Reports: Executive Director’s Reports

October 27, 2009

  1. City-State Groundwater Working Group - The Group met on October 22. As always, attendance and cooperation were excellent. Detailed information is included under the individual entities below.
  2. MBTA - The T expects to install the second recharge well on Cazenove Street within the next few weeks. They remain committed to getting the short term fix working properly again and to the implementation of the long term solution involving recharge from the Follen Street Pumping Station. The T has also resumed substantial work on Copley Station near Old South Church. They have installed a series of recharge wells in case they need to dewater for the elevator installation. The T will not be using jet grout technology near either the church or the Boston Public Library.
  3. DCR - The recharge connection between the Storrow Drive tunnel wet pumping station and BWSC’s galleries under Back Street appears to be working well. Groundwater levels at most of the observation wells along Back Street are at or near the highest we have ever observed.
  4. BWSC - BWSC has completed most of the relining projects in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and South End except for some work on Dartmouth Street near Newbury Street. Contracts have been let for the more intense reconstruction work scheduled for some alleys in Back Bay and streets on Beacon Hill. They continue to try to discover the cause of low groundwater levels in the vicinity of Beacon and Dartmouth Streets in Back Bay and near Fulton and Richmond Streets in the North End.
  5. MTA - The MTA (making its final report before it is absorbed into the new Department of Transportation next month) has completed repairs to the leak near Clarendon Street and Columbus Avenue. Our two closest wells both showed significant increases in our recently completed round of readings. The MTA will convene a meeting of the City-State Groundwater Working Group’s Technical Advisory Committee in the near future to discuss the potential for recharge related to some replumbing of drainage from the Central Artery at locations near Chinatown, the Leather District, and the North End.
  6. MWRA - MWRA’s construction work on their major project in East Boston remains on schedule. The pipe under Porter Street will be discontinued and plugged in 2010. MWRA has conducted additional television inspection of their pipe under Breman Street near the low point at Porter Street, but they have found no additional leaks.
  7. GCOD - The number of GCOD cases before the Board of Appeals seems to be increasing. Compliance with the zoning continues to be excellent. The Board has granted only three variances (one of which still included a partial recharge system) in over 160 cases that it has heard. There are now at least 69 functioning recharge systems approved under GCOD and inspected by BWSC.
  8. Website - Traffic to the website has continued to increase, with several days this month with over 200 distinct visits. We have posted the minutes of trustees meetings for 2008 and 2009, as voted by the trustees. Minutes for earlier years will be posted soon.
  9. Meetings - I attended a scoping session for the upcoming projects at Boston Medical Center. I also attended a meeting to discuss potential causes and solutions to the low groundwater area in the North End.
  10. Comment Letters - I filed comments on the Boston Medical Center projects. They will be posted shortly.
  11. Budget - We have received our City funding for FY2010.