paglierani, SUSAN GOULD, Janine Hart-Hueber, Alida Castillo, Darci Hanna, John Tortelli, Rob Vandenabeele, Trudi Goodman, Carolyn A White, Kathryn Goldenoak, Richard Rabin, Elaine Lyte, Elizabeth Jochnick, Anna Cavallo, Holly Pearson, Ilana Blatt-Eisengart, Sue Gill, Liana Laughlin, Resa Blatman, McNamara Buck, Andrea Landman, Lois Grossman, Marcia Ciro, Ellen Mass, Nate Mendes, Joy Hackel, Eric Mooney, Candace Esslinger, Sahba Salarian, Michelle Gulen, Elizabeth Merrick, Jordan Weinstein, Elaine Campbell, Kristin Anderson, Michael Behizadeh, Meryl Becker