By Leia Green
Boston University News Service
The Select Board voted to urge the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to reject a draft sewage control plan that would sanction the continued dumping of raw sewage into the Alewife Brook through combined sewer overflows.
“The plan does not achieve a level of control of CSOs in the future that we can be assured will reduce the volumes and exposures to people who both live or recreate in the area,” Patrick Herron, executive director of the Mystic River Watershed Association, said at the Nov. 10 meeting.
The draft plan, unveiled in memo form by the MWRA Oct. 29, recommends “one balanced option” to control CSOs, into the Alewife Brook. When heavy rainfall inundates sewage systems, CSOs lining the brook capture and release raw sewage into the waterway, which, at times, seeps into the backyards and basements of Arlington residents.
A proposal to declassify the water quality of the Alewife Brook, which would allow sewage to continue being discharged into the waterway, is also included in the draft, which will be considered by the MWRA Board of Directors on Nov. 19.
The Select Board, at the request of Herron’s organization, agreed to send a letter to the MWRA Board and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper signaling the town’s disapproval, preferring a plan striving for greater control of CSOs.
“They’re really not valid plans,” said Select Board chair Diane Mahon.
Hybrid 2 — the MWRA’s recommended option for Alewife Brook — would involve the construction of two underground storage tanks, a micro tunnel connection, and eight acres of sewer separation. The project, projected to take 13 to 18 years, would cost around $340 million, according to the MWRA.
“It’s inadequate,” Rep. Dave Rogers, D-Cambridge, whose district includes part of Arlington and all of Belmont, said of the plan. “What people really want to see is a plan to eliminate [CSOs] completely.”
Kristin Anderson, founding member of Save the Alewife Brook, said the proposal “does not come close” to eradicating CSOs into Boston-area rivers. “Instead, it proposes dumping considerably more sewage into our water bodies on an annual basis,” she said during Monday’s meeting.
The Mystic River Watershed Association plans to file a motion to intervene in opposition to the proposal that is part of a lawsuit that kick-started intensive efforts to clean up the Boston Harbor.
The 1985 case, U.S. v. Metropolitan District Commission, sparked the creation of a long-term control plan to disinfect the area’s waterways, leading to over $5 billion being funneled into sewage treatment and clean-up projects throughout Greater Boston.
“That case was supposed to be done by now,” said Herron. “Unfortunately, at the end of all of that work, a number of those outfalls continue to discharge at rates higher than was allowed in that plan.”
Despite sewage control goals for the Alewife Brook not being met, he said the MWRA is seeking to close out the case.
“What we have at Alewife Brook is a public health crisis,” said Anderson. “MWRA must complete the job it started 40 years ago.”
The Select Board will consider providing their written support for the legal motion once it’s filed, which will likely happen before Dec. 8.
This article originally appeared in Your Arlington.
