Watershed Writings: Spring Fish Runs are Off to a Great Start

 Today's guest blogger is Rachel Calabro, Community Organizer and Advocate at Save the Bay--Narragansett Bay.

Rachel primarily works on issues related to our watersheds -- particularly the Blackstone, Taunton, and Pawtuxet Rivers -- as well as Aquidneck Island and the smaller watersheds in between. She also works on legislative and policy issues related to Narragansett Bay and river restoration. You can follow her blog, Watershed Writings. Here we share one of her recent posts.

 Spring Fish Runs are Off to a Great Start

The annual fish run is off to a great start this spring, and fish are being monitored by volunteers throughout the watershed. On the Ten Mile River, over two thousand fish had been netted by this week and lifted over the dam at Omega Pond. A fish count is being conducted this year at Hunts Mill where the fish ladder is now complete.

Fish are also being lifted over the Saugatucket River dam on Main Street in Wakefield. This site has a poorly designed fish ladder, and fish often get caught below the dam. DEM uses this spot to fill their truck and bring fish to both Indian Lake, which is the headwaters of the Saugatucket River, and to Worden's Pond, the headwaters of the Pawcatuck River. Fish will be able to use a new ladder at Horseshoe Falls on the Pawcatuck this year, and with the addition of a fishway at Kenyon Mill, by next year they will be able to reach Worden's Pond.

On the Mill River in Taunton, fish have been spotted above the Hopewell Mills dam for the first time in over 200 years. This dam was removed last fall and is the first in a series of three dam removals on the Mill River. Because this is a large restoration project, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has installed a video monitoring station on the river to better understand the population of this run and what fish are using the river. This bar rack directs the fish past the video monitor. It is apparent now that there has been a small surviving run of fish, because several hundred herring have been counted, as have many yellow perch and white suckers which also migrate upstream to spawn. We are very excited to see the fish return to the Bay, and love to get reports from dedicated volunteers and partners who work hard on river restoration projects.
Link to original post:
Watershed Writings: Spring fish runs are off to a great start

Westport River Photo Contest--Entries Due on June 1, 2013

The Westport River Watershed Alliance is sponsoring a photo contest and is seeking photographers who love the river and the natural world. All entries will be judged and put on display at WRWA’s River Day Festival, Saturday, June 22, at the Head of Westport Landing. Prizes will be awarded for the following categories: Adult, and Junior (grades 1-12).
All entries must be submitted hard copy and digital format to WRWA.  Email JPG format images to water@wrwa.com by June 1, 2013. Each entry must also be printed and matted as an 8”x10” and mailed or dropped off at the WRWA office with Attn: Photo  Contest, to 1151 Main Road, PO Box 3427 Westport 02790 on or before June 1.
Each photo entry must be ready for display entry and labeled on the back with the photo’s title, name of the contestant, address, phone number and entry class. In addition a 3×5 card must accompany each entry with the title, name of photographer, and entry category.
While reasonable care will be taken, WRWA will not be responsible for lost, stolen or damaged photographs. Contestants must pick up their photographs at River Day or at the office before July 1.
With permission of the photographer, WRWA reserves the right to use photographs in any published materials with credit given to the photographer whenever possible.

Proposed Rule Change on Sewers Violates Clean Water Act | Neponset River Watershed Association

Our Guest Blogger is:

Steve Pearlman, Advocacy Director of the Neponset River Watershed Association

Chemicals and Sewer Treatment Plants Don’t Always Mix

Here in the Neponset River Watershed, we sometimes have problems with untreated sewage getting into the river. However, since there are no publicly owned sewer treatment plants that discharge to the Neponset, we don’t often hear about problems with discharges of sewer treatment plant effluent. But, across the state, many rivers and coastal waters are burdened with pollution from sewer treatment plant effluent that is not as clean as it should be.
One reason for this is that oftentimes chemicals get discharged into sewer collection systems and delivered to sewer treatment plants which never were set-up to remove those chemicals. The result is that the chemicals pass through the treatment plant and end up in our rivers and coastal waters. For just this reason, state law long has required the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to issue sewer discharge permits to certain industries that want to discharge to the sewer.

Proposed Elimination of Sewer Discharge Permits Raises Concerns

As part of its recent “permit streamlining” proposal, the MassDEP has proposed the repeal of ALL state-permitting for sewer users. This includes permitting of the heaviest, dirtiest industries, no matter how toxic their wastewater may be or how ill-prepared local authorities are to regulate them.
In a letter to the Secretary of Environmental Affairs, asking for his review of the proposal, four environmental organizations, including the Neponset River Watershed Association, asserted that this proposed rule change would violate not only the Massachusetts Clean Water Act, but also the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act, and the commitment by MassDEP’s Commissioner that his “regulatory reform” proposals would not lower “MassDEP’s high standards of environmental protection.”

MassDEP’s Rationale for Its Proposal

MassDEP claims that state sewer permitting is redundant with local sewer permitting by treatment plant operators and provides no additional protection. Therefore, repeal of state permitting will not result in environmental harm.

Why It Ain’t So

Some larger sewer authorities, such as the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, operate sophisticated and effective programs to work with industries discharging to their collection systems to ensure that nothing will be discharged to their sewers that might cause a problem at the treatment plant or in the environment downstream.
However, many, if not most, local sewer permitting authorities lack the manpower and the technical expertise to set and enforce discharge limits on wastewater coming from complicated industrial processes.
Only some treatment plants have sophisticated “industrial pre-treatment programs” certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, and as often as not, local permits are issued by already-overburdened Departments of Public Works and not sewage treatment plants themselves. Without proper limits on industrial discharges to sewer collection systems, toxic substances in the sewers may pass through the treatment plant untreated to flow directly into our rivers and streams.

Who Says?

I worked for MassDEP for seventeen years, and during that time, I had first-hand experience with how ill-equipped the staff of many local sewer permitting authorities are to set appropriate discharge limits on industrial sewer users.
One of my tasks while at MassDEP was to interview every staff person at MassDEP who was doing sewer permitting, many of whom had been working with local sewer permitting authorities for decades. To a person, they were strongly opposed to elimination of state permitting and were highly critical (to say the least) of many local permitting authorities.
The Neponset River Watershed Association’s letter to the Secretary was signed by New England Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the Toxics Action Center, and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF). CLF is the only non-profit environmental law firm in Massachusetts. You may remember that CLF was responsible for getting the state to clean up Boston Harbor and for getting MassHighway to treat highway runoff before it reaches our waterways.

Why the Proposal Violates the Massachusetts Clean Water Act

The Massachusetts Clean Water Act requires MassDEP to regulate all sewer dischargers. The MassDEP is authorized to grant “exemptions” from the permitting requirements. But, repealing the entire set of regulations goes well beyond an “exemption” and is clearly illegal.

Why the Proposal Violates the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act (MEPA)

The Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) regulations require an alternatives analysis and public review for any proposed change in environmental regulations that significantly would reduce: standards for environmental protection; opportunities for public participation; or access to information generated during the permitting (or MEPA) process.
MassDEP’s proposal would do all three.

How You Can Help

Remember, repeal of sewer regulations only has been proposed. MassDEP could change the proposal before finalizing it, especially if folks let them know they don’t like it (hint, hint).
The public comment period is open until May 15, and comments can be emailed to dep.talks@state.ma.us.
Refer to regulations 314 CMR 7.00.

Questions? Contact NepRWA Advocacy Director Steve Pearlman at 781-575-0354 x304 or pearlman@neponset.org.

Link to original post: Proposed Rule Change on Sewers Violates Clean Water Act | Neponset River Watershed Association