CLF STATEMENT: CLF Says Feds’ Entry into Boston Water and Sewer Commission Case Underscores Need for Major Commitment to Improve Water Quality in Boston

CONTACT:
Karen Wood, CLF, (617) 850-1722, kwood@clf.org
Chris Kilian, CLF, (802) 223-5992, x15, ckilian@clf.org

BOSTON, MA  December 22, 2010 – The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has issued the following statement in response to the motion filed today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating that it will join CLF’s lawsuit against the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) for violations of the Clean Water Act:

“The complaint against the Boston Water and Sewer Commission documents serious failures in the system that are allowing ongoing unlawful pollution of Boston’s waterways, including the Charles, Mystic and Neponset Rivers, in some the city’s most economically-challenged communities,” said Christopher Kilian, director of CLF’s Clean Water and Healthy Forests program. “The federal government’s entry into this case is a clear indication of the urgency of the matter and the priority EPA places on it. BWSC’s inability to maintain a system that ensures clean water is a violation of the law and an affront to the people of Boston. The United States agrees with CLF that BWSC must make a major commitment now to improve water quality, as other cities have done, and restore these resources to health for everyone’s benefit.”

CLF filed a Clean Water Act citizen suit against BWSC in U.S. District Court in February 2010. The lawsuit focuses on BWSC’s failure to undertake appropriate measures to control polluted discharges from its storm drain system, in violation of its stormwater (NPDES) permits and the Clean Water Act. BWSC’s storm drain system carries raw sewage and excessive levels of bacteria, copper, and zinc into Boston’s waterways, including the Charles, Chelsea, Mystic, and Neponset Rivers, and ultimately, Boston Harbor.  The discharges contribute to ongoing degradation of the waterways, threatening their integrity and the health and well-being of the surrounding communities, among the city’s most disadvantaged economically and already bearing a disproportionate burden of environmental threats. With its lawsuit, now joined by the United States government, CLF is asking the Court for relief in the form of significantly increased resources for BWSC to identify and expeditiously remove all illicit connections to the BWSC storm drain system, implement stormwater Best Management Practices to mitigate concentrations of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable, establish programs necessary to meet permit conditions, and take actions necessary to mitigate and prevent Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs).

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) protects New England’s environment for the benefit of all people. Using the law, science and the market, CLF creates solutions that preserve natural resources, build healthy communities, and sustain a vibrant economy region-wide. Founded in1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.