Water – Page 2 – Belmont Citizens Forum

Belmont Roots May/June 2021

BCF Events, Environment, May-June 2021, Newsletter Comments Off

May 042021

Now that the weather is at least occasionally balmy, local organizations are contriving new events that bear some resemblance to past years’ experiences. You may not get the thrill of the crowd cheering as you finish a race, or the warm glow of watching other concerned citizens clearing garbage from your favorite outdoor spaces, but you will get out of your home. The Charles River Watershed Association’s Annual Run of the Charles has “a virtual twist” this year. Register for the fundraising 5K or one of five different paddling races any time before Sunday, May 23. You and your paddling [READ MORE]

Belmont Has One Year to Clean up Waterways

Environment, May-June 2021, Newsletter, Sewers, Water Quality Comments Off

May 042021

Belmont Has One Year to Clean up Waterways

By Anne-Marie Lambert A 2017 consent order from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave Belmont five years to stop underground sewage from leaking into our waterways. We made a lot of progress in 2020, but there could be a long way to go before all our outlets run clean. In 2020, the town undertook a $550,000 sewer system rehabilitation construction project (SSRCP). More work is planned in 2021 under a sump pump removal and sewer rehabilitation contract. The SSRCP included significant work such as: Repairing and lining several sewer mains Lining many sewer service laterals Removing a few sewer [READ MORE]

How to Help Belmont Survive Climate Change

Climate Change, Environment, March/April 2021, Newsletter, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Mar 012021

How to Help Belmont Survive Climate Change

by Anne-Marie Lambert Flooding caused the collapse of the Trapelo Road culvert over Beaver Brook in 2010, and inundated the train tracks at the Waverley MBTA commuter rail station. Belmont is expected to see its share of future big intense storms, extreme heat, and other disasters from climate change. If it’s any comfort, our town now has a preparedness plan, thanks to a state-funded program. The Town of Belmont Hazard Mitigation-Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plan identifies local vulnerabilities to flooding, pollution, and traffic jams, and proposes mitigating actions, short-term and long-term, to help vulnerable populations safely shelter from extreme heat, rain, [READ MORE]

Carrots and Sticks Nudge Belmont’s Cleanup

Environment, Newsletter, November 2020, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 062020

Carrots and Sticks Nudge Belmont’s Cleanup

By Anne-Marie Lambert Two key drivers are nudging Belmont to clean up our waterways and protect us from the storms coming with climate change: the threat behind an Environmental Protection Agency Consent Order and the tempting Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP) Every six months, Belmont is obliged to file a report with the New England region of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to demonstrate compliance with a 2017 consent order under the Clean Water Act. The town has to show steady progress cleaning up the sewage pollution Belmont has sent to Boston Harbor due to the intermingling of Belmont’s [READ MORE]

Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades

Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Sep 032020

By Meg Muckenhoupt The Mystic River’s most recent water quality report card, released on August 13, gives Winn’s Brook an F for 2019—and the Little River and Alewife Brook earned Ds. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) creates the annual report card in collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association. It grades segments of the Mystic River’s lakes, river, and streams on how frequently they meet bacterial standards for swimming and boating. The Upper Mystic Lake and the Chelsea River got an A grade; they met boating and swimming standards 90% or more of the time in 2019. Winn’s Brook [READ MORE]

Arlington Group Opposes Mugar Site Plans

Construction and Housing, Environment, March/April 2020, Newsletter, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Mar 022020

Arlington Group Opposes Mugar Site Plans

By Meg Muckenhoupt The Mugar wetlands are 17.7 acres of open land in East Arlington. Oaktree Development has proposed constructing a 207-unit apartment complex and six duplex townhouses on this site, to be renamed Thorndike Place. The Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands opposes building on the site, which is bordered by Route 2, Thorndike Field, and Dorothy, Edith, and Burch Streets. The following interview with Clarissa Rowe, one of the founders of the Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands, was edited for length and clarity. Why is the Mugar site important? I think the reason Arlington and Belmont residents [READ MORE]

Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond

Environment, January 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Jan 062020

To the Editor: As a neighbor, fan, and defender of poor Clay Pit Pond, I especially enjoyed the recent article (“Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November/December 2019). I would like to add a few more details on the recent history of the pond. When we moved to Belmont in the fall of 1974 there was a shopping cart in the pond by the inlet and advertisements about the upcoming Kiwanis Fishing Derby. I found the cart and derby in great contrast. Apparently the pond was regularly stocked for the event. No one noticed [READ MORE]

Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 042019

Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

By Michael Chesson Clay Pit Pond on Concord Avenue was once the site of Belmont’s largest industrial enterprise, a brickyard run by John H. and Robert A. Parry. The brothers bought 20¾ acres of land in 1888 on Concord Avenue and Underwood Street, with its valuable blue clay that turned an attractive reddish color when fired, and their yard produced 200,000 bricks a week. Just as the oil, steel, and railroad industries consolidated, the Parry brothers’ business in 1900 merged with the New England Brick Company, which owned three dozen other brickyards in the region. The firm installed new dryers, [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem

Environment, Newsletter, November 2019, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 042019

By Anne-Marie Lambert If only the 504 gallons of household wastewater which had been pouring into Wellington Brook and Winn’s Brook through underground culverts every day had been more visible, perhaps we as a town would have addressed the necessary repairs more urgently. That’s what Belmont did when a student noticed an oil spill leaking into Clay Pit Pond during a freeze on December 12, 2003. A ruptured return line to the underground storage tank at Mary Lee Burbank Elementary school travelled through the town’s storm drain system carrying 1,000 gallons of oil to Clay Pit Pond. Alerted to the [READ MORE]

Rogers Works to Keep Rivers Flowing

March 2015, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 122015

By Dave Rogers On November 4, 2014, at an event at Habitat here in Belmont, I was honored to receive a Rivers Friend Award from the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance. I received the award for my work supporting increased Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) funding and my successful efforts to protect the rollout of major changes to water supply rules in Massachusetts. Both of these issues are important for those of us concerned about careful environmental stewardship. Between 2008 and 2012, battered by the decline in state revenue caused by the global recession, funding for DEP was cut dramatically. Although [READ MORE]

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