By Times staff
Although the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) ultimately didn’t vote on the recently proposed Combined Sewer Overflows plan at its Nov. 19 board meeting, transparency is still being urged in the decision-making process going forward to allow the public to participate in the process.
A few weeks ago, the MWRA and the cities of Cambridge and Somerville unveiled sewage control proposals that raised serious concerns regarding what public health and the Clean Water Act demand for the rivers. (CSOs are intentional outflows of sewage and rainwater discharged into rivers and streams during very wet weather, but during events called Combined Sewer Overflows, the amount of water coming through the system is more than the pipes can handle, especially during heavy rainfall, sending both the stormwater and the sewage into rivers and streams.) The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), and the organization Save the Alewife Brook (StAB) all opposed the proposed plan, which was selected from more than 30 possible solutions presented at a online public meeting held on Sept. 25. The removal of the plan from the agenda for the MWRA’s Nov. 19 board meeting apparently came in response to the concerns raised.
Despite this seeming coup, MyRWA is still encouraging the public to contact
Secretary Rebecca Tepper of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the MWRA board “demanding the highest level of CSO controls for the Mystic and Alewife and a transparent public process for deciding the plan that best meets the needs of our communities.”
Visit https://mysticriver.org/csos?blm_aid=1259544 for more information.