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Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay |
Combined Sewer Overflow Program
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
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CSO LINKS |
Fort Point Channel Park, Boston |
 Rendering of the Union Park |
Fort Point Channel Sewer Separation and Optimization Projects |
Cottage Farm CSO Facility, Cambridge, on the Charles River Cambridge/Boston |
MWRA has launched a $43 million combined sewer overflow (CSO) control plan that will significantly improve water quality in the Fort Point Channel. MWRA's program represents the largest public investment for the Fort Point Channel.
On February 27, 2004, Federal District Court Judge Mazzone approved MWRA's plans for a sewer separation and outfall optimization plan for two of Boston's CSOs on the channel.
Earlier in March 2003, MWRA began construction on the $40 million Union Park Detention/Treatment Facility in the South End.
This facility will greatly reduce the impacts of CSO discharges to the channel. Together, the Union Park and sewer separation projects will:
- Reduce untreated CSO discharges by 91% - 96%
- Reduce total fecal coliform bacteria loadings by 77%
- Significantly reduce loadings of Total Suspended Solids and
- Biological Oxygen Demand
About the Fort Point Channel
The Fort Point Channel in the Boston's Inner Harbor is a narrow, artificial embayment with granite walls.
Historically, the heavily industrialized Channel has been subjected to pollution from a number of sources, both CSO and non-CSO.
The Fort Point Channel is undergoing a dramatic transformation into the city's next great parkland. The Boston Redevelopment Authority has developed a Watersheet Activation Plan for the long-term revitilization of the area.
- Union Park: The big story on Fort Point Channel improvements: Click here for details
- MWRA projects exceed plans set in 2002: Watersheet activation plan for Fort Point Channel: Click here for details
- The Charles River: A national model for CSO Control: Click here to see how the model will be used
- What About Stormwater Control? Click here for details