Mismanagement has led to the current Cape Cod water pollution crisis.

A recent federal court decision in Conservation Law Foundation’s and Buzzards Bay Coalition’s lawsuit against EPA addressing nitrogen pollution in Cape Cod bays has major implications for the way local water pollution control projects are funded in the Commonwealth.

The impact of nutrient pollution on the streams and bays of Cape Cod was identified as a looming problem in the 1978 Areawide Wastewater Management Plan written by a predecessor to the Cape Cod Commission. Despite the Plan’s requirement of annual updates, it sat untouched for over thirty years as the looming threat of nutrient pollution became a present crisis. Spurred by a lawsuit filed by CLF and the Buzzards Bay Coalition in 2011, the 1978 Plan is finally being updated by the Cape Cod Commission.

The importance of the current planning process’s successful completion was thrown into stark relief on August 23, when Senior Judge Mark L. Wolf of the United States District Court of Massachusetts ordered that a central claim in CLF’s and BBC’s 2011 Areawide Wastewater Management Plan lawsuit could go forward.

The lawsuit contends that EPA’s annual approvals of loans and grants for local projects from the State Revolving Fund – a pool of federal and state funds dedicated to reducing water pollution—must be consistent with applicable Areawide Wastewater Management Plans. The claim states that it is not possible for EPA to make funding decisions based on the present Plan because its 35-year-old recommendations are no longer relevant to solving current water quality problems.

Judge Wolf’s order held that EPA must determine every year that Massachusetts is only providing water pollution control funding to those projects that are consistent with a current management plan for a particular area. Congress required this annual review in order to assure that water pollution control projects are planned, funded, and implemented based on an up-to-date understanding of local water pollution problems. The Judge’s ruling stemmed from the fact that the Cape Cod plan is so outdated that money is being spent haphazardly, rather than funding projects that will address the current problems.  The rampant and continuing pollution in Cape Cod’s bays is a result of this inconsistency.

Studies have indicated that the total cost of cleaning up the polluted bays will range from $3-6 billion.  In FY2012 alone, the State Revolving Fund provided $164.7 million for clean water projects in communities across the state, according the 2012 Annual Report prepared by the Commonwealth.

To get that money flowing to projects that will be effective in controlling Cape Cod water pollution, it is imperative that Areawide Plan be updated. As the Court opinion states, “If EPA determines that the state is not complying with the SRF provisions …, the agency must cease to provide SRF funding, unless the state rectifies its actions and complies with the statute.”  The real world implications of this order are clear and significant—the future of money for local governments disbursed under the State Revolving Fund program depends on an updated and approved Areawide Plan.

The Cape Cod Commission is currently in the process of gathering stakeholder input for the Plan update. If you’re a Cape resident, check out the meeting schedule, or sign up to participate in the next round of their online public engagement tool. This stakeholder process, scheduled to be complete this December, will form the basis of the Commission’s new draft Plan.

Mayor Menino at the 2nd year launch of Hubway. Photo Credit: City of Boston.

In a major city like Boston, the mayor plays a pivotal role in advancing transportation innovation and improvements. After all, few things show off a city better (or worse) than its transportation systems. To help the public understand where Boston’s mayoral candidates stand on this key campaign issue, CLF is co-sponsoring a free forum on Transportation and Livable Communities on Tuesday, September 17, 2013 from 6pm to 8pm at the Boston Public Library.

During Mayor Thomas Menino’s twenty years in office, the City of Boston has advanced many transportation projects, including the modernization of the Blue Line, the rehabilitation of old and opening of new stations on the Fairmount Line, the launch of the Hubway bike share system, and the completion of the Big Dig. Around the country, Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles, Rahm Emanuel in Chicago, and Michael Bloomberg in New York all have successfully put new transportation ideas, policies and investments at the center of their administrations.

For CLF and everyone who lives and/or works in Boston, it matters that the next mayor of Boston, whoever it is, understands the importance of its transportation systems to the city: the ability to walk and bike safely and easily, the need to assure that public transit is affordable and accessible to all, and the foresight to consider how good transportation planning can help the city reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage through the challenges presented by a changing climate. With the right mayor, Boston can and will continue to lead in this area.

Four Corners/Geneva Avenue Station on Fairmount Line. Photo Credit: Patrick D. Rosso, pdrosso @ flickr

The forum on Transportation and Livable Communities will give each of the candidates an opportunity to address the vital transportation issues impacting Boston’s communities. CLF is co-sponsoring the event with a group of non-profit organizations, planners, and advocates who have been working to make Boston, and other Massachusetts communities, more livable.  As a group, we have provided all of the candidates with extensive information on policies related to transportation and livable communities. Now, on Tuesday, September 17, 2013 from 6pm to 8pm,  you can learn how more about how each candidate will improve Boston’s streets and public transportation. The event is free and  open to the public and the media. Register here to get your free ticket. We hope to see you there.

Despite a long history of industrial pollution, the Lower Mystic continues to be fished by local residents. Although there is a fish advisory upstream, which suggests that fishermen catch and release only, the Lower Mystic doesn’t have its own fish advisory. Rather it falls under the general fish advisory for the Boston Harbor. However, contaminated sediment, combined with significant ongoing water pollution from sewage overflows and stormwater, raises serious doubt whether the Boston Harbor fish advisory, which was based on sampling in Quincy Bay and has not been updated since 1988, is adequate for this area. What this means is that residents can continue to fish in the Lower Mystic, although they lack the necessary information to determine whether or not the fish they catch are safe to eat.

Now, with the help of a grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET), CLF and its partners—Chelsea Collaborative, Mystic River Watershed Association, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), and the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass-Boston)—will be able to work with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to develop and provide clear, useful, and necessary public information that will help people to safely catch and consume fish from the waters in the Lower Mystic.

We suspect that a lack of specific, accurate, and reliable information for the residents of the Lower Mystic has likely resulted both in consumption of fish that is unsafe for human health and an overall underutilization of a valuable river resource. With this grant, we are excited to work closely with MDPH to improve this situation and provide clear guidance to the communities of the Mystic River and visitors in the form of an easy to read fish advisory.

As part of the grant, CLF and its partners will survey anglers about the current use of the Lower Mystic for fishing, develop an estimate of current consumption, conduct spot sampling of fish to help MDPH obtain the information it needs to assess the risks, and, if appropriate, seek issuance of a fish advisory specific for the area. CLF will also help MDPH in developing a user-friendly fish advisory and advocate for its translation into all languages spoken in the area.

Interestingly, it was CLF’s work to stop pollution of Boston Harbor that helped to establish the Massachusetts Environmental Trust. As part of the 1988 settlement of CLF’s and the federal government’s lawsuits which required the state to clean up Boston Harbor, the state legislature also established MET, which was initially funded with $2 million dollars.

Today, funding for MET is generated by proceeds from the sale of special environmental license plates. There are currently some 50,000 drivers with MET plates, generating roughly $1,000,000 annually for environmental projects. In addition, the trust continues to receive funding through settlements, judgments, civil actions, and administrative consent orders.

License plates like this one help fund MET.

The Lower Mystic is the part of the Mystic River Watershed closest to Boston Harbor. The watershed includes eight of the twenty most environmentally overburdened communities in Massachusetts. The environmental hazards in the Lower Mystic communities of Chelsea, Everett, East Boston alone include hazardous waste sites, landfills, transfer stations, incinerators, polluting industrial facilities, and power plants. The Mystic also has more parking lots, buildings, industrial sites and less green space than any other watershed in the Commonwealth. Residents of the Lower Mystic also have limited access to the waterfront.

CLF and its partners believe that, while we need to continue to work on addressing these environmental problems, it is also crucial that the access to the water that does exist is as beneficial and safe of a resource as it can be. A fish advisory for the Lower Mystic will go a long way toward helping us reach that goal. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

The nearly completed globe at the Bank of America Pavilion.

When CLF decided to sponsor a globe for the Cool Globes public art exhibition launching today on Boston Common, we knew we wanted to involve lots of people in its creation. The idea of a crowdsourced design for our globe was our way of connecting CLF’s often behind-the-scenes work on climate change to the people who give that work voice.

As New England’s leading advocates for solutions to climate change, we often ask our members and friends to join us in appealing to decision makers in our region and in Washington – to support strong climate legislation, to fund energy efficiency programs and public transportation, to build cleaner cars and promote cleaner fuels to run them, to expedite renewable energy development and to reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuels for electricity, to name a few.

New England’s Climate Pledge, as our globe is entitled, asks the people and friends of New England to do their part to reduce climate pollution. The pledge and its flourishes were artfully inscribed on the six foot tall, white fiberglass structure by Alexandra (Ali) Overing, a Bard College student with a passion for the environment, and a way with a paint pen (and, we are told, a twin talent for vocal performance). Ali’s bold design gave the words the appropriate gravitas, while including just enough visual interest and artistic touches to get passersby to stop, read and think.

So, the concept of a giant, 3-D climate petition came naturally to us, but how to find people to sign it? Enter the Bank of America Pavilion, site of a star-studded outdoor concert series that attracts tens of thousands of people every summer from all over New England and beyond. The Pavilion management gave CLF’s globe pride of place on the concourse where it attracted concertgoers like moths to a flame.

Enthusiastic concert-goers pick their spots to sign.

From the fresh-faced young fans of the Jonas Brothers to the spirited teen followers of bands like Imagine Dragons, to the older crowds rocking out to the Black Crowes and Beck, hundreds and hundreds of people stopped by to sign the globe and take our climate pledge. CLF staff and summer interns were delighted to meet so many enthusiastic New Englanders who agreed that they would play a role – the most important role – in reducing climate pollution. Their names, proudly inscribed in neon colors alongside their hometowns, represent the power of individuals and a region united to make a difference.

You can come see CLF’s Cool Globe on the Boston Common beginning today through October 15. And you, too, can take New England’s Climate Pledge, wherever you live.

You’ve heard of the writing on the wall, but what is all that writing on the sidewalk and the street? You’ve seen it—yellow, orange, blue, red and white.

Some of it is pretty easy to decipher like “DS” for “Dig Safe” or “STM” for “steam” but some of the drawings look more like ancient hieroglyphics.

It’s incredible what’s running right beneath our feet, like an entire natural gas infrastructure, but we rarely take time to think about it.

In Massachusetts, we have over 21,000 miles of natural gas distribution pipeline running under our streets. That’s almost enough pipeline to circle all the way around the Earth. For perspective, you could drive from Boston to San Francisco and back three times and still not put 21,000 miles on your odometer.

I’ve been thinking about what’s under the street a lot over the past two years. In July 2011, I was introduced to a professor at Boston University, Nathan Phillips, who had embarked on a journey of mapping natural gas leaks in the City of Boston. Using a high tech sensor, Nathan was detecting leaks and translating them into incredible visual representations that called attention to the aging natural gas pipelines criss-crossing our city.

Maps created by Nathan Phillips of Boston University

After I saw Nathan’s maps, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the ground. Whether I was walking or biking, I started to notice all kinds of infrastructure, not just natural gas, everywhere.

There were “Gardner Boxes” in front of the houses on my street—these are one type of emergency shut-off valves for gas service lines.

Emergency Shut-Off

Then there were the large, bold, golden “G”s on the street, sometimes accompanied by CI (which stands for cast iron) or PL (for plastic) or BS (for bare steel), or CS (for coated steel) 18-in or 12-in or 3-in (telling me the diameter of the pipeline), and NGrid or NStar (the name of the company that owns the pipeline).

Suddenly, I could tell a lot about my street just from looking down. But what I couldn’t tell from the markings alone was just how important natural gas infrastructure is for a safe, thriving and sustainable neighborhood. That took some digging of a different variety.

Leaking Pipes Contribute to Climate Change

What I found was surprising and unsettling. Massachusetts has some of the oldest natural gas pipelines in the country. Almost 4,000 miles of the pipeline in Massachusetts is cast iron and another 3,000 is what’s known as “unprotected steel” (meaning unprotected from corrosion). These two types of pipe are referred to as “leak-prone pipe” in the industry because they are highly susceptible to breaks, fractures, and corrosion. Cast iron pipe was first installed in the 1830s, and some of the pipe in Massachusetts that is still in service dates to the Civil War. The gas utilities have started to focus on replacing this “leak-prone” pipe, especially since the tragedies in San Bruno, California and Allentown, Pennsylvania brought home how dangerous old pipelines can be.

But replacing old and leaking pipelines isn’t solely about public safety. It’s also a matter of conserving a valuable natural resource and tackling climate change. Natural gas is up to 95% methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide on a 100 year time frame. When natural gas is combusted, in your furnace or in a power plant, it emits much less carbon dioxide than oil or coal, but when it’s leaked directly into the air from a pipeline, it adds up to a significant source of greenhouse gas pollution.

Unfortunately, current methods for estimating just how much natural gas is leaking from pipelines aren’t very accurate. What we do know is that leaking pipelines in Massachusetts are releasing between 697,000 tons of CO2e and 3.6 million tons of CO2e every year. That’s a huge range, and one that we’re working to narrow with the help of Professor Phillips and his students. These leaks can also take a heavy bite out of gas customers’ pocketbooks, as a recent report prepared for Senator Ed Markey showed.

What You Can Do

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting more information here about the efforts to replace leak-prone pipeline in Massachusetts and what you can do to make sure that your street is both safe and climate friendly. Until then, here are a few tips to remember:

1) Dig Safe—You never know what types of pipelines, wires, or cables may be running under your lawn or sidewalk. Dig Safe will contact the utilities so that they can mark the lines for you. Even for small projects like planting a tree, always check in with Dig Safe before you dig. It’s free, and it’s required by law to keep you and your neighbors safe. You can check the website or simply call 811 before you dig.

2) Report Leaks—If you think you smell gas, put out all open flames and do not use lighters or light matches. Do not touch electric switches, thermostats or appliances. Move to a safe environment and call your gas company or 911 to have them come check it out. Here is the contact information for Massachusetts’ three largest gas companies: Columbia Gas, National Grid, and NStar Gas.

3) Conserve—It sounds simple, but using less is one of the most important steps you can take to reduce the climate impacts from natural gas. Contact MassSave for a free home energy audit.

4) Contact your Legislator—Legislation is pending in Massachusetts right now that would help fix these leaks. We’re supporting H.2933 and portions of S.1580. I’ll be writing more about this in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, you can take a look at the testimony we filed with partners like Clean Water Action.

Massachusetts Senator Markey is again leading the way at the national level to bring attention to an issue that has long been ignored–methane leaks from natural gas pipelines. A report prepared for Senator Markey was released today that should focus national attention on the need to address aging and leaking natural gas pipelines. The report highlights the safety concerns and quantifies the costs of leaking natural gas pipelines, concluding that over the past decade, Massachusetts ratepayers have paid over $1.5 billion for natural gas that never made it to their homes. Senator Markey’s report also found that these leaks contribute to climate change by releasing methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas into the air.

“No Surprise”

This important information is no surprise to us at CLF and builds upon what we have been saying all along. Last November, CLF released the report,”Into Thin Air,” (available to download for free) that found leaks in Massachusetts are so significant that the gains by efficiency programs put in place by regulators are disappearing into thin air. The report also documents how these leaks, known as “fugitive emissions,” are being borne not by the utilities, or by the regulators, but by consumers. Utilities pass the cost of lost gas onto ratepayers to the tune of $38.8 million a year. Here’s an infographic from that report:

Furthermore, another report by Nathan Phillips of Boston University has been utilized by CLF to show the prevalence of this issue. Nathan’s report  combined Google Earth and research into a compelling visualization of just how prevalent these leaks are here in Boston (below.)

CLF President John Kassel recently noted on the issue, “…the 3,356 separate natural gas leaks under the streets of Boston reminds us that, as we walk or drive down the street, we are often driving through an invisible cloud of natural gas leaking from aging pipes. If you are like me, to accept the avoidable risk of a predictably volatile gas is deeply unsettling.”

What’s Next?

CLF is advocating for five specific policies to accelerate the replacement of aging pipe and ensure that existing pipeline are properly examined and repaired:

1)    Establish Leak Classification and Repair Timelines that provide a uniform system for classifying leaks according to level of hazard and require repair within a specified time;

2)    Limit or End Cost Recovery for Lost and Unaccounted for Gas so that companies have an incentive to identify the causes of lost gas and prevent them;

3)    Expand existing replacement programs and adding performance benchmarks;

4)    Change Service Quality Standards to include requirements for reducing leaks on the system;

5)    Enhance monitoring and reporting requirements to give the public and regulators more information.

Legislation is currently pending in Massachusetts, and over the coming months we’ll continue to work with state legislators to address this issue. We’re very pleased to have Senator Markey in the fight. If you’re interested in joining us or learning more about our natural gas work, please contact me at scleveland@clf.org.

I recently wrote a post commending and admiring the work that youth all over Massachusetts have done in order to shed light on climate change and to call for action to address it. When it comes to climate change action, the youth of Massachusetts are doing their part in spreading knowledge and creating a strong voice. Unfortunately, Massachusetts DEP does not seem interested in taking the opportunity to work with, or seriously respond to, the youth in their fight for climate action.

Students from the Boston Latin School who are members of Youth Climate Action Network recently spoke to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. These students, along with Boston College Law students, demonstrated their concern for our futures by creating a petition asking DEP to do more. Mass DEP was required to respond after the hearing. DEP said that they agree with the students’ statements and requests, and said that they were already working on the proposed actions. But the petition was created in order to get DEP to address global warming more aggressively, as needed and required. DEP, rather than admit what they could and should be working on, suggest that they are already doing enough – ignoring that the work they are doing falls short of what the students are asking and what DEP is required to do. DEP’s response embodies an attitude that needs to change in order to address climate change effectively.

It is very discouraging to see the Kids vs. Global Warming petition being taken lightly by the DEP. The Kids vs. Global Warming climate action in Massachusetts was an eye-opener, it allowed for me to see what some climate change fighters looked like.  It was discouraging that on the seldom recent occasion where youth have had the opportunity to speak directly to their government; Mass DEP chose to ignore their request for action. But this fight is not over. Please join CLF in making sure that youth voices are heard by Massachusetts DEP and other government officials in the fight for climate action.

Climate change has made many people concerned for their future. As we see more climate change impacts –such as intense storms, frequent flooding and extreme temperatures – more and more people want to take action to protect their future. There is no question that support for climate action has grown. And even more interesting is the age of many people involved in the growing climate action force.  In addition to the many environmental organizations and groups, many youth have taken a strong lead in the fight for climate change action.

I recently attended a Kids vs. Global Warming hearing at the Mass Department of Environmental Protection and got a good picture of what passionate youth concerned about climate change looked like. Thirteen and fourteen year olds concerned about their future put the climate change issue front and center. The students were well educated in climate change science and had a clear plan for what Mass DEP needs to do in order to protect their future.  As I wrote in an earlier post, the students are calling on DEP to issue regulations under the MA Global Warming Solutions Act. In particular, the petition calls on DEP to “Publish the delinquent rules expressly required by Mass. General Laws Chapter 21N Section 3(d) establishing declining levels of annual aggregate emissions rates as mandated by that law.”

And the “Kids” who brought a petition to Mass DEP are not alone. In addition to the Boston Latin School Youth Climate Action Network, which was involved in the DEP petition, many other Boston high schools have followed Boston Latin’s lead by creating Youth CAN groups in their schools. College students have joined the fight for climate action too. For example, Williams College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts students, among others, rallied in February in front of the White House to ask for action in addressing climate change. In addition, many youth are seizing the opportunity this summer to participate in a symbolic walk to call for a transition from coal to wind. Starting August 28,^th young adults will join Better Future Project to march from the Brayton Point coal plant to Cape Cod to bring attention to the opportunity to move away from dirty coal and replace it with clean energy like offshore wind.

As youth fight for their future, climate change takes on an additional profound meaning.  The youth understand all too well the huge impacts that climate change could have if not addressed. Youth all over Massachusetts have recognized the harm that comes from climate change and are asking government officials for action. They understand that what is at stake is their future, and ours. I am proud to be working alongside other motivated youth as we bring attention to climate change action. Committed youth fighting climate change give me hope for the future.

A Boston Latin School student calling on MA DEP to ‘connect the dots’ and take climate action.

“If the government’s action to address global warming were a basketball game, they are playing like it’s the first quarter when in reality there are only a few seconds left on the clock.” A well put simile stated by Eshe Sherley in her video that started the KIDS vs. Global Warming Petition public hearing at Mass DEP last week. On Thursday June 13, young students from the Boston Latin School who are members of Youth Climate Action Network spoke to Massachusetts DEP and asked the agency to do more. These students along with two Boston College Law students demonstrated that they are concerned for our futures by creating a petition asking DEP to do what it is supposed to do.

“Connect the dots” is what one student from Boston Latin School asked DEP to do. He and many other frustrated students and environmental organizations are asking DEP to change its attitude towards global warming and step up its game. In the hearing the students listed out particular environmental projects that they want DEP to take on, from reducing carbon emissions to making environmental initiatives in Massachusetts transparent and user friendly for the public. These students also listed out activities that they have led and demonstrated how they have made a difference in their school. For example, these students implemented water bottle filling stations in their school, and even created a “Green Day” – a  day where students tried to be green as possible.  Raffle tickets were given to students who traveled to school by taking public transportation, biking, walking or carpooling. These students demonstrated how they made a difference in their school community and wanted to encourage their government to do the same for Massachusetts.

The students are calling on DEP to issue regulations under the MA Global Warming Solutions Act. In particular, the petition calls on DEP to “Publish the delinquent rules expressly required by Mass. General Laws Chapter 21N Section 3(d) establishing declining levels of annual aggregate emissions rates as mandated by that law.” In response to the student’s demands, DEP gave a presentation on what the DEP has done and is working on.  But DEP’s actions fall far short of what it is required to do, frustrating the students, environmental organizations and others in the room. The students hope their petition will light a fire under DEP to respond with a sense of urgency and help create a healthier environment. CLF and many others stand with the students in calling on DEP to get the job done now.