MassDEP tells MWRA: BACK OFF!

Amazing news. This week MassDEP told Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to halt its plans. Those plans would increase the amount of sewage at Alewife Brook, the Charles River, and the Mystic River. MassDEP said MWRA’s plans are not “consistent with the federal Clean Water Act or the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards.” Thank you, MassDEP.  

MWRA Must Finish the Job

Projects from the first Alewife Brook Sewage Control Plan were finished in 2015.  The result was that 7 CSO outfalls were eliminated and Cambridge separated 283 acres of combined sewers. A beautiful 3.4-acre stormwater wetland was created to receive stormwater from separated sewer pipes.  Half the work is now done.

But there is more work to do. Sewage continues to flood into public parkland, bike paths, roads, yards, and homes. The second half of the work must be done.

MWRA must fund the completion of the work. It must require that Cambridge and Somerville work to end Alewife Brook sewage pollution. The good work of the first Long Term Sewage Control Plan must not be abandoned. The cities and MWRA must follow the goals and methods of that plan and finish the job! 

A Sensible Plan for “Virtual” Sewage Pollution Elimination

Here is Save the Alewife Brook’s sensible and affordable approach to the problem, achieving “Virtual” Sewage Pollution Elimination. Our plan follows the goals and methods of the first Long Term Sewage Control Plan. It ends sewage pollution in the brook, making it comparable to MWRA’s most expensive plan: a $1.25 billion 32-foot-wide tunnel, big enough to drive a truck through, meant to be constructed under Alewife Brook. Our plan is estimated to cost around $400 million. This includes dredging. It is a fraction of the cost of MWRA’s plan.

With a million households in the MWRA’s system, and 35% of the flows from non-residential customers, the estimated cost to fund this plan using MWRA bonds is $4.24 per quarterly household sewer bill.

$4.24 – that’s the cost of a cup of coffee and a donut.