Reports: Executive Director’s Reports

October 27, 2008

  1. City-State Groundwater Working Group - The group met again last week. As always, attendance was excellent as was the information exchange. Details from individual agencies are below.
  2. DCR - DCR is working through a few technical and regulatory issues on the connection between the Storrow Drive Tunnel west pumping station and BWSC’s recharge galleries under Back Street. They expect the final design to be completed within two weeks and still hope for the connection to be made this fall.
  3. MTA - In the North End, the MTA has completed the repairs to the manhole in the ramp closest to Cross Street, is nearing completion of the repairs to the manhole on the ramp on the opposite side of the tunnel, and has identified a third manhole for inspection in the grass area above the roadway. The MTA has inspected their main 52" drain line in the area near the low groundwater reading under the Clarendon Street bridge and found it to be tight; however, they have found dry weather flow in an 18" branch pipe between Columbus Avenue and Clarendon Street and will schedule it soon for repair. The MTA is in the process of hiring a consultant to determine whether they can effectively divert some of the rainwater/groundwater drainage from certain CA/T pump stations to recharge, as discussed in their recently filed Notice of Project Change for redoing the drainage system.
  4. MBTA - The MBTA will have an inspection, which we will attend, to try to determine the reason for recently dropping water levels on Cazenove Street where they continue to inject water through their recharge well. The well has been purged of silt buildups twice; the reason for the buildups is not completely clear. The T has named GEI as the designer of the Long Term Solution for the groundwater depression near Back Bay Station in the South End. Final contract award and commencement of design should happen later this Fall.
  5. BWSC - BWSC has found two leaks near where the liner installed last year in the West Side Interceptor under Beacon Street meets some cross connections. These could be the cause of recent low water readings in the area of Dartmouth and Beacon Streets. BWSC will shortly be contracting for a diver to make these repairs as well as to inspect and repair a possible leak in a sewer under Commercial Street that could be causing the low water levels near Richmond Street and Atlantic Avenue.
  6. MWRA - They will be conducting a television reinspection of the sewers near Porter and Breman Streets in East Boston within 3-4 weeks. They have made earlier repairs in this area, but these have not been sufficient to substantially raise local groundwater levels. Their major construction project in East Boston is going through the drawing review and utility relocation phases; substantial construction should start around the area of Condor Street within a month.
  7. GCOD - Compliance with GCOD continues to be excellent. I recently met with a professor at Tufts about a potential research project to determine how much effect the systems installed so far have had on groundwater levels; hopefully this work will take place in the first half of next year.
  8. Website - Many of the measures of traffic at the website are at their highest levels since the Spring, and some are at their highest levels in at least a year. We have now posted the approximate rim elevations of our wells as a way for people to have a rough idea of local street elevations; this may help to alleviate some of the difficulty of understanding what an elevation relative to Boston City Base means.
  9. Meetings - I attended public meetings on the Storrow Drive Tunnel interim repair project as well as on a project to rebuild the structure at 199 West Brookline Street. I also had a meeting about the details of the geothermal heating system to be installed in the new structure at 212-222 Stuart Street and steps needed to make sure that it will not cause a reduction in groundwater levels in the critical upper aquifer.
  10. Comment Letters - I filed comment letters on the two new buildings planned for the Prudential Center as well as on the 199 West Brookline Street project. They should be posted on our website shortly.