Victory for the Blackstone: Court backs EPA, Worcester must stop dumping sewage into river

Score one for the Blackstone River, and all the people who care about it.

 The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted a stay of enforcement of an EPA order that will force upgrades at the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement district sewage treatment plant, according to an article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

The problem is a simple one. The discharge from the plant in Millbury has been violating federal clean water standards for years. While other communities have gradually been coming into compliance, Worcester officials have opposed making the improvements, and fighting the EPA every step of the way.

They won a temporary victory in April 2011, when they were able to secure a stay of enforcement, claiming that the EPA’s scientific data was flawed. After a year of review, the three-judge panel has sided with the EPA.

“The district’s responsibility for serious pollution problems in the important waterways in two states is clear, and its challenge to the 2008 permit has no merit,” reads the decision. They also said the District must begin work on complying immediately.

Despite the body of scientific evidence, and the considered opinion of thee federal judges, City Manager Michael V. O’Brien insists he knows better.

“We stand firm that the EPA’s science and projected Blackstone River models are hopelessly flawed. We have proven this with our unbiased science.”

Unbiased? O’Brien contends it will cost “hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars” to make the improvements, though the actual cost is pegged at $200 million.

“Ratepayers will pay double and triple what they pay now,” he said. “The question is to what end?”

Obviously not someone who cares about the river.

Note: I'm coming back to this blog after a long absence. Partly it's been a matter of a busy schedule, partly a matter of thinking about the focus of this blog. My goal here will be to call attention to environmental issues I consider important whether global or local.

Worcester officials cite city parks to defend continued pollution of Blackstone River

I was trying to find a short, pithy way of describing the gist of an article that appeared in today’s Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette.

Here’s the story.

The Blackstone River has its source in Worcester and flows through Rhode Island into Narragansett Bay. Since colonial times, residents and businesses have regarded it as their personal sewage system. The passage of the Clean Water act made that illegal, but it didn’t put a stop to it.

Environmental agencies and organizations have worked hard to clean up the river, and a lot of progress has been made. One of the major problems that still exists is Worcester’s wastewater treatment system. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has found that the plant is still discharging nacceptable amounts of sewage of chemicals – especially nutrients – into the river, hampering cleanup efforts downstream.

In 2008, the EPA issued strict new guidelines and odered the city to make improvements t meet those guidelines. It’s an expensive venture – about $200 million – and an increase in sewage fees amounting to $225 per year per household. Worcester officials have been fighting it every step of the way.

The city is asking for a modification to the guidelines. Environmental groups oppose modifying them, saying the city has been dragging its feet for long enough. The state Department of Environmental Protection recently came down on the side of the city, asking the federal EPA to ease upand compromise. It’s no accident the Lt. Gov. is from Worcester.

So why should Worcester get a pass on adding pollutants to the river? According to the city manager, it’s because the city has a lot of parks and open space, representing a commitment to conservation and the environment.  The connection is a fuzzy one.

And to be sure, the city has a lot fewer trees than it used to, ever since it was discovered that it was playing host to an infestation of the Asian Long-Horned beetle. Thousands of trees were cut down, denuding most of the city.