BBC Asks for Federal Help with NB Sewer Overflows
The following letter was sent to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Markey and Congressman William Keating:
We, the undersigned 388 residents of Massachusetts and 16 other states, write to you today to urge you to secure new federal funding for the cleanup of City of New Bedford’s sewer system. We are part of the 1,733 people who have put our own bodies and our desire for a cleaner urban environment into New Bedford Harbor as part of the Buzzards Bay SWIM since 1994.
The SWIM was started by City residents who wanted to draw attention to water quality issues in New Bedford Harbor and make a physical statement that everyone has a right to clean water in their community. Since then, the event has grown to become one of our region’s largest outdoor events and raises critical funds to support the work of the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
That 29-year proud legacy was shattered this year when on June 21st the SWIM was canceled because of a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) from the New Bedford sewer system. The evening before our SWIM, 7.25 Million gallons of sewage contaminated water was released into the Harbor, 2.25 Million of it adjacent to the Swim Start Line and the City’s popular swimming beaches.
It is entirely unacceptable that such an event still happens in our Bay in the year 2024.
Built in 1852, the City of New Bedford’s sewer system includes 27 CSO pipes designed to release sewage and road runoff when it rains. They are connected to 254 miles of sewer lines beneath the city, representing an enormous infrastructure challenge for this community. Most rains these days result in some amount of raw sewage discharge in the City, which are now regularly reported on a real-time city website (https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/public-infrastructure/wastewater/new-bedford-cso-report/)
This continues to happen in New Bedford despite decades of improvements to the wastewater system which have cost taxpayers $602 million since 1990. These investments have produced a >90% reduction in CSO volumes and have led to visible improvements to Harbor water quality. We all have experienced these positive changes as swimmers each year.
Yet, unacceptable CSO discharges continue. Current City estimates suggest that another $1.2 Billion is needed to eliminate this nineteenth-century problem from our waters. City residents who already pay high sewer rates cannot be expected to foot this bill. But it must be corrected. We all benefit from clean water in southeastern MA, not just swimmers, but our region’s aquaculture and wild shellfish industry, tourism base, and New Bedford’s continued economic development demand it.
That’s why we are reaching out to you to do much more to help the City of New Bedford fix this problem once and for all. We need $1.2 Billion, a cost that no longer feels outlandish with the same amount recently being awarded for Phase I of the Cape Cod Canal bridges project. New Bedford and Buzzards Bay’s future depends on clean and safe water, just as the Cape’s economy depends on those bridges.
We stand ready to assist you in this appeal and advocate on behalf of this issue wherever needed. We are supported in this effort by the staff and volunteers of the Buzzards Bay Coalition and ask that you communicate with Mark Rasmussen (rasmussen@savebuzzardsbay.org) and Korrin Petersen (petersen@savebuzzrdsbay.org) of the Coalition in response to this letter.
Mark Rasmussen, President of Buzzards Bay Coalition on behalf of 388 individual Signers
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