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Combined Sewer Overflows In The Boston Area - School Essays

Combined Sewer Overflows In The Boston Area



At the turn of the century, Boston had one of the most advanced sewer systems in the country. Through decades of neglect and a failure to truly update the system until the 1980's, the pollution in Boston Harbor became so bad that the harbor became a national embarrassment. The two sewer treatment plants in Boston Harbor were only equipped for primary treatment when most plants in the country were providing secondary if not tertiary treatment for their waste water. The waste from these plants was being dumped into the shallow waters of the Harbor, at the end of a relatively short outfall pipe. Another eyesore for the Commonwealth were the eighty-one combined sewer overflows in the ...

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against Massachusetts for violations of the Clean Water Act, that the state decided to make updates to its system (Aubrey, Connor 62). The result of these lawsuits was the creation of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) in late 1984. Once the MWRA took control of the sewer system changes began to be made. The MWRA oversaw the construction of new primary and secondary treatment plants of Deer Island, which removed the mandatory 85% of pollutants in the wastewater required by the Clean Water Act (MWRA website). They built a new 9.5 mile outfall tunnel which would dump effluent into the deep open ocean currents of Boston Harbor.
Because of these achievements, Boston Harbor began to lose its reputation as one of the most polluted harbors in the country, until it rained. When it rained, the excess sewage still spilled through the release valves, into nearby bodies of water. It was obvious that the CSO problem had to be taken care of in some form or another for the ...

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by 1919, many of the areas shellfish beds were closed due to sewage pollution. In an attempt to remedy this situation, the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) took control of the MSD. The MDC couldn't stop the pollution and by 1933 all shellfish taken from Boston Harbor required some form of purification (MWRA website). It wasn't until 1940 that state legislators recommended the construction of treatment plants at the three raw sewage discharge points: Moon Island, Nut Island and Deer Island.
The Nut Island Primary Wastewater Treatment Plant was the first of the plants to be built in Boston Harbor. It was completed in 1952 and treated the sewage collected from the southern Boston ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 2/18/2008 09:07:55 AM
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Free Paper
Words: 2766
Pages: 11

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