UPDATED, June 17: The Cambridge City Council voted to approve a measure to use the proposed redevelopment of the Alewife MBTA train station and parking garage to address a long-standing problem of untreated wastewater pouring into Alewife Brook through Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) when “wet weather overwhelms [Cambridge’s] sewer and stormwater systems.”
The recent weekend rainstorms have brought the issue home to many in East Arlington and North Cambridge.
Arlington took similar action last fall when the Select Board and Town Manager Jim Feeney sent a letter to Gov. Maura Healey to “coordinate efforts among the MBTA, MWRA, DCR and DEP to ensure that CSOs and flood mitigation are an integral part of the MBTA’s Alewife Station redevelopment plan,” Precinct 11 Town Meeting Member Kristin Anderson, wrote in a piece published on YourArlington. Last fall, Cambridge used the proposed redevelopment of the Alewife MBTA Red Line terminus to push the governor and MBTA to provide affordable housing at the site and to get a commuter rail station and stop at Alewife.
The issue was first brought before the Cambridge City Council on June 9, when dozens of people, including several from Arlington, sought to add language to the redevelopment proposals for the Alewife MBTA station to include plans to prevent sewage from overflowing into open waterways, specifically the Alewife Brook. Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons tabled the measure until this week’s Cambridge City Council meeting to allow for the council members and area activists to clarify some of the language in the CSO policy order.
After more than seven hours of hearing and public comment, mostly on the issue of creating a bike lane on the city’s Broadway corridor, the Council voted 6 to 3 to press Gov. Healey and the MBTA to work to resolve the issue of the CSOs and untreated human waste mixing with stormwater and spilling into the Alewife Brook. The vote came at 12:34 a.m. on June 17. Simmons and Councilor Paul Toner, whose family has lived near Alewife Brook for years, voted against the measure.
Cambridge City Councilor Cathie Zusy led the effort to get the state and MBTA to add language in its bids to redevelop the Red Line station and adjacent parking garage, which is located near the Arlington border at Alewife Brook. A vote on that proposal was ultimately delayed until next week after another city councilor expressed concern that Zusy’s plan was too specific and could hamper other efforts to address the wastewater problem in the area. The measure took a bit of political maneuvering to get the Council’s OK. There were two amendments and a few corrections, including typos, before the Council voted.
“Each year, tens of millions of gallons of untreated sewage [are] discharged into the Alewife Brook, a tributary of the Mystic River, which flows into Boston Harbor, impacting surrounding densely-populated neighborhoods, including environmental justice communities,” the proposed resolution read. “In 2023, 26 million gallons were discharged into Alewife Brook, making it ‘the site of the highest concentration of untreated sewage in [Greater] Boston.’”
Arlington’s Anderson also spoke during the open forum section of the Council’s meeting on June 9, which lasted almost two hours and included comments about the Alewife resolution from Arlington residents, students from Arlington, Cambridge and Belmont, and others concerned about the sewer overflow. The observations of many were presented with a noticeable urgency after a weekend rainstorm that brought more than an inch of rain to the area. The deadlines for the proposals to redevelop the Alewife station and garage area are in July.
While most of the Council seemed to agree with the overall plan that “the planned demolition of the Alewife Garage and redevelopment of the MBTA Alewife Complex presents an extraordinary opportunity,” Cambridge Councilor Patty Nolan offered an alternate proposal that sought to remove some of the specificity in Zusy’s resolution. After Cambridge Public Works Commissioner Kathy Watkins explained that the city is working on both mitigation at Alewife station and other areas in the city that feed wastewater to the Alewife area, including a site on Sherman Street that is not included in Zusy’s original plan.
Alewife Brook, an open and partly channelized waterway, runs along the border of Arlington, Cambridge, and Somerville, is part of the Alewife Brook Reservation, is a tributary of the Mystic River. The area includes ponds and wetlands that are home to many species of birds. Fifteen years ago, Cambridge constructed a nearly 3.5-acre stormwater management wetland on the reservation, located just west of Alewife Station. The wetland is designed to store and then gradually release collected stormwater runoff from nearby areas of Cambridge. But sewage has continued to flow into the brook after storms.
The revised and amended resolution was brought before the Council for its next meeting on Monday, June 16. The deadlines for the Alewife redevelopment include a July 2 date to add language to the request for proposals and a July 16 date for proposals to be submitted.
Various Cambridge groups are seeking to have any project at Alewife include some of the city’s stated goals of providing affordable housing, environmental cleanup, and usable open space.
The current resolution notes the ongoing work being done to address the regular release of sewage into Alewife Brook. “The City of Cambridge is currently working in coordination with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and the City of Somerville to draft a new CSO Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP), with draft recommendations due by the end of 2025 and final recommendations by January 2027,” according to the resolution dated June 9.
CSOs not just an Alewife issue
Cambridge officials expressed concern over any vote that could limit the MBTA’s efforts in finding a developer for the 11-acre state property that includes the Alewife T station and the parking garage. Over the course of two hearings, Cambridge City Council heard that even if the T station area redevelopment addresses the sewage flowing into the brook, the city has to fix two other areas upstream: Sherman Street and Bellis Circle, where Cambridge bought a parking lot in 2023.
Somerville looks at CSO issue, too
In Somerville, which also has CSOs that release into the Alewife and other waterways, the City Council heard from officials last month that separating Somerville wastewater from stormwater could cost between $550 million to $850 million over 40 to 50 years, with maintenance projects through fiscal year 2030 costing households an estimated $1,200 annually, according to Cambridge Day. For more on the work in Somerville, see the Cambridge Day report here. >>>
Charles River Watershed acts
Joined by concerned residents dressed as poop emojis, members of Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) testified before the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources today, urging lawmakers to adopt critical legislation to eliminate combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in Massachusetts water bodies by 2050, according to a press release from the CRWA.
Alewife Brook is not part of the Charles River Watershed, but has found an ally in working to get the state to correct these infrastructure issues. “The Clean Water Act of 1972 promised fishable, swimmable rivers by 1983. Yet today in 2025, we still cannot swim in the Charles River,” CRWA Executive Director Emily Norton said in a release. “The Charles is cleaner than it was, but the work is not done and there is a real fear that the work has stalled and will remain stalled indefinitely, unless the MWRA and the cities of Somerville and Cambridge get the message that they have to finish the job.”
CRWA requested the lawmakers to support legislation (H. 1046) that seeks to eliminate combined sewer overflows in Massachusetts waterways. The would require any entity that owns or operates a combined sewer system to eliminate all CSOs into Massachusetts waterways by 2050, with interim targets, according to the CRWA
This news story was published on June 10, 2025, and will be updated.
