Group eyes lawsuit over Charles River pollution
Maintenance by state fails, foundation says
The Massachusetts agency charged with protecting the Charles River is allowing it to be polluted by a cocktail of pet waste, grease, and other contaminants, and a state plan to fix the problem is ''substantively deficient," according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Tomorrow, the advocacy group Conservation Law Foundation says it will file a notice of intent to sue the state over the issue, saying the state Department of Conservation and Recreation violates the federal Clean Water Act by failing to perform basic maintenance to keep catch basins and roadways clean.
According to the foundation, the state's plan -- or permit application for urban parks -- is woefully incomplete and the agency does not know exactly where pollution is discharging into the river. The problem extends statewide, the foundation said, adding that the state has failed to adequately address pollution problems at other waterways with which the agency is legally required to deal.
''This agency's business is protecting these rivers and lakes," said Peter Shelley, vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, who said he was stunned by the ''sloppiness and incompetence" of the state's application to fix the storm-water problem. ''A lot of this is just basic maintenance . . . street sweeping. Even the worst municipality on the Charles is doing more to prevent this pollution than DCR."
The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which owns hundreds of roadways, parklands, and parking lots across the state, is responsible for maintaining its pavement and storm drainage systems to prevent as much pollution as possible from washing into waterways after it rains. The Charles River is supposed to be swimmable this year, but the federal goal remains elusive many days of the year because of storm-water runoff and some sewage that leaks into the waterway.
The promised lawsuit is the latest bad news for the beleaguered agency, hit with an almost 40-percent cut in funding since 2001. Governor Mitt Romney demanded the resignation of its chief in February after four West Roxbury High School students were hit by a car as they walked on a road, an accident that he said may have occurred in part because of poor sidewalk snow removal by the agency. Today, the agency has an $800 million backlog in park repair, with shuttered buildings and potholed roads on properties across the state.
A DCR spokesman said the agency is working closely with the EPA to come up with a plan to better protect the Charles River and all state waterways from pollution. He said yesterday that agency officials were unaware of the Conservation Law Foundation's intent to sue.
''DCR is taking a number of short-term steps to improve storm-water management practices," spokesman Joe O'Keefe said in a prepared statement. In addition to a long-range plan being developed, he said the agency has a 90-day plan to repair 157 catch-basin drains, clean an additional 1,000 catch basins, and begin a massive postwinter cleanup of roadways. He also said larger pollution-control projects will soon be completed at Nickerson State Park, Walden Pond State Reservation, Hopkinton State Park, and Beartown State Forest.
''Adequate funding is always a challenge, and we are working with the Legislature to address fiscal concerns," he said, adding that the House budget being debated this week cuts about $500,000 from the DCR's main operating account.
An EPA spokesman declined to comment, except to say the agency is working with the state to fix the problems highlighted in an April 8 letter rejecting the permit applications.
Few people dispute that the meandering 80-mile Charles River is a jewel compared with 50 years ago when toxins colored the river pink and orange in spots and fish kills, submerged cars, and foul odors were common. Today, after decades of work to control sewage and other pollutants into the river, the Charles is safe most days for boating. But it still is a long way from a vision of swimmable waters that William Weld evoked in 1996, when, as governor, he took an impromptu jump, fully clothed, into the river.
The state has long neglected maintenance along the Charles River, but the storm-water problem was not highlighted until new federal rules took effect in 2003. That year, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation was required to submit pollution-control plans for storm water into the Charles and other properties. EPA officials highlighted major problems with the plans in August, according to the Conservation Law Foundation notice. Earlier this month, the EPA fired off another letter to the state, reiterating its plans were ''incomplete" and ''substantively deficient in numerous respects," according to a copy of the letter the Globe received.
Some are sympathetic to DCR, saying the agency's lack of funding has prohibited it from doing even the most basic maintenance, such as cleaning storm drains that catch pollutants and prevent flooding. The Charles River Watershed Association requested and received help from a state representative who has filed a $750,000 amendment to the proposed budget to get the agency enough funds for storm-water pollution projects.
''It's completely predictable this is happening," said Margaret Van Deusen, deputy director of the Charles River Watershed Association. ''But when you have an agency charged with stewardship of a river, and it turns out to be a significant contributor of pollution, it's just not acceptable."
Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com. 