Boston Massachusetts has one of the longest histories
of any city in the United States. A dark side of that long
history is that since the earliest colonial times, sewage
and other waste has been dumped into it's harbor,
either directly, or indirectly by dumping into the Charles,
and other rivers. By the mid to late 1800's increasing
cholera and typhoid epidemics were being blamed on the
sewage in the harbor. A Special Legislative Commission in
1939 called the condition of the harbor "revolting". Still
the dumping of sewage continued.
By the early 1980's Boston Harbor had the reputation of being the most polluted in the country. In 1982 the Metropolitan District Commission (or "MDC" - which was established in 1919), the Environmental Protection Agency and others were sued for violating the 1972 Clean Water Act. In 1985 Boston was ordered to improve sewage treatment, and subjected to a schedule set up by a court. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) was formed to take over management of water and sewer services for the Boston area. It launched the Boston Harbor Project, an 11-year, $3.6 billion project. It is 94% complete. The dumping of sludge in the harbor was ended in 1991.
Wave and tidal action has flushed the harbor and increased the oxygen in the bottom sediments. The floor of the harbor is being recolonized by small, bottom-dwelling animals. Harbor porpoises, seals, and herring, bluefish, striped bass and cod have also been seen in the harbor. Beach closings due to high bacteria counts have decreased. Toxic contaminations of fish, such as liver lesions and tumors, have declined. The Boston Harbor recovery project is widely hailed as one of the success stories of environmental legislation.
To be fair though, not everyone is happy with the harbor
cleanup. Key components of the cleanup are the sewage
treatment plants in Lynn and Salem Massachusetts. In 1998,
lobstermen said that their catch was disappearing from
previously productive beds off Lynn and Salem. The
lobstermen expressed fear that the same fate would befall
lobster beds in and around Boston Harbor proper after the
Deer Island treatment plant (pictured at left) went on line. Scientists
admitted to not being certain why the lobster beds became
sterile. There were theories of course. Lobsters, like a
lot of life, need clean water, but not too sterile. The
problem could be linked
to the effect from de-chlorination of treatment chemicals.
"In Lynn, the sewage plant chlorinates heavily in the summer
to keep down the fecal coliform counts on the beaches.
But to neutralize the chlorine, they add sodium thiosulfate
or sodium bisulfite. When mixed, the chemicals promote
conditions that degrade marine habitats," said Dr.
Joseph Ayers, director of Northeastern University's Marine
Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts. Another issue is
the release of millions of gallons of freshwater into sea.
Certainly there will be a negative effect until the
fresh water mixes with the salt.
Beyond the interplay of one effect upon another, the larger lesson is that tipping the balance of nature in any direction is complex and dangerous. Overall though, there is a dramatic, undeniable improvement in the water quality of Boston Harbor. Even as late as the early 1980's, few would have believed that the harbor could have been cleaned up at all, and certainly not this quickly. But it happened.
Sources:
"Seabits" The newsletter of the New England Aquarium
The University of Rochester's report on the Boston Harbor
Cleanup
"E/The Environmental Magazine"
September/October 1998 edition