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TBHA Home > Resources > Harbor News |  |
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Harbor News
Harbor News is designed by The Boston Harbor Association to keep the general public current on a number of new and ongoing activities and initiatives around Boston Harbor. Click on any of the topics below for more information.
On April 30, students from the Odyssey School in South Boston participated in Harbor Bound, The Boston Harbor Association's program for urban high school students. In coming weeks, students from Chelsea, Dorchester and Roxbury will also participate. The classes join TBHA educator John Rowse on a boat trip to Deer Island, where they learn about the Boston Harbor Cleanup Project and the Deer Island Treatment Plant. The Boston Harbor Association invites career speakers from a wide variety of related industries, including architects, National Park Service rangers, and staff from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Boston Pilots, to speak to the students about environmental career opportunities. MWRA staff lead the students in dissolved oxygen testing, and conduct a bus trip of the island facility. This year, the tour has a new stop at the new memorial to Judge A. David Mazzone, who oversaw the Boston Harbor Cleanup Project for many years. Each spring and fall, TBHA's Harbor Bound program introduces hundreds of students to Boston Harbor, Deer Island, and the important environmental issues that affect all urban residents. In addition to reinforcing classroom teaching in science, the program encourages environmental stewardship among the next generation of Bostonians. Special thanks to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and Massachusetts Bay Lines whose generosity enables us to offer the Harbor Bound education program at no cost to students, teachers and schools. To schedule a trip or participate in TBHA's Harbor Bound Program, please contact The Boston Harbor Association at 617-482-1722. Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, The Boston Harbor Association (TBHA) is working with the Department of Conservation and Recreation to keep Boston's beaches clean. On April 18th, an enthusiastic group from John Hancock Financial Services and TBHA met at the McCormack Bathhouse in South Boston and spent the afternoon helping to beautify Carson Beach by removing dozens of bags of trash. Later in the spring, another group from John Hancock Financial Services, as well as groups from Standard & Poor's and Spirit of State Street, will work on cleanup and beautification projects at the Reserved Channel and Pleasure Bay. In conjunction with TBHA, two groups from Squashbusters, an after-school enrichment program for urban middle schoolers, worked on April 29th at Tenean Beach in Dorchester and on April 30th at Mother's Rest and Hicks Park along the South Boston waterfront. Community service projects contribute to The Boston Harbor Association's strategic goal of raising awareness of the vitality and the environmental value of Boston Harbor to the region, and the importance of citizens to be environmental stewards. TBHA is grateful to these groups for their generosity. To participate in a community service project, please contact The Boston Harbor Association at mail@tbha.org or 617-482-1722. On November 15, 2007, Governor Deval Patrick signed the landlocked tidelands bill into law. The bill was filed in response to the SJC's decision earlier this year that required the State Legislature to approve the landlocked tidelands exemption from the Chapter 91 licensing process. Besides providing the exemption, the bill also creates a new public benefit review process by the Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary for projects on tidelands and makes some changes to the MEPA review process. In Summer 2008, the Boston Harbor Association was actively involved in the legislation, and we thank our trustees and Harbor Use Committee members for their insights and assistance on this legislation. Senate President Therese Murray, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, and TBHA Executive Director Vivien Li attended the bill signing (see photo below).
Last summer, The Boston Harbor Association joined with other educational organizations to provide programming for the newly-opened Camp Harbor View on Long Island. The camp, envisioned by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and retired advertising executive Jack Connors as a summer respite for Boston youth, provided more than 500 Boston young people the opportunity to explore Boston Harbor and the islands during the four-week camp sessions. Plans are now underway to provide additional facilities and programming for the 2008 camp season, including a swimming pool and theater space. In recognition of their leadership in establishing the camp, TBHA chose Mayor Menino, Connors and John Fish, president of Suffolk Construction, as the 2007 recipients of its Governor Francis W. Sargent Award for long term commitment and diligence in working on behalf of Boston Harbor. Summer, 2008, The Boston Harbor Association will offer expanded programming to Boston children attending Camp Harbor View. A trip to the top of Long Island light with its spectacular views, so popular last year, will be a featured activity again. Long Island's rich history includes more than three hundreds years of military defense, and campers will interpret the physical evidence that remains of that history.
Significant
progress has been made in the completion and maintenance of Boston’s
HarborWalk, according to The Boston Harbor Association’s Vivien Li in an
October, 2007 Banker & Tradesman article. To read, please click on the
following link: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/adinfo/VivienLi_20071029.html For the first time since the events of 11 September 2001, The United States Coast Guard will reopen to the public a portion of their waterfront in the North End. Beginning 1 April 2008, the pier end of their site next to the Mirabella Swimming Pool will be open seasonally during daylight hours. In addition, a portion of the HarborWalk on and near Lovejoy Wharf next to the North Washington Street Bridge, completed by the property owner and the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, will open later in 2008. This HarborWalk offers great views of the waterfront and the Zakim Bridge. Planning is underway by NSTAR for construction of a new section of HarborWalk between the Federal Express and NSTAR HarborWalk segments in South Boston. When completed by the end of 2008, there will be a more complete HarborWalk along the Reserved Channel. A major new HarborWalk section is anticipated with the opening of a hotel/residential complex at Battery Wharf in the North End. An information center for the general public, as well as a second-floor observation deck, will provide much-welcomed amenities to this portion of the waterfront. In addition, the re-opening of the Congress Street Bridge will complete the HarborWalk segment on Dorchester Avenue across from the Federal Reserve Bank. Once the above
HarborWalk segments open, the HarborWalk public access network will be
close to 83% complete. Few people in retirement are as
active or generous as Arthur Lane and Norman Leventhal. Concerned about
the future of the Port of Boston, Mr. Lane, a founder of The Boston Harbor
Association and past President, recently endowed the Arthur Lane/Jane W.
Mead Maritime Industrial History Fund at the Boston Public Library (BPL)
to give the public an opportunity to learn from the Port’s past. Norman Leventhal, known and
respected by waterfront advocates for his company’s development of the
much-admired Rowes Wharf complex along Boston’s waterfront, announced in
September, 2007 the donation of $10 million for a permanent endowment of
the Boston Public Library’s map center. The Norman B. Leventhal Map
Center at the library contains hundreds of historic maps of Boston, New
England, and Massachusetts Bay donated by Mr. Leventhal, whose collection
is widely regarded as one of the finest private collections in New
England. The newly-created endowment will allow the maps to be digitized
and put on line on an accelerated basis, as well as support special
exhibits and expansion of education programs for students. The Lane/Mead Collection, the
Norman B. Leventhal Map Collection, as well as the Boston Wharf Company
collection together make the Boston Public Library the leading repository
of materials about Boston Harbor in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Boston Water and Sewer Commission, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and many dedicated organizations and individuals, Boston Harbor has become one of the cleanest harbors in the nation. The Boston Harbor Association supports Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's efforts to create a “No Discharge Zone” within Boston Harbor to ensure a continued clean harbor. Click here to download a list of pumpout locations in Boston Harbor. Executive
Director Vivien Li wrote a recent oped for Banker & Tradesman on the
need for better water transportation facilities in the Harbor. The 2008 cruise season officially begins on 12 April with the arrival of the Amadea for an overnight port-of-call. According to Massport, this year’s season, which currently runs through November, will feature 116 vessel calls to Cruiseport Boston by 15 major cruise lines. Passengers are provided with a variety of cruise destinations to choose from: New England, Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Europe. The expected number of vessel calls is a 12% increase over last year, with a higher number of travelers expected as well. The current schedule for cruises that pass through or originate at Cruiseport can be found here: http://www.massport.com/ports/cruis_sched.html. Massport hopes to expand its cruise facility in South Boston with the construction of a new two-terminal/berth facility which complements and enhances the emerging Seaport District, and accommodates the consistent growth of Boston’s cruise industry. Several cruise lines have expressed interest in calling Boston year-round. Due to security
precautions, viewing is prohibited from the pier. The best opportunity to
see cruise ships is from the Summer Street Bridge over the Reserved
Channel in South Boston. On 15 March 2007, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) submitted its 2006 Annual Progress Report on the Combined Sewer Overflow Control Program to Federal Judge Rick Stearns (report can be downloaded from the home page of the MWRA website www.mwra.com). The goal of the CSO Control Program is to protect swimming beaches, shellfish beds, and other sensitive waters by eliminating overflows due to heavy rains, and it also greatly reduces overflows to protect uses in less sensitive waters. The plan includes 35 projects specific to Boston Harbor, the Charles River, the Alewife Brook and Mystic River, North and South Dorchester Bays, and the Neponset River. As indicated in the report, 16 of the 35 required CSO control projects in the 15-year plan have been completed. In March 2006, the MWRA completed the $3.2 million construction contract for Pleasure Bay Storm Drain Improvements, which eliminated water discharges to Pleasure Bay beach in South Boston, making it one of the cleanest urban beaches in the country. In July, 2006, the contract for the $145.7 million North Dorchester Bay Storage Tunnel was awarded by the MWRA, which when completed will virtually eliminate all CSO discharges and greatly reduce stormwater discharges to the South Boston beaches. With funding from the MWRA, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission completed construction of the $45 million Stony Brook Sewer Separation project in September, 2006, reducing the average annual CSO discharges to the Stony Brook Conduit which discharges to the Charles River Basin from 22 to 2. Early 2007, construction of the storage conduit which reduces the frequency of annual discharges to the Little Mystic Channel in Charlestown from 13 to 2 was completed. In spring 2007, a new CSO facility at Union Park was completed which will both reduce annual frequency and the volume of overflows pumped to the Fort Point Channel, as well as treat these overflows before discharge into the Channel. This new pollution control facility provides coarse and fine screening to remove debris; detention basins to reduce solids through settling and contribute to the reduction of annual overflows; and includes disinfectant to kill bacteria in the overflows before they are pumped to the Channel. During smaller storm events, the new detention basins will detain CSO and stormwater flows, which will be dewatered from the basins and conveyed to Deer Island Treatment Plant for primary and secondary treatment. During larger storms, the new facility will treat CSO discharges prior to being pumped from the existing Union Park Pump Station. The before and after water quality impacts of the new facility will be appreciable: prior to the new facility, there were approximately 25 discharges a year, with 132 million gallons of untreated flow. With the new facility, only 17 discharges are anticipated annually, with 71.4 million gallons of treated flow. With MWRA financial assistance, the City of Boston's Parks and Recreation Department will construct a new park on top of the new, buried detention tanks. The benefits of the new Union Park facility are complemented by the Fort Point Channel Sewer Separation program undertaken by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission with funding provided by the MWRA. Completed in early 2007, the project installed 4550 feet of new storm drains to complete the separation of existing combined sewers directing storm water to the Fort Point Channel. The Boston Water and Sewer Commission is also cleaning existing storm drains, disconnecting building down spouts, and draining outfalls. These efforts of the
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the Boston Water and Sewer
Commission will greatly improve and enhance water quality in Boston Harbor
and along the beaches. In an effort to
improve the streetscape and the pedestrian experience of the waterfront
and downtown Boston, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the Boston
Redevelopment Authority have introduced the Crossroads Initiative,
focusing on twelve thoroughfares that cross the Rose Kennedy Greenway. In
addition to improving the streetscape, the Crossroads initiative seeks to
link neighborhoods such as the North End, the Wharf District and South
Boston with the Greenway, Harbor, and city neighborhoods such as the
Financial District, West End, and Bulfinch Triangle. Work is underway on
Causeway and Summer Streets. By enhancing the views to the Harbor and
creating better connections to water transportation, these streets connect
the city beyond the HarborWalk to the Harbor Islands. For additional
information on the progress of the Crossroads Initiative please visit www.cityofboston.gov/bra/crossroads.
For additional information on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, please visit www.rosekennedygreenway.org Comments on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) draft for the Boston Harbor Deep Draft Navigation Improvement Project will be accepted until 2 June 2008. For copies of the EIR, please contact Jacki Wilkins, Massport, at 617-568-3558. The Boston Harbor Association also has copies available in its library; please call 617-482-1722 to view and discuss. The MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office) analyst for this document is Deirdre Buckley, who can be contacted at 617-626-1044. The Port of Boston provides significant economic benefits to the Commonwealth’s residents and businesses. Based on a recent study by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), activities in the Port of Boston generate more than 34,000 jobs and have a $2.4 billion annual economic impact. This significant economic benefit could be jeopardized by the current severe state of shoaling, the gradual shallowing of the Port’s channels, since the economic viability of any port rests in large part on the depths of its navigation channels. If deep draft vessels cannot safely and efficiently transit the harbor to access the Port terminals, significant economic and potentially environmental impacts result. Waterborne transportation of cargo is one of the most environmentally sound transportation alternatives available. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps), in partnership with Massport, recently completed a dredging project to deepen several of the key tributary channels in the Port as well as maintenance dredging of the outer harbor channels. Additional maintenance dredging of the inner harbor channels will begin shortly, and a project is in the works to further deepen the access channels to the Conley Container Terminal. Once these projects are completed, all of the deep draft navigation channels in the port will have been dredged and should not require maintenance dredging for a number of years. Each of these projects, and the key measures that are taken to protect the environment, are described below. Keep your eyes open if you’re out on the harbor or along the Harborwalk – you may see a dredge at work! Boston Harbor Navigation
Improvement Project (BHNIP). This project resulted in three key benefits to the Port:
Dredging projects in many other ports throughout the country have been delayed due to environmental concerns over the disposal of harbor sediments. In Boston, close cooperation between environmental advocates such as The Boston Harbor Association (TBHA), community representatives, dredging proponents, and regulatory agencies resulted in a partnership that led to a more environmentally sound and expeditious project. An innovative and environmentally sound solution to the disposal of contaminated dredge material was achieved through the use of in-harbor containment cells. Rather than being dumped at sea or filling local landfills, contaminated sediments were placed in nine deep cells below the existing navigation channels and capped with clean sand. Clean sediments were disposed of at sea. Thanks to state and city regulatory agencies and environmental advocates, careful monitoring of dredging impacts occurred, and an independent environmental monitor funded by the project reported back to the regulatory agencies. Maintenance Dredging The Army Corps completed maintenance dredging of the outer harbor channels in early 2005, which involved dredging of approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of sediment that had accumulated in the outer channels serving the port. The Corps and Massport are currently working together on environmental permits to allow the proposed Inner Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project, which will involve the removal of approximately 1.7 million cubic yards of sediments from the Main Ship Channel between Castle Island and the Inner Confluence, the Inner Reserved Channel, and the Navy Dry Dock Approach Channel. The project includes similar environmental mitigation measures as were used in BHNIP, although the measures were modified to incorporate the lessons learned during the previous projects. The Army Corps is nearing completion of the development of plans and specifications, with a project start in 2007 once funding for the project is in place. Deep Draft Navigation
Improvement Project. The Metropolitan Beaches Commission was the recipient of The Boston Harbor Authority’s 2007 Senator William M. Bulger Award for outstanding creativity in solving a major problem of Boston Harbor, in recognition of outstanding service in the development and implementation of a plan to improve the public beaches from Nantasket to Nahant. The 2008 and 2009 budgets for the Department of Conservation and Recreation provide funds to implement the recommendations. The Boston Foundation is providing funds for the foundation of Friends groups at local beaches in 2008. To strengthen the commitment for cleaner beaches, the Massachusetts Legislature established the Metropolitan Beaches Commission in 2006. The Commission was created to take an “in-depth look at each of the region’s beaches, identify the current conditions on each beach, identify the best management practices across the region, and make recommendations that would bring our beaches to their fullest potential as significant recreational and economic resources, ultimately improving the quality of life for residents and visitors, and strengthening our capital city and the region.” The commission consists of elected officials and community, civic, non-profit and business leaders from across the region. Throughout the
summer of 2006, the Commission hosted a series of public hearings in the
beach communities of Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South
Boston, Dorchester, Quincy, and Hull. These hearings gave the public an
opportunity to help the Commission get an accurate picture of the
situation on each beach, to share their dreams and aspirations for their
beaches, and help to identify opportunities and obstacles on the beaches. The Commission released its final report
on 3 April 2007. To download a copy, please go to www.savetheharbor.org. Fidelity
Park Opens Next to Aquarium Hundreds of guests joined family members to pay tribute to Judge A. David Mazzone at the dedication of a memorial on Deer Island in October 2007. Judge Mazzone, who oversaw the federally- mandated Boston Harbor cleanup project for almost twenty years, was a strong force for the project, declaring that, "the law secures to the people the right to a clean harbor." The memorial, erected near the entrance to the HarborWalk on Deer Island, includes granite benches and a bronze sculpture in a beautifully landscaped space that faces a dramatic view of the city. Designed by landscape architects Polly Reeve and Margaret Coyle Nestler and local sculptor Joseph Pesce, the memorial is a fitting tribute to a great Bostonian and key architect of the Boston Harbor Project. The Boston Harbor Association administered the Judge David Mazzone Memorial Fund, established to fund construction of the memorial. As summer approaches, thoughts turn to the Boston Harbor Beaches and the Boston Harbor Islands. City and state agencies are busy getting both the beaches and the islands ready for public use and enjoyment. Volunteer groups are also pitching in, like John Hancock Financial Services’ employees who joined with The Boston Harbor Association on 18 April 2008 to remove debris from Carson Beach, South Boston (John Hancock employees will return for a second clean-up in May). Here are a few examples of what you can do to keep Boston Harbor and the waterfront clean on Earth Day and every day:
To volunteer for a group clean-up activity, contact The Boston Harbor Association at mail@tbha.org.
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The Boston Harbor Association - 374 Congress Street, Suite 307 - Boston, MA 02210 - 617-482-1722 (P) - 617-482-9750 (F) - mail@tbha.org |
