Alewife Sewage Pollution Planning Meeting #5
Thursday, September 25th at 6 PM via Zoom
Please. We are four years into planning. Please come to the meeting Thursday night at 6 pm to show your support.
Ending Sewage Pollution at Alewife Brook means
MWRA MUST PAY ITS FAIR SHARE!
Although the Boston Harbor Cleanup Court Case is now closed, the Court is still supervising the remedy. That remedy is the Long Term Sewage Control Plan. This is because Massachusetts Water Resources Authority has not fulfilled its obligation to the Court. At Alewife Brook, Somerville’s Davis Square / Tannery Brook sewage outfall is dumping an illegal volume of raw sewage. The amount of sewage dumped there violates the Boston Harbor Court Case. Additionally, Federal Clean Water Act law is being broken. Cambridge’s Alewife MBTA sewage outfall is also dumping an illegal volume of raw sewage. It also violates the requirements of the Boston Harbor Court Case.
The Legislature created the MWRA to upgrade the region’s deteriorating sewer system and to address non-compliance with federal environmental standards. Yet MWRA continues to use Alewife Brook as an open sewer.
We live in the Commonwealth, which means that Massachusetts values public welfare. The State should not shift the burden of the cost of its sewer infrastructure onto its most vulnerable Environmental Justice neighborhoods by dumping hazardous raw sewage into densely populated and flood-prone neighborhoods, public parkland, public roads & bike paths, and residents’ homes & yards.
MWRA can afford to pay.
MWRA has the financial ability to pay for projects to end sewage pollution at Alewife Brook. And in the Charles River, too. There is a funding mechanism in place for sewer infrastructure, through the rate payers. There are over a million households that use the MWRA’s sewer service. And 35% of the sewage flows are non-residential – think: businesses.
How does the math work?
The wholesale cost per-household to fund $100,000,000 is $4.05 annually. $4.05! That’s the cost of a cup of coffee and a donut.
A 40-year tax-free bond that MWRA uses to fund projects would have a 5.5% interest rate. To fund a $100 million sewer bond with 65% allocated to residential flows, the wholesale cost per household would be around $4.05 annually.
Math: Residential share of the bond = $100,000,000 x .65 = $65,000,000. The annual payment for a 40-year bond at 5.5% interest = $4,050,822.32 per year. The per-household annual cost = $4,050,822.32 / 1,000,00 = $4.05
Note: Cost increases will vary from community to community.
Thursday, September 25th at 6 PM via Zoom
Ending Sewage Pollution at Alewife Brook means