Sustained rainfall Tuesday caused a combined sewer overflow, the term for releasing waste into public waterways when sewer and water systems get overwhelmed.
Treated CSO discharged into the Mystic River in Somerville from 5:54 to 9:18 p.m., potentially affecting the area 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.
The Cambridge overflow website shows two discharges of around a half-hour each:, at 6:10 p.m. into the Charles River downstream of the Elliot Bridge across from Mount Auburn Hospital; and at 6:38 p.m. into Alewife Brook, upstream of its confluence with the Little River and the Route 2 Bridge.
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 online from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at draft updated combined sewer overflow control plan office hours. There are five additional office hours planned, with the next taking place in person from 5 to 7 p.m. in the community room of the Fresh Pond Apartments, 366 Rindge Ave., near Alewife in North Cambridge.
Information about the discharges are at the Somerville CSO page, Cambridge CSO page and MWRA CSO page.
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