Cleaning Boston's water: CLF's landmark settlement.

• Author: Iarrapino, Anthony
• Position: Cover story

"BWSC's forward-looking commitment to modernizing Boston's pollution control with the use of 'green infrastructure' and other innovative techniques is critical to maintaining and protecting our long-term cleanup investment in Boston's iconic waters. Boston is entering a bold new phase as a city poised to lead the nation in clean water."--Anthony Iarrapino, CLF staff Attorney

In August of 2009, Christopher Kilian, Director of CLF's Clean Water and Healthy Forests program, stood on the bank of the Charles River. On this day, more than 25 years after CLF filed the first federal lawsuit to clean up Boston Harbor, Chris pointed to a paint-like scum on the river's surface. "That's what we're trying to clean up," he said. "That's the result of illegal sewer connections and storm runoff into this river, and into Boston Harbor."

CLF has long understood that Boston's waterways are more than a backdrop to the city. They are vital to the health, economic prosperity, and quality of life enjoyed by Bostonians, but these waterways have been degraded by sewage and stormwater pollution. Thanks to a recent multi-faceted settlement with the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC), in which CLF was joined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Boston's water will benefit from much stricter controls, while green infrastructure, a key part of the agreement, will redraw the face of the city. As Anthony larrapino, OLE Staff Attorney, was quoted as saying on the front page The Boston Globe, "Boston is entering a bold new phase as a city poised to lead the nation in clean water."

A GROWING THREAT

Climate change is increasing the threat stormwater pollution poses to water health and safety. In places without adequate pollution control measures, runoff during and after rainstorms often contains harmful amounts of pollutants, including unhealthy concentrations of bacteria, oil and grease, and heavy metals. In New England, climate change is increasing both the frequency and intensity of rain storms, resulting in more polluted runoff reaching our rivers.

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This runoff causes many problems. Polluted runoff can feed toxic algae blooms that make water unsafe for swimming, causes unpleasant odors, and depletes oxygen levels, threatening fish and shellfish. The paint-like scums that have temporarily closed the Charles River this summer and in past years are a vivid example. In Boston, BWSC had fallen behind in its obligations to rid the city of...