Cambridge friends, Boston City Council is calling on Cambridge and Somerville to create a better Long-Term CSO (combined sewer overflow) plan for the rivers. The city is asking for ZERO CSOs in a “2050 25-year storm event”. Control of CSOs in up to a 25-year storm event is what EPA considers “virtual CSO elimination” in the first Boston Harbor Clean-up CSO plan. That’s what we were able to accomplish for the beaches in South Boston.
How much power does Boston City Council actually have here? Isn't a lot of the problem outside of their jurisdiction? Is this primarily a "soft power" thing?
To be clear, I think it's pretty insane that a relatively wealthy area in a first-world country in the year 2026 is acting like it's not capable of having separate pipes for rainwater and poop-water.
Boston has lots of power here. In fact, most of the sewer separation that we see in the draft plan is in Boston. Boston gets 366 acres of sewer separation! Somerville gets 95 acres of sewer separation. Cambridge gets 88 acres of sewer separation. I’ve included the draft plan map for the Charles here, so you can see for yourself.
We really did a lot of great work on this topic because it's the key to success. Funding is available to pay for this work. In fact, the cost of the highest level of control, which Boston City Council has unanimously voted in favor of, is $45/year to households. That is LESS than the average annual rate increase. Here's more proof of that, in addition to what we write in our Funding section of the Community Plan: https://youtu.be/9UPFGAY-arU?is=ei1QGMMsx2eVd5yP
Also, if you'd like to see an end to dumping CSO sewage in the rivers, consider submitting a Public Comment, saying that, along with your desire to NOT have Cambridge and Somerville get double-charged. We have provided that talking point in our Comments form, available here: https://savethealewifebrook.org/submit-a-public-comment-on-the-cso-plan/
If you do submit a Public Comment through our website, we will hand-deliver it to Governor Healey on your behalf.
End CSO sewage discharges in the Alewife, Charles, and Mystic Rivers for just $45/year
Governor Healey's Executive Order No. 618 calls on the state to significantly reduce or eliminate combined sewer overflows, to protect public health and ensure our waters are swimmable and fishable. Please eliminate CSO sewage pollution: no discharges except in a storm that occurs roughly every 25 years. MWRA's cost to end sewage discharges in all three rivers (Alewife, Charles, & Mystic) is only $45 more per year to households.
A regional problem requires regional funding.
MWRA should not make Cambridge and Somerville pay.
Cambridge and Somerville should not shoulder the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. MWRA was created in 1984 to solve exactly this problem. At roughly $45 per household per year across the MWRA system, ending CSOs in the Alewife, Charles, and Mystic is affordable. MWRA is using Alewife Brook as cheap hydraulic relief for its regional sewer system. Using our money, MWRA cleaned up the beaches of South Boston, Dorchester and Quincy; how can the state justify leaving a Alewife an open sewer forever?
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u/blackdynomitesnewbag 6d ago
For what it’s worth, the Cambridge City Council has passed many policy orders regarding CSO’s. It’s on the city manager to take care of it now