(MWRA). The MWRA bill was passed in December of 1984 and became effective July 1, 
1985, with the MDC's Water and Sewerage Divisions being transferred from the state to 
an independent Authority. This is an important event because the new Authority will 
come out from under the constraints of state bureaucracy and be able to raise its own 
bonds for funding projects and to hiring more staff. Basically, the bill gives the Authority 
fewer constraints on management of their wastewater treatment system. 
The new MWRA Board of Directors has been appointed, and a transition team 
has been hired. Although the Authority will not officially take over until July 1, 1985, the 
MWRA Board has already taken a number of initiatives to solve the problems in Boston 
Harbor. They will be involved in the negotiations of the new National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) permit. They are very actively involved now in determining 
the siting for the new wastewater and treatment facilities and will be making an 
announcement with EPA on July 10, 1985, on the preferred location. And as I mentioned, 
a number of contracts are underway to determine what can be done with sludge in the 
interim as well as long-term. 
In addition, the Authority's other priorities include fixing the CSOs that 
currently affect many of the swimming beaches and shellfish beds. Most importantly, 
effort is being put into greater enforcement of the pretreatment program that the MDC 
had already initiated. The pretreatment program is one that has received Federal 
approval, but basically has suffered, as have most of the other components of the 
treatment system, from lack of funding and staff. 
I will just mention one recent event. Despite the efforts of the legislature to 
create the new Authority and of the new Authority to take up its initiatives as soon as 
possible, a Federal court suit has been filed. The EPA felt that it would be best to move 
the schedule created under the state court suit into the Federal court, so that it could 
cover more topics and give all the pertinent agencies a schedule to live by, for the next 10 
to 15 years. It will probably take that long to get the new treatment system designed, 
constructed, and operating. 
The point is that the Boston Harbor and MDC experience is a learning 
experience that comes from making mistakes upon mistakes. We realize when analyzing 
the MDC problem that we need more effective planning for sewage management for all 
treatment plants throughout the Harbor and Massachusetts Bay. We have to make sewage 
management a priority for planning, especially as it relates to future development. 
Development cannot continue without adequate infrastructure or sewage treatment. 
Finally, I think we also need to assess all aspects of the sewage system: the effluent, the 
sludge, the combined sewer overflows, and the industrial inputs. If we can learn anything 
from the Boston Harbor experience and apply it to other coastal treatment plants, then it 
will all have been worth it. 
I would like to close by saying that, in my opinion, the Boston Harbor situation 
should improve following the advent of the new MWRA, but it will be important for the 
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