Comments on: A Long Journey to a Cleaner Boston Harbor

By: Pamela

Pamela — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 23:26:53 +0000

Peter:
I moved from Hamburg, Germany to Boston in 1987. As I was looking for active environmental organizations to support, CLF was the first to pop up on the list. I met Doug Foy, and have been a cheerleader and supporter ever since. Great work!! AND thank you to all for the dedication and perseverance over the past 28 years – a generation of work indeed.
With admiration….

By: Alan Emmet

Alan Emmet — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:34:00 +0000

Congratulations, Peter and CLF. Wonderful news after so much work over so many years.

By: Alan Emmet

Alan Emmet — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:31:56 +0000

Great work, Peter. Wonderful news after all these years. I know many people were involved with you in making this happen. I’ve been amazed to read in the Globe about possible oysters, clams, swimming – it seems miraculous. I remember Diane Dumanowski’s writings, & wonder where she is now. Congratulations to CLF & you.

By: Eileen Simonson

Eileen Simonson — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:47:34 +0000

Peter’s summary is great with one omission: All of the citizens who worked first on the Facilities Planning CAC and later the Wastewater Committee. Some were representatives of organizations, but some were “just interested folks”. Of special note are people involved with the MA Audubon Society, and the Charles River Watershed Assoc. MWRA has benefitted, I say this immodestly, from a good deal of sincere, thoughtful citizen participation over time, including in regard to its amazing water supply system and publicly accessible watersheds. CLF was remarkably strong in the effort, so keep up the good work Peter…

By: Paul Hauge

Paul Hauge — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:25:35 +0000

Thanks for a moving trip down Memory Lane. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost thirty years since we were snooping around the old Metropolitan District Commission and advancing such wild ideas as getting Boston to comply with the Clean Water Act by implementing secondary treatment and to stop the practice of removing sludge from the sewage, only to release it on the outgoing tide. Another story worth remembering is that of a pump that was so old that a museum was interested in obtaining it, but that couldn’t be donated because the MDC still needed it.

By: Lois Fay

Lois Fay — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:13:42 +0000

Where is the giant holding tank? What will happen to the contents of that tank/ When? Of course, I am happy to see any action that protects our environment. But, I am of the opinion that sometimes decisions are made that only delay, or complicate effective actions. I am often reminded of the situation regarding nuclear waste storage. How many years has that been kicked down the road?

By: Dave Wolfe

Dave Wolfe — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:34:31 +0000

Peter, an excellent summary indeed. Although a life-long resident of “metro-west” Boston, I have only recently jumped into the harbor’s health, literally with both feet. I started as a volunteer diver for Mass Oyster simply becuase I thought it would be interesting to dive in the harbor. I’ve become a passionate advocate for Mass Oyster’s cause and as recently as last night was chest deep in the water across from the Constitution Marina placing bags of oyster spat on shell into our designated ‘research area’. Indeed, your efforts are appreciated and I am looking forward to Mass Oyster’s continued involvement. Granted, there are agencies in the Commonwealth whose apparent job is to stymie efforts to take the continuum of harbor cleaning to the next level but we forge on. We have several events planned over the course of the summer. I would enjoy being able to say “thank you” in person some day.

By: Paul Levy

Paul Levy — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:42:53 +0000

And a bit more commentary here: http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/2011/07/infrastructure-chronicles-volume-9.html

By: Paul Levy

Paul Levy — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 10:16:36 +0000

A great summary, Peter. Thank you. The irony of Bill Golden’s run along Wollaston Beach was that the fecal matter he discovered was likely a product of Quincy’s own sewerage overflows from illegal sanitary connections into the city’s storm drain system. That system discharged directly to the beach. Quincy officials denied this source of contamination for many years, finally admitting to it well after Judge Mazzone’s order in Harbor Cleanup case.

That doesn’t take away from the fact that the Nut Island plant owned by the state was also failing to treat wastewater, discharging billions of gallons of untreated sewage into Quincy Bay. But the impact of that was unlikely fecal matter on the beach, but high bacteria counts in the water. (And, oddly, a source of nutrients at the bottom of the bay, creating the “Winter Flounder Fishing Capital of the World”!)

And while Diane’s story series was spectacular and important, the Quincy Patriot Ledger had been writing about this regularly. It was only after an editor for the Globe, who lived in Quincy, read those stories, that he asked Diane to investigate the issue. In fact, the Boston media “missed” the Harbor pollution story for decades.