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Tell the MWRA: No more sewage in our rivers
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We have a chance to end the dumping of sewage in Boston’s rivers. But we must act now. Cambridge and Somerville have vital roles to play.
“Wait, what? We’re still dumping sewage into the rivers? I thought that ended decades ago, with the cleanup of Boston Harbor!”
It’s true the billions of dollars invested into cleaning up Boston Harbor since Congress passed the landmark Clean Water Act of 1972 have helped. Boston’s rivers — the Charles, the Mystic and the Neponset — are cleaner than they were.
But the work is not done.
Raw sewage still dumps directly into the “lower basin” of the Charles River, in Cambridge and Boston, during every heavy rainstorm. It also regularly overflows into Alewife Brook, a major tributary of the Mystic River near the Alewife MBTA station, where sewage-laden water has spilled over the banks into a popular walking path. Partially treated sewage routinely overflows into the Mystic River near Assembly Row. In the last two years alone, hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage polluted these valuable waterways, right in your backyard. Every discharge threatens fish and wildlife as well as public health, rendering the rivers unsafe for human contact and recreation.
Why is sewage dumping in Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, and Boston an issue for Cambridge? Because the underground sewer network is all connected, which means that during large rainstorms, groundwater and stormwater leaking into Cambridge pipes contribute to added flow in the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) regional collection system, and thus to conditions that cause “combined sewer overflow” (CSO) discharge events in these cities. And because the MWRA is a regional water authority, all MWRA ratepayers have a role to play in supporting infrastructure upgrades to end these sewage discharges.
The pollution doesn’t stop at city boundaries. Overflows upstream affect everyone who visits or uses the rivers that run through the very heart of Greater Boston. As climate change drives more frequent and intense storms across New England, these overflow events will become worse unless we act now.
We face a once-in-a-generation decision point. The MWRA and partner cities have drafted an updated Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) for CSOs. Unfortunately, the draft plan makes recommendations that fall drastically short of what is needed to protect human health and safety as well as outdoor recreation. Rather than following the lead of cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul and committing to modern solutions to eliminate sewage discharges, the proposed plan would be another temporary, incomplete solution that allows raw sewage to be dumped into our rivers for decades to come, and climate change will erase any benefits a few years after construction is complete.
State and federal regulators are reviewing this draft plan right now, and public comments are open through October 30. Regulators need to hear a clear, unified message from local leaders and residents: we will not pay for a plan that continues to treat our rivers as sewers and is out of date the day construction concludes.
The Clean Water act, passed 54 years ago this month, was a bold statutory mandate with a simple promise: to eliminate pollution discharges in our nation’s waters and restore and protect clean, healthy, “fishable and swimmable” rivers across America. That mandate is incomplete. Now is the time to finish the job. You can help.
We urge all residents of Cambridge and Somerville to make your voice heard before the October 30 deadline. Visit cutthecrapcharles.org or mysticriver.org/csos to submit your official public comment urging regulators to reject the current draft LTCP and mandate a stronger, sewage-free plan for the future of our rivers.
Our community, our environment, and future generations deserve nothing less.
Norton is executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association. Herron is executive director of the Mystic River Watershed Association.
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