Think Twice About Single-Use Plastics

 Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2021, Recycling, Water Quality  Comments Off on Think Twice About Single-Use Plastics
Nov 012021
 
Think Twice About Single-Use Plastics

By Lindsay Levine and Dean Hickman Envision the life-cycle of a single-use plastic item. Oil or natural gas is extracted from the ground, transported, chemically transformed into plastic which is then manufactured, transported to the point of sale, briefly used, and then tossed into the garbage. But it does not end there. Because of their durability, plastics last for hundreds of years and do not degrade meaningfully over your entire lifetime, except perhaps break into smaller pieces.  Now imagine that same process repeated for many of the items we use daily. Have you ever counted the number of single-use plastic [READ MORE]

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Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades

 Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades
Sep 032020
 
Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades

By Meg Muckenhoupt The Mystic River’s most recent water quality report card, released on August 13, gives Winn’s Brook an F for 2019—and the Little River and Alewife Brook earned Ds. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) creates the  annual report card in collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association. It grades segments of the Mystic River’s lakes, river, and streams on how frequently they meet bacterial standards for swimming and boating. The Upper Mystic Lake and the Chelsea River got an A grade; they met boating and swimming standards 90% or more of the time in 2019. Winn’s Brook [READ MORE]

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Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond

 Environment, January 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond
Jan 062020
 
Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond

To the Editor: As a neighbor, fan, and defender of poor Clay Pit Pond, I especially enjoyed the recent article (“Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November/December 2019). I would like to add a few more details on the recent history of the pond. When we moved to Belmont in the fall of 1974 there was a shopping cart in the pond by the inlet and advertisements about the upcoming Kiwanis Fishing Derby. I found the cart and derby in great contrast. Apparently the pond was regularly stocked for the event. No one noticed [READ MORE]

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Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem

 Environment, Newsletter, November 2019, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem
Nov 042019
 
Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem

By Anne-Marie Lambert If only the 504 gallons of household wastewater which had been pouring into Wellington Brook and Winn’s Brook through underground culverts every day had been more visible, perhaps we as a town would have addressed the necessary repairs more urgently. That’s what Belmont did when a student noticed an oil spill leaking into Clay Pit Pond during a freeze on December 12, 2003. A ruptured return line to the underground storage tank at Mary Lee Burbank Elementary school travelled through the town’s storm drain system carrying 1,000 gallons of oil to Clay Pit Pond. Alerted to the [READ MORE]

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