Great Bay, the Piscataqua River, and all the waters making up our Great Bay estuary are at the core of what makes our Seacoast communities so special. Whether kayaking in Little Bay, hiking on Adams Point near Great Bay, or hitting the beach with my kids at Odiorne, I feel lucky to have experienced just…
2016
2014
CLF Works for Clean Water in a Changing Climate
The damaging floods of spring 2011 followed by Tropical Storm Irene in late summer awakened many Vermonters to the connection between climate change and extreme precipitation. But well before the “watershed moment” that was 2011, CLF’s Vermont Advocacy Center was pushing policymakers to connect the dots between our clean water challenges and the changing climate.…
2013
CLF Settlement Maintains Momentum on Stream Cleanup
For more than a decade, CLF has worked to secure the Clean Water Act’s promise of water quality that supports healthy fish populations and is safe for recreation in all the degraded urban streams flowing to Lake Champlain. A new CLF settlement with Vermont environmental regulators helps continue the momentum toward fulfillment of that promise.…
2012
Lawns To Lobsters – Fewer Chemicals, Cleaner Water
Stormwater continues to be a major source of pollution to the Great Bay estuary. When it rains, runoff carries a wide range of pollutants – from dog waste and lawn fertilizers, to gasoline and oil, to heavy metals, nutrients and sediments – that flow into our waters with little or no treatment. To combat this…
2012
Lawn Tips for a Healthy Great Bay
We didn’t always have a love affair with our lawns. Until the late 18th century, most rural homeowners had a patch of packed dirt outside the front door or a small garden that contained a mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables. Up until then, lawns were not practical and were seen strictly as a luxury…
2012
Sweet Success–Sugarbush Stream Restored
When people think of Sugarbush Resort, they envision scenes like the one pictured below: high mountain peaks blanketed with pristine snow beckoning skiers to swoosh down the slopes. Of course when springtime comes that snow melts, feeding small streams that flow first into the iconic Mad River and eventually to Lake Champlain. These high mountain…
2012
The Rain in Maine Washes Pollution Down the Drain…Right into Casco Bay
Until the last week or so, it’s been a dry spring here in Maine and so most of us have welcomed the recent spate of rain. But as I rode past the Back Cove and the East End Wastewater treatment plant in Portland this morning, it was hard not to think about the downside of…
2011
MassHighway finally starts to clean up its act—and our waterways
On April 14 U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young issued a final judgment in CLF’s favor in our suit against the MassHighway Department, bringing to a close nearly five years of litigation to push the department to manage stormwater runoff from state roads that was polluting nearby waterbodies.
2010
MA Residents Get the Dialogue Flowing on Stormwater Runoff
In an effort to clean up the Charles River—and as the result of years of CLF advocacy—residents in Bellingham, Franklin, and Milford, MA may soon be obligated to comply with a proposed EPA mandate to reduce phosphorus runoff by 65 percent. As with most important initiatives to restore our environment, implementing this program will cost money, and there are constituencies opposed.