American Rescue Plan could help save Merrimack River from untreated wastewater dumping

As lawmakers plan how to dole out the $5.3 billion feds have allocated to Massachusetts through the American Rescue Plan, environmental activists along the Merrimack River say they’re hopeful Beacon Hill will invest some of that cash in cleaning up the waterway.

At a Monday press conference in the Merrimack Valley, Gov. Charlie Baker proposed $400 million of the Rescue Plan funds go directly toward water and sewer infrastructure. Merrimack River activists say any slice of that pie would be “a huge shot in the arm.”

“I think everyone wants to get a piece, but it was telling that the governor was in Haverhill to make that announcement,” said Merrimack River Watershed Council policy specialist John Macone. “It could be a sign that perhaps he sees it as a priority.”

Wastewater treatment plants in several communities along the Merrimack River have lacked the funds to upgrade their aging infrastructure, which habitually fails during stormy weather. Outdated pipe systems get overwhelmed by downpours and thunderstorms, and send millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the river — an event called a combined sewer overflow.

A Herald investigation uncovered 2.8 billion gallons of untreated sewer water poured into Massachusetts rivers and lakes in the year 2018.

Cities and town leaders have tried to make improvements to protect the river, which supplies drinking water to some 600,000 Bay Staters, but the repairs are astronomical for local grants to approach. Mayors from the region have long called help from Washington the only answer.

Macone cited a plan put forth in Lowell to upgrade its wastewater system, which is the chief offender of combined sewer overflows along the Merrimack in Massachusetts. A Lowell plant was the source of 84 million gallons of untreated wastewater put into the river during one rainstorm just two months ago.

Lowell’s plan would cut the amount of overflows by half, but it would also cost taxpayers some $150 million, according to Macone.

“These are massive projects. They’re big, concrete projects that take a lot of engineering,” he told the Herald. “Our main goal is to see as much money as possible.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Tb2bqh