Rain remains likely in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, but just the estimated 1.5 inches that landed Wednesday and lasted overnight resulted in four combined sewer overflows, the term for releasing waste into public waterways when sewer and water systems get overwhelmed. The area has seen around 23 inches of rainfall this year, compared with a 27.4-inch average at this point in the year, according to the RainDrop app.
Treated CSO discharged into the Mystic River in Somerville from 11:54 p.m. Wednesday to 4:22 a.m. Thursday, a spill of four and half hours potentially affecting the Mystic River at Draw Seven Park downstream from the Amelia Earhart Dam, according to a city alert. A state law from 2022 requires notice to residents when discharges last more than two hours. Another Somerville discharge identified by the state ran for 19 minutes at Baxter Park in Assembly Row, starting at 12:59 a.m. Thursday just downstream of the Route 28 Bridge.
The Cambridge overflow website shows two Wednesday discharges: one lasting 15 minutes starting at 11 a.m. into Alewife Brook upstream of the confluence with Little River and upstream of the Route 2 Bridge; and a half-hour spill starting at 11:45 p.m. at the same location.
Residents are advised to avoid contact with these bodies of water for 48 hours after the discharge or the end of the overflow, because the sewage brings health risks from bacteria and other pollutants.
A $1.3 billion plan to reduce the CSOs – the result of four years of collaboration between Cambridge, Somerville and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority – is being prepared for presentation next year to the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Protection. If the plan is accepted, the work is expected to take into the 2050s.
Comment is being taken on the draft control plan now; a project team is taking questions in person from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday in the community room of the Fresh Pond Apartments, 366 Rindge Ave., near Alewife in North Cambridge. The next session is virtual, from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 10.
Information about the discharges are at the Somerville CSO page, Cambridge CSO page and MWRA CSO page.
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