MyRWA and other advocates ask you to demand clean rivers, free of sewage
Alewife Brook—which flows into the Mystic River through Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville—has the highest volume of raw, untreated sewage dumped in a water body in Boston during frequent combined sewer overflow (CSO) events, often tens of millions of gallons a year.
For the past two years, Somerville, Cambridge, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) have been designing and evaluating options that will determine how much sewage is dumped into Alewife Brook, the Mystic River, and the Charles River for the next 50 years.
This week, the MWRA and the cities revealed the proposals that would radically fall short of what the public health and the Clean Water Act demand. The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), and the organization Save the Alewife Brook (StAB) all oppose the proposed plan, which was selected from over thirty possible solutions presented at an online public meeting on September 25th. This plan would set in stone the ongoing dumping of sewage into the Mystic River, Alewife Brook, and Charles River during rainstorms for a generation or more.
Critically, the proposals may jeopardize the Mystic, Charles, and Alewife’s statuses as “Class B” water bodies as defined by the state. Class B water bodies support fish, plant, and wildlife habitat and are safe for many types of uses by people. By definition, they cannot be subject to sewage discharges, which is why the cities and the MWRA are obligated to eliminate CSOs. A reduction in the designation from “Class B” to “Class B (CSO)” would remove that obligation.
“We now stand at a very dangerous inflection point. And our Commonwealth seems to be ready to devalue our rivers even more—ensuring that future generations cannot enjoy them and that their public health is threatened,” says Patrick Herron, Executive Director for the Mystic River Watershed Association. “Dumping of raw sewage into the Mystic River and the Alewife Brook is unacceptable. We must do more to reduce CSOs and give the public and elected leaders a chance to see a plan that lives up to the work that we’ve done in Boston Harbor.”
MyRWA represents 21 cities and towns and the thousands of residents who live, work, and recreate on and around the Mystic River and its tributaries. We demand that our cities and MWRA provide the highest level of CSO control and be transparent in their decision-making.
Decisions about the future of Boston’s sewer and stormwater infrastructure should not be rushed and should be made in consultation with residents, not solely tasked to engineering teams. We ask for answers to the many questions that have remained unanswered throughout the planning process, among them: What was the decision procedure for choosing a level of control for each water body? How were higher levels of control for the Alewife and Mystic ruled out? Who decides what costs are unacceptable?
Boston’s rivers deserve infrastructure fully capable of making Boston a sustainable 21st-century city. The communities on those rivers deserve outdoor spaces and ecosystems free of raw sewage and full of nature, which bring benefits rather than hazards. MyRWA presented our stance on the proposed plans and our lingering questions to the MWRA Advisory Board earlier this week and will continue advocating against these plans should they move forward.
Tell our leaders that you demand a clean Alewife Brook and a Mystic River that is healthy now and in the future!
Somerville & Cambridge Residents:
Call your Mayor/Town Manager and City Councilors at Large
Anyone in Massachusetts who cares about clean water:
Contact the MWRA at: ask.mwra@mwra.com, jeremy.hall@mwra.com, and kristin.macdougall@mwra.com
Contact Secretary Rebecca Tepper, who oversees the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and chairs the MWRA Board at env.internet@mass.gov or (617) 626-1000
Contact Governor Healey using this form.
Contact your local representatives and senators. Unsure of who they are? Use this form.
