The River Current

|| The River Current || September 13, 2004 || Issue XII ||

The mostly monthly e-newsletter of the Charles River Watershed Association

...bringing our backyard river to your door...

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In this issue:

1) ADVOCACY: Kendall-Mirant Public Meeting TONIGHT!

2) PARKS: The supplemental budget means more money in all the right places!

3) EDUCATION: CRWA and the Arnold Arboretum offering a urban restoration

course; scholarships now available!

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Dear friends of the Charles River,

With fall upon us, CRWA is kicking gear with several fall offerings. We are

most excited about being able to offer scholarships to our fall course

"Restoring the Urban Environment," held jointly with Harvard University's

Arnold Arboretum. Though the generous contributions of one of our members,

we will be offering five fully paid scholarships. Details are below. We

hope to see you at our course, at tonight's meeting about the Kendall-Mirant

power plant, and of course, out on the river!

1) ADVOCACY: Kendall-Mirant Public Meeting TONIGHT! The U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental

Protection have issued a draft NPDES permit (no. 0004898) and accompanying

documentation for the thermal discharge and cooling water intake at the

Mirant Kendall Station in Cambridge, MA. The station is being upgraded to

produce up to 283 MW of power, a considerable increase over its previous

capacity of 113 MW. The upgraded facility would be allowed to discharge up

to five times the former heat load. CRWA opposes this permit because the

excess heat will cause fish mortality or disruption to their reproduction.

An information session will be held tonight, Monday September 13, 2004, from

6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The public hearing will follow from 7:00 p.m. to

10:00 p.m. Location is Agassiz (formerly Baldwin) School Auditorium, 28

Sacramento Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138.

EPA will accept written comments on the draft permit until September 30,

2004. Send them to: George Papadopoulos, US EPA, One Congress Street,

Suite 1100, Mailcode CPE, Boston, MA 02114-2023. Copies of the draft

permit can be requested from Mr. Papadopoulos at 617-918-1579.

2) PARKS: Supplemental budget increases DCR funding!

Last Friday, the legislature sent a supplemental budget appropriation to

Governor Romney. The budget, totaling $649 million, includes over $70

million in both operating and capital expenses for the Department of

Conservation and Recreation! The bulk of this money is for a long list of

vital projects ranging from beach and park restoration to bridge repairs.

This is great news! Also included is a lease guarantee for Community

Rowing, allowing them to continue using the Daley rink for 3 ½ years while

they work to find a permanent new home. The legislature envisions a new

boathouse next to Daley rink, although a full public review and alternatives

analysis must take place before any new construction. Show your support for

parks: call the Governor's office at 617-725-4000 and ask him to sign the

supplemental budget into law!

Thanks to the Environmental League of Massachusetts for compiling budget

data.

3) COURSE OFFERING: CRWA and the Arnold Arboretum join forces for our urban

restoration course

Register today for CRWA and Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum adult

education course on urban environmental restoration, explored in the context

of the Charles River and its watershed, and the Arboretum, a 265-acre living

collection of trees, shrubs and vines.

Thanks to a kind and generous member of CRWA, we are offering five fully

paid scholarships to attend CRWA's fall course "Restoring the Urban

Environment," . If you are interested in receiving a scholarship, please

fill out the form below and provide a short one paragraph statement on why

you'd like to attend the course and receive a scholarship.

Application forms will be accepted until Wednesday, September 22nd. We will

notify winners of the scholarship on Friday, September 24th.

For more information about the scholarship and to apply, click here:

http://www.crwa.org/RestorUrbEnvir/restcourse/scholarship.html

For more information about the course and to register, click here:

http://www.crwa.org/RestorUrbEnvir/arnoldrestcrse.html