Environment Archives

“STATE OF GOOD REPAIR”

With the MBTA still very broken, agency lacks clarity in communications with contractors, commuters “We shouldn’t have to be backtracking and deciphering contract packages to figure out when the T will get work done.” The MBTA is preparing to pay contractors $72 million over the next two years to repair

DAN ATKINSON April 20, 2023

THE AFTERMATH

Addressing February’s Clean Harbors Chemical Fire State’s response follows long history of environmental injustice around the Fore River Basin On the evening of Feb. 16 earlier this year, a tractor trailer filled with paints, epoxies, oil filters, and other flammable liquids spontaneously ignited at Clean Harbors, the largest waste disposal

JON LAMSON April 4, 2023

SURF’S UPCYCLED

Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride “When you’re riding the wave, it all seems to go away and you’re just really connected with the ocean and the nature and the elements.” All photos By Delainey LaHood-Burns unless otherwise noted |Video by Delainey LaHood-Burns and Sophia

DELAINEY LAHOOD-BURNS March 20, 2023

A MASSACHUSETTS FOSSIL FUEL LOBBYING REVIEW

As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill As gas prices and heating costs skyrocket across Massachusetts, fossil fuel producers and providers are spending hundreds of thousands to promote their political agendas to state officials and lawmakers. The state’s five for-profit utilities, which function as

JON LAMSON February 28, 2023

DEBATABLE DATA

Shortcomings in the state’s greenhouse gas inventory pose issues for energy planning While Massachusetts has mandated major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades, its greenhouse gas inventory may be underestimating the true level of emissions in the state. As government officials plan for the transition to a

JON LAMSON January 17, 2023

The mouth of Alewife Brook at the Mystic River. The bridge carries the Mystic Valley Parkway bewtween Somerville and Arlington, Massachusetts. Photo by Magicpiano. GNU Free Documentation License 2017 Magicpiano.

HOW TO CONTROL SEWAGE OVERFLOWS

Somerville, Cambridge, MWRA jointly update communities on long-term environmental planning to protect waterways from wastewater (Somerville Wire) – Most sewer systems in the United States have two dedicated, separated networks of pipes—one for sewage and one for stormwater. But many parts of Cambridge and Somerville have combined sewer systems, with

LINDA PINKOW December 21, 2022

Selection from "Eversource Substation in Union Square Somerville" by Linda Pinkow

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAM RENEWED

Community Choice Electricity reduces greenhouse gas emissions and electricity costs (Somerville Wire) – The Somerville Community Choice Electricity program, one facet of Somerville’s wide-ranging response to climate change, has been renewed for the next two years. Launched in 2017, the CCE program allows residents and businesses to increase the share

LINDA PINKOW November 8, 2022

STREET TREES NEED YOUR LOVE

Residents encouraged to water and protect saplings during drought (Somerville Wire) – Have you ever thought about becoming a tree parent? Urban trees typically suffer from inadequate water and nutrient availability, small growing spaces, poor soil quality, and various harmful human behaviors. Our public trees, especially our young ones, need

LINDA PINKOW July 26, 2022

DETOXIFIED CONWAY PARK RETURNS TO SERVICE

Final ribbon-cutting to be held this Friday, 11 a.m. (Somerville Wire) – It’s been five years since Conway Park was discovered to be contaminated. In preparation for renovations to the 2.8-acre complex at 550 Somerville Avenue, a 2017 environmental site assessment found that chemicals had seeped into the soil, including

LINDA PINKOW May 24, 2022

WHERE CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR STAND ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Pictured: Weymouth Compressor Station With multiple ongoing environmental fights in the state, our next governor will have major power to protect residents’ health and prosperity Amid ongoing fights over the proposed East Boston substation, a proposed Peabody gas power plant, and the Weymouth compressor station, the race to succeed Charlie

JON LAMSON April 14, 2022