The US EPA’s new calculator will help property owners, developers, landscapers, and urban planners make informed land-use decisions to protect local waterways from pollution caused by stormwater runoff. Preventing stormwater runoff, which can impact drinking water resources and local ecosystems, protects people’s health and the environment.
Read the full press release here.
More information about the National Stormwater Calculator: http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/wq/models/swc/
In response to the May 31st oil spill in Arlington, MA, Clean Harbors has released Oil Spill Immediate Response Action Plan Report.
IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ACTION PLAN
No. 2 Fuel Oil Release
188 Medford Street (at Mystic Valley Parkway)
Arlington, Massachusetts
DEP Release Tracking Number: 3-31576
CHES Job No.: EO5401971
Download the report here (282 pages).
Give us your best shot! The Mystic River Watershed Association is seeking photographs that illustrate the beauty and challenges of the Mystic River Watershed. Contest categories include Wildlife, Landscape, Recreation and Best Overall. The photo contest is open to all photographers of any age. Submissions are due by September 6, 2013.
Head to Blue State Coffee in Boston to vote for MyRWA now through December as part of their donation program. Blue State Coffee donates 2% of sales to local non-profits and MyRWA is one of four beneficiaries. Get a token when you purchase a drink or food, and vote for one of the four causes.
Vote here: 957 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Suffolk Professor and MyRWA member Rick Beinecke will publish a new book, The Mystic River: A Natural & Human History this fall. The book is approximately 280 pages long, and includes detailed historical and recreational information for the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Cambridge, Medford, Malden, Somerville, Everett, Charlestown & Chelsea. MyRWA is happy to support Ricks' efforts in bringing attention to the Mystic!
Email rickhbeinecke@comcast.net for information on the book’s publication and visit: www.mysticriverrick.com.
Do you fish or know someone that fishes in Boston Harbor or the Mystic River?
Have you ever fished on either side of the Amelia Earhart Dam?
Would you be willing to participate in a short survey about your experience?
MyRWA is a partner on a project to learn more about what species of fish are caught and consumed in the saltwater section of the Mystic River and Boston Harbor. The outcome of the project will be an improved fish advisory for the Lower Mystic area.
Partners on the project include Conservation Law Foundation, Chelsea Collaborative, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, and University of Massachusetts-Boston.
To participate in the survey or if you can offer any assistance, please contact Patrick Herron by email at patrick@mysticriver.org or by telephone at (781)-316-3438.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow
cordially invite you to an address by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
Tuesday - July 30, 2013 at 11 a.m.
Harvard Law School
2036 Milstein East
Wasserstein Hall
(Large white marble building with arches at each of the main entrances on Mass Ave)
1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Please RSVP to
abrams.dan@epa.gov
617-918-1067
Please share this invitation with your colleagues; prompt responses are encouraged as seating capacity is limited.
Driving Directions to Harvard Law School
Harvard T-Stop on the Red line Subway Directions
We encourage public transportation. If that is not possible there is General Visitor Parking.
Limited visitor parking is available in the 10 Everett Street garage, located beneath Wasserstein Hall. Purchase a daily visitor parking pass here. (You will be prompted to register – under Department, please choose “Harvard Law School” from the drop-down menu; please call the Harvard Parking Office to obtain the Department Code.)
Contact the Harvard Parking Office at 617-495-3772 or email parking@harvard.edu if you have other questions.
This event is co-hosted by Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Program (ELP). At the ELP, students have the opportunity to explore cutting-edge environmental issues in the classroom, engage with experts and policymakers at special events and programs, and practice environmental law on behalf of clients in clinical classes – a comprehensive approach to environmental problem-solving.
The Mystic River Watershed Association and the MA Division of Marine Fisheries have been counting American eels at the Upper Mystic Lake dam in Medford since April 1st. The eels wiggle up the eel-way next to the fish ladder and remain in a box until MyRWA removes them to count them. The eels are then released into the Upper Mystic Lake. The eels are born in the Sargasso Sea, and are typically just two to four inches long by the time they reach the Mystic Lakes. In 2013, 13,019 eels were recorded at the Upper Mystic Lake dam, whereas in 2012 2,784 eels were counted.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick awarded the Town of Arlington a competitive $39,580 grant to improve water quality in Alewife and Mill Brooks. Through the 604B grant, the Town of Arlington, Mystic River Watershed Association and Town of Belmont will evaluate existing conditions and identify opportunities for installation of green infrastructure to treat polluted stormwater. The team will evaluate the Mill Brook and Alewife Brook sub-watersheds using water quality data and Geographic Information System (GIS) and then identify sites that would be amenable to installation of green infrastructure.
On Tuesday, August 27th, Whole Foods Market in Medford will donate 5% of the day's sales to the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA). The funds will support the Mystic River Watershed Association’s water quality monitoring programs, land and water use advocacy, as well as outreach and education in the Mystic River Watershed. Stop by the MyRWA table at Whole Foods to learn more about our work and the condition of the Mystic River.
The first 10 customers to spend $100 or more and who show their receipt at the Mystic River Watershed Association table will receive a FREE Mystic River Watershed Association T-Shirt!
On 8/27/13 from 8am to 9pm support the Mystic River Watershed Association at:
Whole Foods Market, 2151 Mystic Valley Parkway, Medford, MA 02155
TOGETHER FOR THE MYSTIC RIVER Photo: Mystic River after fresh snow Credit: Brett Hausler
COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW Photo: Alewife Stormwater Wetland, Credit: Stantec