1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WVS, Boston's news radio. 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 2: All Right, it's been a fun Friday night already, and 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 2: we're gonna keep it going here. We're going to talk 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: about a serious subject now, and this is a subject 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 2: that I'm gonna be very honest with you. 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 3: I was surprised by this. 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 2: I saw a piece by Lance Reynolds over the weekend, 8 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 2: a really good reporter and writer at the Boston Herald, 9 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 2: and the headline caught my attention said authority punts on 10 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 2: Charles River sewage dump. So I went into this and 11 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 2: I looked at it. I thought, in all honesty, that 12 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 2: the Charles River, along with the Boston Harbor, had pretty 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 2: much been cleaned up. But when I read the article, 14 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 2: I realized that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority pretty good 15 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 2: opening line by by Lance Reynolds and the Herald, he writes, 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 2: the Massachusetts Water Recas Sources Authority may have been caught 17 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 2: loving that dirty water a little too much, as its 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,199 Speaker 2: board has halted a proposal that clean water advocates fear 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 2: would dump sewage into the Chiles River forever, so deeper 20 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 2: into peace. We were introduced to my next guest, and 21 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 2: that's what that is how we got to this topic tonight. 22 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 2: So I just want to welcome Emily Norton to the program. 23 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 2: Emily is the executive director of the Chiles River Watershed Association, 24 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 2: and we had a great conversation today with Emily about this. 25 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 2: It's a little complicated, but apparently the Chiles River does 26 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 2: to this day still end up with some sewage in 27 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: the in the Charles River. It looks a lot nicer, 28 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 2: but it's not quite there yet. And em Norton, Welcome 29 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 2: to Nightside. 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 4: How are you great? 31 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 5: How are you Dan? Thank you so much for having me. 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 2: Well, my pleasure you You've explained it to me very 33 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 2: well today, which I do appreciate, and I know that 34 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 2: you're going to be able to explain this very well 35 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 2: to to our listeners. Let's just let's just start at 36 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 2: the basics. Is it the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority that 37 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 2: in effect is charged with the responsibility of making sure 38 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 2: that the Charles River stays as as fishable and as 39 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 2: swimmable and as botable as possible. 40 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 5: Yeah, so, folks who have lived in the area for 41 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 5: a long time remember that the harbor used to be disgusting, 42 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,359 Speaker 5: the river used to be disgusting. And there's a big lawsuit, 43 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 5: the Boston Harbor lawsuit. It was a presidential campaign issue. 44 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 5: You had George H. W. Bush coming to Boston to 45 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 5: embarrass Mike Ducacus with the most polluted harbor in America. 46 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 5: And that lawsuit led to the building. 47 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 4: Of the creation of the. 48 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 5: M w r A. 49 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 3: And by the way, that plan right. 50 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 2: My good friend, the late great Judge Paul Garrity was 51 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:17,679 Speaker 2: known as the sledge Judge. 52 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 4: Yes, yes, he was a hero. 53 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 5: At one point he actually to force the legislature and 54 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 5: the governor to act. He shut down all the new 55 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 5: sewer connections and basically the eastern part of Massachusetts to 56 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 5: get people's attention, and it did get their attention. 57 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 3: He was a tough judge. 58 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 2: He ruled, He ruled against me in one case as 59 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 2: a young lawyer that I always used to hector him 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 2: about that as I got to know him a little 61 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 2: bit better. 62 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,119 Speaker 3: But he was a really good judge. 63 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 2: Uh and uh so, so we're going to do the 64 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 2: history here, so most. 65 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 5: People you owe him a debt of gratitude. 66 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 4: But basically because of that. 67 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 5: Lawsuit, the MW's formed and literally about five billion dollars 68 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 5: have been spent since that time on Deer Island and 69 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 5: sewer separations and various other infrastructure upgrades, and the river 70 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 5: is much cleaner, the harbor is much cleaner. 71 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 4: You see whales. 72 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 5: You never want to see whales or anything really alive 73 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 5: in the harbor back then. So a big challenge from 74 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 5: my perspective in our organization is that a lot of 75 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 5: times people think, oh, well, the work is done, because 76 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 5: the river looks so much better, doesn't smell like sewage. 77 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 5: You don't see nasty stuff floating by you anymore. But actually, 78 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 5: in every rainstorm, every major rainstorm, and sometimes even small rainstorms, 79 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 5: we still have raw sewage being discharged into the Charles River. 80 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 5: There are nine locations where's it's called a CSO or 81 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 5: combined sewer overflow, but it's basically an outfall where you 82 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 5: have a sewer pipe and a stormwater pipe all combining 83 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 5: in the same pipe, and so in a big rainstorm, 84 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 5: the rain overwhelms the capacity of the pipe and it 85 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 5: doesn't allow the sewage to continue on its way to 86 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 5: Deer Island. And if you didn't release it into the river, 87 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 5: you would have sewage back cuts in the streets and 88 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 5: people's homes and businesses obviously unacceptable. So it's really an 89 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 5: infrastructure problem. And the short way of saying it is 90 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 5: the MWRA hasn't finished the job, okay, But. 91 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 3: At the same time, to finish their job is going 92 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 3: to cost money. 93 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 2: And we're better off today than we would have been 94 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 2: if the MWRA had not been created as a result 95 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 2: of Judge Garrity's decision. 96 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 3: Is that a fear assessment much better? 97 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 5: Yeah, the Mbray deserves a lot of credit, and the 98 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 5: cities of Summerville and Cambridge have done a lot, as 99 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 5: well as other communities. The other entity that deserves a 100 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 5: lot of credit are the rate payers who have paid 101 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 5: for all of this. 102 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 2: And someone has to pay for emily, that's for sure. 103 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 2: Go ahead, it's always going to be us. 104 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 5: They get the credit because they've been paying and they 105 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 5: should get the benefit of finishing the job. And I'll 106 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 5: just remind people that the nineteen seventy two Clean Water 107 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 5: Act promised fishable swimmable rivers by nineteen eighty three. Well, 108 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 5: the Charles is not swimmable in the area between Willfam 109 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 5: to Boston. You know where the population density is because 110 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 5: of these sewage discharges. That's where the sewage is still 111 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 5: being is still being released. 112 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 3: So what happened there was an effort by the MWRA to, 113 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 3: in effect, I think, if I put it into Layman's parlance, 114 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 3: to basically loosen the restrictions that the MWRA. 115 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 2: Has to work with. That's what it sounded to me 116 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 2: like they were proposing that this was the motion that 117 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:42,040 Speaker 2: was tabled. 118 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 5: Right or wrong, that's right and the simplest way I 119 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 5: can describe it. So, the Clean Water Act doesn't allow sewage. 120 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 4: To be discharged into rivers. 121 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 5: It requires states to set what's called water quality standards 122 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 5: for their water bodies. So in Massachusetts we do that 123 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 5: by putting various classifications on our water bodies, and the 124 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 5: Charles gets a Class B. And what that means today 125 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 5: is that you're not allowed to dump sewage in it. 126 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 4: The only reason that. 127 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 5: The MWA in the City of Cambridge are dumping sewage 128 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 5: is that they get what's called a variance from these 129 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 5: water quality standards. And it's not to get out of 130 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 5: jail free card. It's a because infrastructure takes a while 131 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 5: and is expensive and so forth. 132 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 4: To fix it gives you a. 133 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 5: Time period of three years or five years in order 134 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 5: to show progress toward elimination of these sewage discharged That's 135 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 5: what it's for. What MWA is proposing is to change 136 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 5: the classification to downgrade it basically to one it's called BCSO. 137 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 5: But that doesn't matter. What matters is there would be 138 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 5: no legal leverage from US or anyone else to say, MWRA, 139 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 5: you have to stop dumping sewage in the river. They 140 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 5: would literally be allowed to do that forever. So what 141 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 5: they're proposing is pretty outrageous. 142 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 2: Now, they would argue, correct me if I'm wrong. I 143 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 2: think I took from our conversation today. They would argue 144 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 2: that in order to do what the Clean Water Act 145 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 2: of nineteen seventy two or seventy three is demanding, is 146 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 2: even though it's fifty years later, they're going to have 147 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: to spend some money. And the way they're going to 148 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 2: have to get that money is basically charge the forty 149 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 2: one cities and towns that are part of the MWRA. 150 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 2: And they still don't even know how much money it 151 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 2: might take to complete the job. 152 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: Is that a fear? 153 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 5: Yeah, that is a fair assessment. So they were required 154 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 5: under their variants to put together a bunch of options, 155 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 5: and they chose the option that was the least amount 156 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 5: of sewage control in the future at a cost of 157 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 5: three hundred and sixty million dollars in the Charles. This 158 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 5: whole thing does also include the Mystic River, but you know, 159 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,319 Speaker 5: for the sake of keeping and simple, I'll. 160 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 3: Talk about the Charles. 161 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 5: So they're proposing something that would cost three hundred and 162 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 5: sixty million over the next several decades. And just for context, 163 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 5: in twenty thirteen, they finished construction of a storage tunnel 164 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 5: in South Boston in order to reduce the sewage releases 165 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 5: that were affecting Carson Beach. Carson Beach was having to 166 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 5: be closed for safety and so forth. 167 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 4: That cost two hundred. 168 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 5: Twenty five million, which today would be over three hundred million. 169 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,199 Speaker 4: So where was the outrage? Where was the. 170 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 5: Pearl clutching at the cost of that tunnel. I am 171 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 5: glad they did that tunnel. I am glad that people 172 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 5: can swim at Carson Beach safely. Why shouldn't people in 173 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,959 Speaker 5: the area around the Charles get the same opportunity. So 174 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 5: that's why we would like to see a wider conversation 175 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 5: to tell the public, Hey, how important is it to 176 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 5: you to reopen beaches? There used to be seven beaches 177 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 5: between Watertown and Boston on the Charles people have probably 178 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 5: heard of magazine. 179 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 4: Just called that because there was a beach there. 180 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 5: So how important is it that the river would be 181 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 5: clean virtually all of the time, cleaning up for swimming. 182 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 5: And if that's important, then speak up. That's what That's 183 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 5: what we're trying to do with our we call it 184 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 5: cut the Crap campaign, I know, very subtle, to help 185 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 5: people say, hey, if this matters to you and this 186 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 5: is what you would like to see public dollars spent on, 187 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 5: then speak up, because they're just making these assumptions that 188 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 5: people aren't willing to spend the money. Well, we spent 189 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 5: it in South Boston, why wouldn't we spend it in 190 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 5: Cambridge in Boston. 191 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 3: Now, how much again, was spent for christ and Beach 192 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 3: in Toto. 193 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 5: That was at the time around two hundred and twenty 194 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 5: five million, okay, which. 195 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,199 Speaker 3: Would be about, as you said, three hundred million today. 196 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 5: Yeah, a little over three hundred million today. And it 197 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 5: was a big tunnel two and a half miles long, 198 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 5: seventeen feet in diameter. I mean, these are massive tunnels 199 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:52,679 Speaker 5: to hold in the volume. 200 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 2: Of compere that expenditure in twenty thirteen to what they 201 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,559 Speaker 2: are proposed to do. You said that they took the 202 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 2: least expensive option to solve the problem of the trials, 203 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 2: which sounds to me like it's a much bigger problem 204 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 2: because the number of pipes that are involved, and they're 205 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 2: basically they said three hundred and sixty million dollars, so 206 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:20,199 Speaker 2: they're essentially trying to end that's. 207 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 5: The minimum what they what the minimum they've said the 208 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 5: cost would be to actually solve the problem would be 209 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 5: a little over two billion. Now that might sound like 210 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 5: a lot, keep in mind there are forty three communities 211 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 5: that get sewer from MWA, around. 212 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 6: Two million people. 213 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 5: We have not seen what the impact on rates on 214 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,839 Speaker 5: rate pairs would be, and obviously that is a really 215 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 5: important detail, so we will be looking for that. We 216 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 5: have hired our own analysts to kick the tires on 217 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 5: the numbers that they give us a big I believe 218 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 5: in trust, but verify, so we will do it. Be 219 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 5: doing our best to improve and increase the transparency. 220 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 2: When we get back after the break, what I want 221 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 2: to do is I want to talk with you a 222 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 2: little bit about the standing and the history of the 223 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 2: Charles River Water Shared Association and how that interacts here. 224 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 2: And I also want to talk to you about our 225 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 2: state Rainy Day Fund. We have a rainy Day Fund, 226 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 2: as I'm sure you probably know, almost nine billion. 227 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: Dollars million billion dollars. 228 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 2: And it would seem to me that this is a 229 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 2: project that that could be could be helped immensely by 230 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 2: some sort of a contribution from the Rainy Day Fund, 231 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,559 Speaker 2: and I want to ask you about that possibility as well. 232 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 2: But in the meantime, I'd like to invite our listeners 233 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,960 Speaker 2: to join the conversation because this is a subject that 234 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 2: I am not as well versed in as I am 235 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 2: on some subjects. You have caught me up to brought 236 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 2: me up to date today, which has been great, and 237 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 2: we had a conversation this afternoon, and we will continue 238 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 2: our conversation and invite callers to join us at six 239 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 2: one seven, two five four ten thirty or six one 240 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 2: seven nine three one ten thirty. I would love to 241 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,680 Speaker 2: do an hour on this because, frankly, I think it's 242 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 2: a really important issue for everyone who lives within the 243 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 2: Greater Boston community, whether you are a swimmer or a boater, 244 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 2: or or somebody who just likes to walk along the 245 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 2: Charles After all this time and all this money, you 246 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 2: would think that we could have a river that could 247 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 2: that we could be truly proud of. And I think 248 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:30,959 Speaker 2: we have a little ways to go. Six one, seven, two, five, 249 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. 250 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 2: I'm back with my guest, Emily Norton, who's the executive 251 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,080 Speaker 2: director of the Charles River Watershed Wrawn to Shed Association, 252 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 2: which is, as I understand, and it seems to me 253 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 2: trying to keep the nwr R a honest on this. 254 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 2: We'll be back on nights Side right after this quick 255 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 2: commercial break. 256 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray. I'MBS Boston's news Radio. 257 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 2: We are talking with she's the executive director of the 258 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 2: Charles River Watershed Association, and I don't want to say 259 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 2: they're in a battle, but they are keeping tabs on 260 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 2: what the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Resources Authority is doing 261 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 2: in terms of keeping the Charles River swimmable, votable, and 262 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 2: just clean as clean as it should be. So Emily, 263 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 2: give us the background about your group and what you're 264 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 2: standing is in relationship to. 265 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 3: The mwr Sure. 266 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 5: So we were founded literally sixty years ago this year 267 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 5: by a group of regular people who just did not 268 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 5: accept the conventional wisdom at the time that the Charles 269 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 5: could not be cleaned up, and that was literally what 270 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 5: people thought it was impossible to do. And that's why 271 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 5: I know how important it is for regular people now 272 00:14:55,120 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 5: because this group was instrumental in many of the the 273 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 5: stages of clean up that we've seen. We were not 274 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 5: involved in the original lawsuit that was Conservation Law Foundation, 275 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 5: who we still partner with quite a bit, but today 276 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 5: we are the key group that is taking care of 277 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 5: the river, not only in this area but all the 278 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 5: way up to Hopkinton where the river begins. And so 279 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 5: whether it's dam removal or invasives removal, reducing stormwater pollution, 280 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 5: there's lots of threats to the river in addition to 281 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 5: helping manage helping city and towns manage their stormwater differently 282 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 5: in order to prevent flooding. So really when it comes 283 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 5: to anything related to water rain the river in our 284 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 5: thirty five city in town watershed, we are the key 285 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 5: group working on that. 286 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 3: Now. 287 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 2: I assume that you almost have automatic standing if you 288 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 2: would if it was necessary for you to actually take 289 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 2: the Charles River the mwra to court correct. 290 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 5: Actually no or not. We were a much smaller group 291 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 5: back in the eighties. We were not. We are not 292 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 5: parties to the lawsuit. But good question, because we just 293 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 5: filed a motion to intervene three days ago to become parties, 294 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 5: and we the argument that we made to the judge 295 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 5: is that if you that this threat is basically an 296 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 5: existential threat to the Charles, and we are the key 297 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 5: group who's looking out for the Charles, So it really 298 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 5: does make sense for us to to have to have 299 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 5: a seat at the table in any kind of negotiations 300 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 5: or settlement talks or so forth. 301 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, I would assume that the mw r A lawyers 302 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 2: would not object to you participating and being given Well. 303 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 4: We shall we shall see about that. 304 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 2: Well do you have is your relationship contentious or at 305 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 2: least if not friendly, a professional and respectful relationship ship Both. 306 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 5: Ways, it's friendly and professional. But we have clearly been ignored. 307 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:07,640 Speaker 5: There's been a long public process for years, and we 308 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 5: were still blindsided. We were not given notice of what 309 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 5: they were going to be proposing, and we were shocked. 310 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 5: So I guess our relationship was not as good as 311 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 5: I actually thought it was. 312 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 2: Okay, well, this is the way you find things out, 313 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,640 Speaker 2: and yeah, I we will be coming up on our 314 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 2: news break at the bottom of the hour, so I'm 315 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 2: going to have to uh, you know, you know, just 316 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 2: take a quick break and then we'll get to some 317 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 2: phone calls. But I it sounds to me like you 318 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 2: folks are doing the work on behalf of all of 319 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 2: us in the in the great of Boston area for 320 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 2: that matter, in New England, to to basically hold the 321 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 2: m w RA hold their feet to the fire in 322 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 2: the best sense of the word, to make sure that 323 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 2: there's someone watching what they do. Obviously, without your presence, 324 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 2: I'm not sure that that motion might not have just 325 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 2: passed and have not have been tabled. They they knew 326 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 2: that that that you folks were aware of it, and 327 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 2: I'm sure that that influence what they decided to do 328 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 2: earlier this week, which I think is if nothing else, 329 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 2: is saying let's slow down this process and let's make 330 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 2: sure that we have some stakeholders involved in this process, 331 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,919 Speaker 2: because other than that, we're just wasting time and money 332 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 2: and making no not advancing in any way, shape or 333 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 2: form towards what we all want, which is clean water 334 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,479 Speaker 2: in the Charles River. So on that positive point, and 335 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 2: I hope that Fred Laski and some of the MWR 336 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,120 Speaker 2: people are listening, and if they want to call in, 337 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 2: they are more than welcome to. And if you, as listeners, 338 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 2: want to call in, if you want to actually encourage 339 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:44,239 Speaker 2: what Emily Norton and the Charles River Watershed Association is 340 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 2: doing in order to try to make this river as 341 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 2: clean and as livable. 342 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,919 Speaker 3: And as we say, as. 343 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 2: Swimmable and as botable as possible, that's great. If you 344 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 2: have a legitimate question that I have not covered, and 345 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 2: I'm sure there are many six one seven, four thirty, 346 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 2: six one seven, nine, one ten thirty, I will admit 347 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 2: that this is not an area that I have any 348 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 2: particular expertise in. So if you would like to help 349 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 2: with any parts of the story that perhaps I haven't explained, 350 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 2: that I haven't asked questions which would allow Emily to explain, 351 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 2: do not hesitate to join the conversation. We'll be back 352 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 2: right after the news at the bottom of the hour. 353 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,719 Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's 354 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: news radio. 355 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 3: We're talking with Emily Norton. 356 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 2: She's the executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association. 357 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 2: UH and they are in a bit of a I 358 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 2: guess you call it a little bit of a dispute 359 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 2: with the Massachusetts Water Resources Association. The also authority excuse 360 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 2: me again, authority in associations mixed up the MWRA, which 361 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 2: is in charge of cleaning up the Charles River. And 362 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 2: let's get some phone call in here for you, Emily 363 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,919 Speaker 2: and see what folks either want to ask or comment. 364 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 2: And by the way, the only lines that remain open 365 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 2: are the six one seven. Let me go first to Kristin. 366 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 2: Who's who's calling in from Arlington. Kristen, thanks for checking in. 367 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 2: You're on with Emily Norton, the executive director of the 368 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 2: Charles River Watershed Association. Kristin, go right ahead. 369 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 7: Hello, Emily Norton. My name is Kristin Anderson. I live 370 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 7: in Arlington, and I had mwra's nasty raw sewage in 371 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 7: my yard and in my house. It came right in 372 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 7: through the back door from elwife Brook during a flood. 373 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 7: I got sick from it. My neighbors got sick. This 374 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 7: is gross, painful, bloody diarrhea, dysenterry. We had no idea 375 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 7: what was in the water. And after the flood water 376 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 7: receded We saw used condoms and tampons and toilet paper 377 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:03,159 Speaker 7: in the yard. Is disgusting. Nobody can believe that tens 378 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 7: of millions of gallons of raw sewage is dumped into 379 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 7: Elwifebrook every year. No one can believe this is happening 380 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 7: in twenty twenty five. Alwife Brooks flooded over its bank 381 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 7: five times in twenty twenty three, and that floodwater goes 382 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 7: into the DCR parkland and into Alwife bike path, and 383 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 7: so children are riding bikes through the sewage on the 384 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 7: bike path, parents are pushing baby strollers through it. MWRA 385 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,479 Speaker 7: is using Elwifebrook and the Charles River as an open 386 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 7: sewer for their failing sewer system. And now you know, 387 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 7: the state has the opportunity to fix this problem, and 388 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 7: MWRA is trying to make it worse by changing the 389 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 7: rules and rolling back decades of progress. 390 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 4: It's really. 391 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 7: It's it's awful, and so thank you. Thank you for 392 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 7: speaking out against it, and thank you for all the 393 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 7: good work that you're doing on this. 394 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 3: Kristin. By the way, this. 395 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 2: No I just want to ask a question of Kristin. Kristin, 396 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 2: did you or any of your neighbors have a legal 397 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 2: action against the m w R for their failure to 398 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 2: keep you know, that raw sewage out of your backyard 399 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 2: and your house. 400 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 3: That what did this happen this year? Or was it? 401 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 3: Was it this show prior to. 402 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 7: Well, I had I had to move uphill because I 403 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 7: this this happened multiple times when I was living next. 404 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 4: To the Brooks. 405 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 7: So I moved uphill. 406 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 6: Okay, And uh. 407 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 3: And when you're when you're in. 408 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 2: The higher and when you're in the higher ground, obviously 409 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 2: you now have immunized yourself from this. But did you 410 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,199 Speaker 2: take any action? Was was there any way that you 411 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 2: and your neighbors could could file a lawsuit against the 412 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:55,879 Speaker 2: n w R. A sounds to me like they have 413 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 2: some responsibility and that I did you cancile the journey? 414 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 7: Well, there's just this, there's this, there's this terrible, very 415 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 7: long regulatory process, and we're we're I haven't stopped caring 416 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 7: about this, and I haven't stopped working on this, and 417 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:23,199 Speaker 7: we're now at this point, this pivotal moment where we 418 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 7: could see improvements. And I know and at Old Wife Brooks, 419 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 7: half the work has been done already with projects that 420 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 7: were finished from the Boston Harbor cleanup. 421 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 4: They were. 422 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 7: They were finished in twenty fifteen, ten years ago. 423 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,119 Speaker 4: And so I've been. 424 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,880 Speaker 7: Going to all these meetings with MWR. I see Emily 425 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 7: Norton there at these meetings, and we all believed that 426 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 7: MWR was going to work towards trying to fix this problem, 427 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 7: to improve things. And all this time we wasted going 428 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 7: to these meetings and talking to that. 429 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 3: Have you ever have you ever spoken directly? 430 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 2: I believe the the head of the NWRA is a 431 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 2: gentleman my named of Fred LASKI. 432 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 3: Have you had a chance to speak to him personally? 433 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,640 Speaker 7: I spoke to him a few years ago and he 434 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 7: just said, Oh, this is all so complicated, it's really 435 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 7: hard challenging to figure this out. 436 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:21,879 Speaker 3: Okay. 437 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 7: And then they say that it's expensive, But I did 438 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 7: the math on it, and we've looked at their plans. 439 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 7: At least for alwife Brook, it would cost like basically 440 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 7: there because there are a million households in the mwres 441 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 7: sewer system sewer communities, and thirty five percent of the 442 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 7: flows come from non residential like businesses. You know, restaurants 443 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,360 Speaker 7: use a lot of water. And when you divide up 444 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 7: the cost of these projects for elwife Brook at least 445 00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 7: it would cost the households in the MWR system about 446 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:03,120 Speaker 7: about a cup of coffee. 447 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 6: What a cup of. 448 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 7: Coffee and a donut costs for each of their in 449 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 7: each of their quarterly bills, it would be like less 450 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 7: than five dollars twenty. 451 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 3: Dollars a year, say twenty dollars a year. Okay, so 452 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 3: that would solve all wrong, that's right. 453 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,679 Speaker 7: Yeah, So they say that it's expensive, but then they 454 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 7: don't say how much it's actually going to cost people. 455 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 7: And their plans are just terrible. Their plans are all 456 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 7: meant to be rejected. 457 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 2: Christy, can I share with you another piece of information 458 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 2: and Emily is aware of this. You know, we have 459 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 2: what's called the Rainy Day Fund in Massachusetts. Do you 460 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 2: know how much money is in our rainy day fund? 461 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,120 Speaker 2: Which is essentially a bank account in Massachusetts right now? 462 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 2: I learned this with all the conversation earlier this month 463 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 2: about the snap benefits that were being withheld. We have 464 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 2: almost nine billion dollars in a rainy day fund. Why 465 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 2: are we not using some of that money to fix 466 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 2: this daly important problem? Emily, I'll direct that question to 467 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 2: you because you probably have a better view than Kristen does, 468 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 2: but I wanted Kristen to be aware of Are you 469 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 2: aware of what I just told you, Kristen or no? 470 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 7: No, I I've just been paying attention to the fact 471 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 7: that MWRA they have a system for paying for this. 472 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:22,680 Speaker 7: It is. 473 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 2: But what I'm saying is, we have in Massachusetts. We 474 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 2: have a budget, a state budget in Massachusetts every year 475 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,120 Speaker 2: of sixty two billion dollars, and we have a rainy 476 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 2: day fund which is now nearly nine billion dollars. A 477 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 2: few years ago, when our budget was smaller, our rainy 478 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 2: day fund would be like a billion dollars or maybe 479 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 2: a billion and a half dollars. It is ballooned to 480 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 2: nine billion dollars and nothing has been touched on it, 481 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 2: and I don't understand why they're holding that money off. 482 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:55,439 Speaker 3: What you know? Are you familiar with that number? I 483 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:57,199 Speaker 3: assume are you, Emily or no? 484 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I am familiar with it. And what I 485 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 5: would say to that is, right now, the public conversation 486 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 5: is do we finish the job, do we eliminate these 487 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 5: sewage discharges or do we let them continue forever? What 488 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 5: I think instead the public conversation should be we all 489 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,399 Speaker 5: agree we're going to finish the job. Let's talk about 490 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 5: all the engineering options, Let's talk about all the green 491 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 5: infrastructure options. We even talk about that, Let's talk about 492 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,679 Speaker 5: all the ways to pay for it. And maybe it 493 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,199 Speaker 5: doesn't need to fall directly on. 494 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,199 Speaker 4: The rate payers. We need to figure out exactly, but 495 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 4: maybe day fund. Yeah. Another option I was just going 496 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,119 Speaker 4: to say is the is on the Cape. There's a 497 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 4: two point. 498 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 5: Seventy five percent excise tax on Airbnb and it goes 499 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 5: into the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund. I mean, 500 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 5: you could do a whole show on Cape water and 501 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,119 Speaker 5: they've got a lot of challenges. But I'm just saying, 502 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,600 Speaker 5: don't let it be that there's not enough money. 503 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 4: Have a conversation about all the. 504 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 5: Money fund, Emily. 505 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 2: What I'm trying to say is that the money exists 506 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:04,239 Speaker 2: in the eight point it's almost nine billion dollars, and 507 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 2: it's sitting there untapped. 508 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 5: I don't know why we don't touch it more often. 509 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 5: I really don't. 510 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,479 Speaker 2: That's I'm saying we could grow it to make it, 511 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 2: you know, one hundred billion dollars. What good does it 512 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:18,400 Speaker 2: do if it's sitting there and serious problems like you've identified, 513 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 2: and very serious problems like Kristen has just identified that 514 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 2: money is excess taxes that have been collected over time, 515 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:33,919 Speaker 2: and that as a percentage of our state budget, that 516 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 2: eight billion dollars is now about thirteen fourteen percent, which 517 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 2: is a hugely big number compared to what the Rainy 518 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 2: Day Fund has traditionally been in Massachusetts. I just want 519 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 2: to have both of you know that information. I'm giving 520 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 2: you statistics that are accurate because I saw all of 521 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 2: these numbers dealing with the SNAP arguments and how we 522 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 2: would fund the SNAP benefits when the federal government was 523 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 2: threatening to withhold that money. 524 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 3: Kristin, thank you for calling. You've been a great. 525 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 2: Caller, and you have reached I think a lot of people, 526 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 2: and I hope that you might and others might start 527 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 2: to think about this money that is sitting there that 528 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 2: could be used quickly to do whatever we need to 529 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 2: do to accomplish what Emily and the Charles River Water 530 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 2: Shed Association wants to be done. 531 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 7: Okay, But but all I want to say though, is 532 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 7: that m WRRA has a funding mechanism and that is 533 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 7: through the rate pairs, and they have a great like 534 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 7: triple A bond rating. Right now, their bond rating has 535 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 7: just been. 536 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 4: Improved. 537 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:45,959 Speaker 7: And Fred Laski is like basically like a bean counter 538 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 7: and he needs to take a step back and realize 539 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 7: that there are things more that are more important than 540 00:29:54,760 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 7: saving money, and that is people's health, environmental get. 541 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 2: I get your point. I have basically pointed to you 542 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 2: and to and to Emily an amount of money that 543 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 2: is sitting there. We can go through all of the 544 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 2: political dynamics of trying to raise people's property taxes five 545 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 2: dollars every quarter and tell them it's only a cup 546 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 2: of coffee. 547 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 3: It's they could write a check. 548 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 2: Tomorrow, is what I'm trying to say. You know again, 549 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 2: I want to see this done. Uh and and and 550 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 2: let's do it as simply and as if the Rainy 551 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 2: Day Fund didn't exist and that money didn't exist, we 552 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 2: would have to talk about, oh, it's only going to 553 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 2: be a cup of coffee and a donut four times 554 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 2: a year. It's twenty dollars per household or whatever. But 555 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 2: that's going to take time. 556 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 3: And anyway, I feel like you're making a great point. 557 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 3: D Yeah, that's thank you. 558 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 2: I just feel sometimes frustrated that people don't understand what 559 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 2: I'm talking about. 560 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 3: It's not some pie in the sky idea. This actually exists. 561 00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 3: Thank you, Kristin. Appreciate your call. Emily, thanks for the support. 562 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:00,560 Speaker 3: On that. 563 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 2: We're going to get back to more phone calls from 564 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 2: my guest, Emily Norton. She's the executive director of the 565 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 2: Charles River Watershed Association. UH let us take a quick 566 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 2: break one line at six one, seven, two, five, four 567 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 2: to ten thirty and one line at six one seven, 568 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 2: nine three one ten thirty. Sheila and Lucas stay right there. 569 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 2: I will get both of you on. I guarantee it. 570 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 2: I can't guarantee it for other callers, but if you 571 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 2: want to give it a shot, give it a shot. 572 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 2: We will change topics at ten o'clock in about thirteen 573 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 2: minutes from now. 574 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS, Boston's news radio. 575 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 3: Let's get back to the calls. Going to go to 576 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:37,240 Speaker 3: Shila and Waltham. 577 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 2: Sheila, welcome you next on Nightside with my guest, Emily Norton, 578 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 2: the executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association. 579 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 8: Emily, I want you to speak to the change in 580 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 8: political will because to answer Dan's question with regards to 581 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 8: why hasn't the rainy day fun venues. It has to 582 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 8: do with political will I remember on my birthday in 583 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 8: nineteen ninety six, two great and I repeat great environmentalists 584 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 8: diving into the Charles River after the passage of the 585 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 8: River's Protection Act. That was Governor William Well and Senator 586 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 8: Robert Durant. Would Governor Heally ever dive into the Charles River. 587 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 8: I want this to be viewed. I agree with your 588 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 8: last call, but I think the issue is being understated. 589 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 8: And I wish the Charles River Watershed Association with team 590 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 8: with public health advocates because the Charles River is part 591 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 8: of my life. I'm a cancer survivor. I'm a member 592 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 8: of the Wellness Warriors dragon boat team. We train on 593 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 8: the Charles River, and I cannot tell you how many 594 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 8: times we've had to cancel our practice because Fort Point 595 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 8: has excrement in it, because there's algae bloom. The head 596 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 8: of the Charles was on the verge of being canceled, 597 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 8: and surrounding states, including Connecticut, are considering suing. The Commonwealth 598 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 8: of Massachusetts are combined, who are overflowed is among the 599 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:05,600 Speaker 8: highest in the nation. This is more than an environmental issue. 600 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 8: This is a public health issue. So my question to 601 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 8: your guests is can you address how the change in 602 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 8: political will even interest in the environment has allowed us 603 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:17,760 Speaker 8: to happen. That's my question. 604 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 2: Okay, Sheila, good question, and thank you for the support 605 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 2: and focusing on the Rainy Day Fund. 606 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 3: I mean, the money is there, what are we waiting 607 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 3: for it? 608 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 5: Go right ahead, Emily, Sheila, thank you so much for 609 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 5: your call and your passion and your love for the Charles. 610 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 5: I can never be as eloquent as the people who 611 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 5: tell us their Charles River stories as Shila just did. 612 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 5: And I think a lot of the challenges that we've 613 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 5: been taking, all of us have been taking the river 614 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 5: for granted because it is so much cleaner. 615 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:50,239 Speaker 4: Than it was. 616 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 5: But I promise you political leaders, they are having our attention. Now. 617 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 5: We had close to ten thousand people submit emails and 618 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 5: messages into political leaders and leaders of the MWUAR and 619 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,120 Speaker 5: we need to keep that up. And that is how 620 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,440 Speaker 5: we're going to get the money. Where I like the 621 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,839 Speaker 5: Rainy Day Fund idea, but wherever it comes from, we 622 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,840 Speaker 5: will get the money. When when there's a One of 623 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,959 Speaker 5: my favorite quotes is Mahatma Gandhi said, when the people lead, 624 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,880 Speaker 5: the leaders will follow and I really think that's true. 625 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 8: All right, Gilt Letters, Thank you, Bye. 626 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 2: Chela, thank you so much for your call. It's a 627 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 2: great call. Let me go next to Lucas and Newton. Lucas, 628 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 2: you were next on night side, getting a little tight 629 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 2: on time with Emily and the executive director of the 630 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 2: Charles River Watershed Watershed Association. 631 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,759 Speaker 6: Good evening, Dan, How are you good? 632 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:41,360 Speaker 3: Do you want to speak of phone? Lucas? 633 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 6: No, I'm not. 634 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,839 Speaker 3: Okay, Well, please speak directly into the mouthpiece of your 635 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 3: phone so we can hear you clearly. Go right ahead. 636 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 6: Okay, that's better. 637 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 3: Much better, much better, go right ahead. 638 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:53,280 Speaker 7: All right. Good. 639 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 6: So I just want to say to you, Dan, thank 640 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,680 Speaker 6: you for covering the story earlier this year. Just you know, 641 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 6: I'm a city councilor in noon and I was listening 642 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,160 Speaker 6: to your show when you were talking about the lines 643 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 6: in Nonansum on Adam Street. 644 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 3: Absolutely, thank you so much. 645 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 6: I really appreciate that. But the other what I wanted 646 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 6: to say is to the Emily and the Charles River 647 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:20,359 Speaker 6: waters Association. Thank you so much for the work that 648 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:23,680 Speaker 6: you do in advocating for clean water. I mean, it's 649 00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 6: hard to believe in twenty twenty five that this is 650 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 6: still a debatable issue. And I and Dan I had 651 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 6: no idea there was nine billion dollars in the rainy 652 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,239 Speaker 6: day Fundy, sir, and. 653 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:38,399 Speaker 2: I learned that the only reason I'm not but I'm 654 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 2: not an investigator. 655 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 3: I learned that. 656 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:47,880 Speaker 2: And those numbers are correct at the snap benefits crisis 657 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 2: earlier this month, and the governor did not want to 658 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,880 Speaker 2: invade that corpus of money and that percentage of our budget, 659 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:56,880 Speaker 2: our budget which. 660 00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:57,560 Speaker 3: Has to be balanced. 661 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 2: I recognize that is sixty two billion dollar, but close 662 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 2: to nine billion dollars is essentially about getting close to fifteen. 663 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 3: Percent of the entire state budget. 664 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:10,440 Speaker 2: It used to be when we were in the twenty 665 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:12,920 Speaker 2: twenty five thirty billion dollar range. If you had a 666 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,359 Speaker 2: billion dollars in the rainy day fine, that was more 667 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 2: than enough. 668 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 3: We are way oversubscribed in the rainy day file. 669 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 6: Yeah. But my question to you, Emily, is where is 670 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 6: the governor and all this. She's been awfully quiet, and 671 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:31,480 Speaker 6: the legislature too, Like this is people's lives in public health, 672 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 6: you would assume that this would be a public health crisis. 673 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,880 Speaker 2: Okay, let's get it. We're getting tied on time. Let 674 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:39,400 Speaker 2: me give Emily a chance to respond. 675 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 3: Quickly. 676 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:41,640 Speaker 4: Go ahead, Emily, Yeah, super quickly. 677 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 5: I'm very pleased to tell you that the Secretary of 678 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,920 Speaker 5: Energy and Environment, Rebecca Tepper, is the chair of the 679 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 5: m board. She led on postponing the vote that was 680 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 5: supposed to happen last Wednesdays. We met with the Deep Commissioner. 681 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 5: They sent on Monday a very strongly worded letter to 682 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,319 Speaker 5: the mwar that they want them to change direction. So 683 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,759 Speaker 5: everything I've seen from the governor is what we want 684 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 5: to see. 685 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,120 Speaker 2: How about getting that secretary to ask the governor why 686 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:12,760 Speaker 2: why the rainy Day Fund is not being tapped? 687 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 5: Like I said, we gotta, we gotta, we gotta reframe it. 688 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 5: So we're talking about we're in agreement on reaching this goal. 689 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 5: We're not even there yet. So once we do, then 690 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:23,640 Speaker 5: we can talk about where the money comes from. And 691 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,359 Speaker 5: I agree with you, that totally makes sense. 692 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:27,000 Speaker 3: That's what I'm just saying. It's there. 693 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,920 Speaker 2: We could we could talk about, you know, collecting bottles 694 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,879 Speaker 2: and cans to clean up the river. But this eight 695 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:36,680 Speaker 2: point eight billion dollars sitting there. Hey, Lucas, thanks so much, 696 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,399 Speaker 2: Thanks for your service here in Newton, and we will 697 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:40,080 Speaker 2: have you back on. 698 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,799 Speaker 3: Some good Okay, thanks, ludis definitely right. 699 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 2: Let me get real quickly here if I can. Eric, 700 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:47,400 Speaker 2: you have just called in. I can give you about 701 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:48,879 Speaker 2: a minute. What can you do with it? 702 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 6: Can you hear me? 703 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 3: I can hear you. Fine, You've got about fifty seconds, 704 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 3: go right ahead. 705 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 9: I just want to say I'm on the Chambridge side 706 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 9: of the ls Brook, which is a lot smaller than 707 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,359 Speaker 9: Charles River and Mystic River. And when sewage goes into 708 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,160 Speaker 9: that little brook, you smell it. 709 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:04,399 Speaker 3: Man. 710 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,480 Speaker 9: I was walking into Davis Square last night and you 711 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,959 Speaker 9: could smell the stench. So yeah, let's finish the job. 712 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:12,960 Speaker 9: You know, we thought we cleaned up Box and Harbor, 713 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 9: but what we did is we left it in the Charles, 714 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 9: in the Mystic and in little l Westbrook and it's 715 00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 9: really pretty disgusting. And the last thing I want to 716 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,520 Speaker 9: say is that two thirds of the sewage into going 717 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 9: into alf Brook comes from a pipe on MBTA property 718 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 9: right where the Alwife garages, and that garage is coming down. 719 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 9: There is a huge opportunity to help fix the problem 720 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,839 Speaker 9: in the Brook, which then flows into the Mystics. All 721 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 9: right by fixing that, all right, Eric, thank you Emily 722 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:39,839 Speaker 9: and Dan. 723 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 2: I wish you'd called early, we could have given you 724 00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:46,040 Speaker 2: more time. Thank you so much. Great great successions, Emily. 725 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,719 Speaker 2: How could folks either become members or get in touch 726 00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 2: with more information at your website? Charles River watershead of 727 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:53,160 Speaker 2: Watershed Association. 728 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,359 Speaker 4: That is a great question. Please visit. 729 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 6: It's very subtle. 730 00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,560 Speaker 4: Cut the crap, Charles. 731 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:04,040 Speaker 3: Sounds great. Emily, you did a great job. Thank you 732 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:07,280 Speaker 3: very much. Again. I believe you solve problems. 733 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:09,759 Speaker 2: The quickest and the easiest way to solve them is 734 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:11,960 Speaker 2: to do them as directly as possible. 735 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 3: There is a group that money is sitting there. 736 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,799 Speaker 2: It should be used. It's not doing anyone any good 737 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 2: sitting there. Let's use it and solve this problem. 738 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:23,799 Speaker 5: Love it, Tam, Thank you, Thank you so much. 739 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:24,720 Speaker 3: Talk to you again. 740 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:26,720 Speaker 2: We get back on to talking about the big meeting 741 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:29,520 Speaker 2: in the Oval Office day. It was a love fest. 742 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 2: Zoron and the President coming up right after the ten 743 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:33,719 Speaker 2: o'clock news