CRWA in the News

River cleanup plan to begin 

By Priscilla Yeon, Westwood Press

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Charles River Watershed Association has begun a three-year program to monitor water quality in the river in several communities including Westwood and Dedham.

The program is funded by a $300,000 grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, a grant-making group funded through the sale of specialty environmental license plates and environmental litigation settlements.

The pollution-prevention project will cover 12 towns and cities along the Charles River. Other communities include Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, Watertown, Newton, Waltham, Wellesley and Needham.

The cleanup, dubbed the "Find it and Fix it" program, will identify pollution sources, track and monitor suspected "hot spots" for water contamination, set up a guide for water quality enforcement and help remedy pollution where it's at its worst.

According to Anna Eleria, a project manager with the CRWA, the grant covers primarily the communities farther downstream.

"(The program) covers more problematic towns near Boston because they are highly urbanized," said Eleria.

Although the CRWA monitors the water quality monthly at 37 sites, the grant will allow a closer analysis of pollutants.

The "Find it and Fix it" cleanup started in October, with CRWA workers identifying the most polluted areas of the Charles River watershed and readying them for cleanup. Eleria said teams of volunteer workers will be analyzing ratios of suspended solids in the water, checking for oil, grease and bacteria and compiling their findings into data sets.

"We'll be conducting visual surveys along stretches of the river, starting in the Westwood and Natick area and going toward Boston Harbor," Eleria said. "We're just looking at what's going on with the river, looking for pipes discharging into the river, using not only visuals but also our other senses like our nose, too, to determine if there are any offensive smells on the river while we're out there."

She said workers will also examine nearby watershed habitats for signs of erosion and sedimentation, which can affect the abundance and health of wildlife and fish in and around the Charles. Once the results are tallied, the "offending parties" will be contacted.

If the results exceed state water quality standards, the CRWA will contact the municipalities and the other owners of the pipes that are the source of pollution to the Charles, and ask them to fix the problem. If communities do not cooperate, they may face some sort of reproach, said Eleria.

"We're hoping it won't come to that. We hope we won't have uncooperative communities,"Eleria said, adding there are no concrete plans on how to make communities comply with CRWA requests yet.

"It's always been a work effort and we'll just work with all parties involved," said Eleria mentioning the municipalities, CRWA team, EPA and DEP.

Eleria is also in the process of contacting the 12 communities about the program, to help authorities locate stormwater outfalls.

"Stormwater pollution is the number one source of pollution across the country," said Eleria. Rainstorms cause a significant decrease in water quality, she said..

Amy Breault, program coordinator for the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, said the "non point" sources of pollution targeted through this grant -- such as rainfall and snowmelt runoff or pesticides -- are difficult to minimize through local bylaws and educational efforts, unlike large-scale sewage treatment plants or industrial polluters. She said the grant will help individual communities work with the CRWA to locate pollution sources and bring them under control before they contaminate drinking water, wetlands and coastlines.

"There will be results and hopefully enforcement of the rules," said Eleria.

Nan Crossland, executive director of the Dedham-Westwood Water District, said she is not aware of the grant, but knows about growing concerns related to stormwater pollution, especially from road salt.

Although salt pollution is not harming the district's wells, high levels of sodium impairs the water quality, she said.

"Stormwater treatment and maintenance is a big issue right now," said Crossland.

Amanda Mantone contributed to this report. Priscilla Yeon can be reached at pyeon@cnc.com or 781-433-8355

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