Conservation group sues Boston over storm runoff into local rivers, Boston Harbor

The Conservation Law Foundation yesterday formally accused the city of failing to stop high levels of bacteria, oil and dissolved metals and chemicals pour into Boston Harbor through its 201 "outfall" pipes that collect road runoff from nearly 20,000 catch basins - and from the neighboring town of Brookline.

In a lawsuit filed in US District Court, the foundation accused the Boston Water and Sewer Commission of not fulfilling even the barest minimum of testing to find the pollutants pouring into the Charles, Mystic, Muddy and Neponset rivers and Boston Harbor - as required under a 1999 agreement with the federal EPA - let alone cutting off illegal connections. The suit seeks an end to the pollution from the "municipal separate storm sewer system" (MS4) and possible fines against city officials.

The foundation said that testing done through 2005 along Mt. Vernon Street in Charlestown, Hyde Park Avenue, Bussey Brook and Canterbury Brook in Roslindale and Chandler Pond in Brighton found high levels of fecal coliform, copper, zinc and oil. The foundation also said the commission knows about illegal connections to the system yet has done nothing about them.

BWSC's data, and monitoring by EPA and others, demonstrate that discharges from BWSC's MS4 have caused or contributed to violations of water quality standards pertaining to bacteria. Discharges of excessive pathogens and bacteria are causing or contributing to, at a minimum, water quality violations in the Boston Harbor, Boston Inner Harbor, the Chelsea River, and the Mystic River, as well as the Charles and Neponset Rivers.

Complete complaint (3.3M PDF file)
BWSC Stormwater Managemnt - includes a 2008 report on the M4 system.
EPA page on BWSC