Cambridge to Temporarily Switch to MWRA Water for Remainder of 2022

Aug 26, 2022 – The City of Cambridge will temporarily begin sourcing its water from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) starting Tuesday, August 30, 2022. The Cambridge Water Department anticipates that the MWRA will exclusively supply all of Cambridge’s public water through the end of the year. Even though Cambridge owns and maintains its watershed, it is also a member of the MWRA.

The two contributing factors to Cambridge’s decision to temporally switch to MWRA water are increasing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) levels in our finished water and supply chain delays for the upcoming replacement of the filter media used to treat the drinking water at the Walter J. Sullivan Water Treatment Facility, located at 250 Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge, with new Granular Activated Carbon filter media. The filter media replacement, expected to be completed in November 2022, will strengthen the Cambridge Water Department’s ability to remove PFAS from the water supply.

“Initial results for August showed PFAS levels trending upwards and September results are generally highest and so out of an abundance of caution, the Cambridge Water Department will be temporarily switching to MWRA water to eliminate potential health effects from PFAS levels above the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) regulatory standard,” said Sam Corda, Managing Director of the Cambridge Water Department. “Cambridge’s temporary use of MWRA water will continue until we replace filters with new Granular Activated Carbon filter media in our treatment plant. Replacing the filter media will ensure that our PFAS levels will be reliably and consistently below the MassDEP regulatory standard in the short and long term.”

Cambridge water comes from the Stony Brook Watershed, nested in the Charles River Basin, in the towns of Lincoln, Lexington, Weston, and the City of Waltham. The water makes its way by gravity through tributaries, reservoirs, and pipes to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, where it is pumped into the Walter J. Sullivan Purification Facility for treatment. Finally, the finished water is pumped to and stored in the underground Payson Park Reservoir in Belmont, where it is fed by gravity to the residents and businesses of Cambridge.

“Massachusetts has some of the strictest PFAS standards in the country, and the Cambridge Water Department is committed to maintaining and supplying high-quality water to our community,” said Owen O’Riordan, Acting City Manager. “We have decided to temporarily switch to MWRA water until the Cambridge Water Department replaces the existing filter media with new Granulated Activated Carbon filter media in our Water Treatment Plant. Unfortunately, the replacement process is taking longer due to supply chain issues, and our temporary switch to MWRA water reflects our commitment to providing all residents with a safe drinking water supply, especially those sensitive subgroups such as pregnant or nursing women, infants, and people with a compromised immune system who are most impacted by increased PFAS levels.”

The temporary switch to MWRA water is expected to cost approximately $2 million per month.

Like many public water supply operators, the City has been aware of the emergence of PFAS as contaminants of concern in recent years. The MassDEP standard for the level of PFAS in public drinking water is 20 nanograms per liter (ng/l), or 20 parts per trillion (ppt) for six specific compounds called “PFAS6”. The Water Department has complied with the MassDEP regulations at all times since it started monitoring for PFAS in August 2019 and has also been proactively monitoring for PFAS in its water supply reservoirs since that time (Hobbs Brook, Stony Brook, and Fresh Pond) to stay on top of this emerging issue.

The MassDEP promulgated a new regulation on October 2, 2020, for the six PFAS compounds designated as PFAS6. Within about a year from when this new regulation was adopted, the City tested and obtained approval from the MassDEP to replace the Granular Activated Carbon filter media in its Walter J. Sullivan Water Treatment Facility to strengthen our ability to remove PFAS from the water supply. The purchase and replacement of the Granular Activated Carbon filter media was bid out and subsequently awarded in May. The Cambridge Water Department is awaiting the formal implementation schedule from the vendor, with the anticipated start date of this work being Fall 2022. When the filter media are replaced, it is anticipated that our PFAS levels will be lower and reliably and consistently below state regulations.

For additional information about PFAS and the Cambridge Water Department, visit www.cambridgema.gov/water.

2021 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

Linkage Increases - June 22, 2022 Ordinance Committee
To: Cambridge City Council
From: Patrick Barrett

Dear Ordinance Committee,

Attached is a brief synopsis of my point of view on the proposed linkage increases on the table for June 22. When the change was made in 2015 I made the sole protest of going down to 30k sq ft and thought the idea of tallying existing square footage would funnel development toward only the “highest and best use” which was laboratories and R&D. The 2019 nexus study shows exactly this. In an effort to capture dollars from the gold rush of lab uses throughout the city we have squelched infill development, repurposing existing sq ft for anything other than lab use, and obliterated the entertainments uses for the City. Further that this nexus study was done in December of 2019 should at least give some pause as the pandemic has changed this real estate landscape for decades to come. I kept it to one page … but I urge any of you concerned about livability and providing a fertile landscape of ideas and development in this city to read it and rethink what linkage is and what its actually supposed to do. I also urge this Council to expand their thoughts on what this city needs beyond simply affordable housing and to see this city from 30,000 feet not 2".

Good Luck,
Patrick W. Barrett III
617 778 3521

Incentive Project. Any new development that consists of at least thirty thousand (30,000) square feet of Gross Floor Area devoted to one or more of the following uses listed in Section 4.30 of the Zoning Ordinance: Sections 4.31 i-2 (Hotel or motel), 4.32 f (Radio and television studio), 4.33 b-5 (College or University not exempt by statute, specifically including those uses and facilities listed in Subsection 4.56 c-4, c-5, and c-6), 4.33 c (Noncommercial Research Facility), 4.33 d (Health Care Facilities), 4.33 e (Social Service Facilities), 4.34 (Office and Laboratory Use), 4.35 (Retail or Consumer Service Establishments), 4.36 (Outdoor Retail or Consumer Service Establishments), 4.37 (Light Industry, Wholesale Business and Storage), and 4.38 (Heavy Industry). For the purpose of this definition, new development shall mean (1) construction of new buildings or additions to existing buildings to accommodate uses in the above list, (2) substantial rehabilitation of buildings to accommodate uses in the above list for which the buildings were not originally used, or (3) Gross Floor Area whose use is changed from a use not included in the above list to a use included in the above list. In no case shall Gross Floor Area devoted to a Municipal Service Facility or Other Government Facility be considered an Incentive Project.

As the Council contemplates the change in linkage fee I ask that they review the policy and its effect on all uses allowed in our business and industrial districts other than just focusing solely on lab uses. In the 2019 nexus study which reviewed the effect of changes made to the inclusionary ordinance shows succinctly that 79.9% of all commercial development was categorized as “office/RD.”  The Council should ask for a further breakdown of this number as our ordinance that conflates Lab and Office uses as essentially the same category of use. Further of that commercial build 0% was in the hospitality area and only 4.7% of this was in the retail category, which includes anything from a shoe store to an opera house. I believe this heavily weighted development scheme is by design and to further increase linkage would not only hurt the city it would continue to funnel all development towards lab use. This is an unsurprising result coming from a study that claims restaurants have a 5 times greater impact on housing cost than R/D and lab.¹

In the pursuit of extracting a maximum tax on commercial development in the City of Cambridge the City has employed a “scorched earth” methodology where a restaurant, a hotel, a gym, a level 3 lab, and an opera house all have the same impact on the costs of housing and lack of supply, and all pay the same rate. As part of the change in 2015 Cambridge lowered the project threshold to 30,000 sq ft; based on the 2019 nexus report nine (9) projects were built under 30k sq ft for a total of 167k sq ft and twenty eight (28) projects were built over the 30k threshold of which each individual project was more than the total combined sq ft of the 9 under 30k.² Thus no one even attempted to build a project within the 30-50k threshold. Imagine trying to build a 30-50k sq ft theatre in the Cultural District of Central Square or trying to take the tens of thousands of commercial office space abandoned due to Covid and trying to make the math work for anything other than a lab use which currently can command as high as $200/sq ft? Why are we discouraging owners to “substantially rehabilitate” existing buildings? Further the date of this study is December 2019! At the very least two years plus of a pandemic ought to prompt some questions from this Council on the viability of an increase in the post Covid world.

Thus we have an overly aggressive tax scheme that disincentivizes any use other than lab, punishes restoration of existing parcels for anything other than lab, and overburdens arts, entertainment, and uses that could enhance and bring life to our business districts and communities. Please reject the increase in linkage fees, exempt existing sq ft for uses other than lab, and retore the project threshold to 50k sq ft as the current scheme doesn’t draw any revenue and it forces developers to make bad decisions that will greatly impact our business and cultural districts for decades to come.

1  Cambridge Nexus Study       pg 61 (Table 35)     Karl F. Seidman Consulting Services

2  Cambridge Nexus Study       pg 60     Karl F. Seidman Consulting Services

Plague Report (Sept 6) - New Covid cases remain low, but the BA.5 variant continues to spread.

There were 93 new COVID positive tests reported on Tuesday (covering 4 days), and the 7-day daily average decreased to 22.9. The total number of residents who have tested positive is now 32,356. The Cambridge total increased by 93 on Tuesday (covering 4 days), and 34, 12, 40, 46, 47 (covering 3 days), 25, 22, 30, and 23 in recent days. Time will tell where this is headed, especially as the BA.4&5 variants work their way through. The 7-day averages now appear to be settled into the 15-25 range. The percentage of positive tests (measured over the last two weeks) stand at 5.94% (previous rates 6.15%, 5.72%, 6.87%, 7.32%, 7.55%, 7.69%, 6.88%, 5.98, 6.47%, 7.66%, 7.41%, 7.08%, 7.45%, 7.36%, 6.11%, 4.65%, 4.2%, 3.85%, 3%, 2.3%, 1.94%, 1.63%, 1.71%, 1.56%, 1.09%, 0.87%). Most importantly, the effects of the virus appear to be much milder than previous variants.

Experts say COVID-19 won’t hit as hard this fall, but remain wary of the possible rise of a new variant (Sept 1, 2022, Boston Globe)

Click on graph above for latest Cambridge data.

Sept 6, 2022 Breakdown of Cases:
32356 tested positive (total) - an increase of 93 since Friday
167 confirmed deaths - 86 in long-term care facilities, 81 in general community
(last new death recorded July 14)

Thanks to vaccinations, even though the 7-day averages were dreadful
the impacts were not as bad as they could have been.

City of Cambridge Covid Information     Harvard University COVID-19 data     MIT COVID-19 data

High vaccination rates have helped to blunt what might have been a larger surge and far more deaths.

Covid Cases by Age Group - through Aug 31, 2022

(click on above graph for the latest)
MWRA Biobot wastewater data - Sept 1, 2022

MWRA Biobot recent wastewater data - North System - Sept 1, 2022
The 7-day average reached as high as 8644 in January before dropping to as low as 101 in March. The recent
rise due to the BA.2 variants brought it back up to 1273. BA.5 is now dominant and the 7-day average now stands at 452.

The main Omicron wave crested nearly 8 months ago, and the Omicron BA.5 subvariant is now the predominant threat. The percentages detected in wastewater samples in Middlesex County are now BA.5 at 99.8%, BA.4 at 0.0%, BA.2* at 0.0%, and 0.2% other as of Aug 17.

Omicron Variant Overview - week of Aug 17, 2022

An asterisk (*) indicates that sub-lineages are included. BA.2.* includes BA.2.12.1 and other sublineages. “Other” indicates all other lineages of SARS-CoV-2.

Featured recent stories in the Cambridge Chronicle (the paper of record) - with some comments:

If you would like to subscribe or pick up a free paper copy at various sites, I encourage you to do so. It really is The Paper of Record (even if the parent company (Gannett) is neglecting it and worse).

PHOTOS: Oldtime Baseball Game honors Jim Corsi (Aug 25, 2022)

Beware the Asian longhorned beetle and lanternfly, Mass residents advised (Aug 17, 2022)

Governor’s desk crowded with almost 70 measures still pending (Aug 11, 2022)

Cambridge has almost 300 pieces of public art, have you seen them? (July 21, 2022)

Legislatures’ concerns this year: plastic and mattresses (July 21, 2022)

How a city (Cambridge) and a small town (West Tisbury) found success in reducing waste (June 20, 2022)

What went wrong with single-stream recycling? (June 19, 2022, subscribers only)
‘The magic blue bin’: Unfulfilled promise of single-stream recycling… The rise of single-stream simplified recycling, but there are significant downsides, too.

As Maine limits landfill use, Massachusetts seeks answers and trash issues pile up (June 19, 2022, subscribers only)

THE CHRONICLE COMPANION: Mimosas, wine going down fine (July 18, 2022)

Get the kids out of the house: Cambridge Parks and Playgrounds guide (July 18, 2022)

Monkeypox cases are growing in Massachusetts. Here’s what to know. (July 15, 2022, updated July 18)

Mini golf has held secure place in Americans’ hearts for a century (July 14, 2022, subscribers only)
“It’s survived because it’s the one thing that you can do with your children, you can do with your grandparents, you can go on a date, you can go with a bunch of people. It’s the one thing that’s still family oriented. It’s something that all demographics do and enjoy and is still affordable.”

15-member review team to take first look at the Cambridge town charter (July 13, 2022)

Conserve your water: ‘Significant’ drought conditions in Bay State (July 13, 2022)

Cambridge gives ‘Michael’ a proper sendoff; unhomed man touched many (July 6, 2022)

DePasquale’s 45-year career in Cambridge marked by fiscal excellence (July 5, 2022)

Antisemitic map targets local Jewish community, security now the focus (July 6, 2022)

Facial recognition: Civil rights groups argue racial bias, inaccuracy (June 30, 2022)

Cambridge cuts ribbon on transformed Foundry 101 building, a new space for artists (June 29, 2022)

Group takes Cambridge to Superior Court over bike lanes (June 24, 2022)

Cambridge stages inaugural Juneteenth parade (June 21, 2022)

Can you score a hole in one? Mini-golf courses to try this summer (June 17, 2022)
Note: We could really use one in or near Cambridge. A small portion of the Volpe Center property in Kendall Square would be a great location.

For Juneteenth, learn about court cases that helped end slavery in MA (June 17, 2022)

Weekend of hiking, paddling, art planned at 23rd annual Riverfest (June 16, 2022)
RiverFest to celebrate Sudbury, Assabet, Concord Rivers with hiking, paddling and more

Harvard Square at the center of Cambridge native’s new novel (June 15, 2022)

Cambridge to celebrate Juneteenth with citywide events (June 15, 2022)

Cambridge Public Library celebrates Juneteenth (June 15, 2022)

Historic industrial building transformed into Cambridge arts center (June 15, 2022)
The Foundry will become a new creativity hub for Cambridge. Ribbon-cutting set for June 22.

The Chronicle Companion: Week of June 13-19, 2022 (posted June 13, 2022)

Harvard President Lawrence Bacow to step down next year (June 10, 2022)

PHOTOS: CRLS graduates Class of 2022 (June 10, 2022)

Full text of the 2022 CRLS valedictorian address (June 10, 2022 by Jade Backwater)

Cambridge nonprofit left in the dark about City-owned building (June 8, 2022)

New Moderna COVID-19 booster is showing superior response to Omicron (June 8, 2022)

Nonprofit executive Yi-An Huang to be next Cambridge city manager (June 6, 2022, updated June 7)

Justice still being sought for Charlene Holmes 10 years after fatal Willow Street shooting (June 6, 2022)

The Chronicle Companion: Week of June 6-12, 2022 (posted June 5, 2022)

Harvard Square cobbler, Felix Shoe Repair owner, discusses life at 87 (June 7, 2022, subscribers only)

Taking a trip this summer? Don’t get stuck in traffic because of road work on these routes (June 2, 2022)