>>> THE CONNECTICUT RIVER, NEW ENGLAND'S LONGEST, IS A FEATURE
THAT MAKES THIS REGION RECOGNIZABLE.
AND ALTHOUGH IT WAS DESIGNATED A FEDERAL AMERICAN HERITAGE RIVER,
URBANIZED PORTIONS OF IT STILL SUFFER FROM WATER POLLUTION, DUE
TO COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS AND STORM WATER RUNOFF.
I SAT DOWN TO DISCUSS RIVER HEALTH AND ONGOING CLEANUP
EFFORTS WITH JOSHUA SCHIMMEL, OF SPRINGFIELD'S WATER AND SEWER
DEPARTMENT, AND PIONEER VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION'S TIM
BRENNAN.
>> PRIOR TO 1970 THERE WAS VIRTUALLY VERY LITTLE TREATMENT,
AND SO PIPES THAT COLLECTED SEWAGE FROM CITIES AND URBAN
AREAS JUST GOT PIPED RIGHT TO THE RIVER.
AND THAT WAS THE METHOD WHERE WASTE GOT TRANSPORTED TO THE
DUMPING GROUND, WHICH WERE OUR RIVERS.
SO REALLY NOT UNTIL THE 1970'S AND THE PASSAGE OF THE CLEAN
WATER ACT WAS THERE AN INFLUX OF MONEY WHERE WE COULD START TO
CORRECT A LOT OF THOSE ISSUES, AND THAT'S WHERE PEOPLE STARTED
TO BUILD TREATMENT PLANTS AND RENEW THEIR COLLECTION SYSTEMS
AND REALLY START TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE COMBINED OVERFLOWS
AND THE DIRECT DISCHARGE TO THE RIVER.
>> LET'S HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
IT'S NOT HAPPENING ALL THE TIME ANY MORE, AS IT WAS, AS YOU SAY,
IN THE 70'S AND BEFORE.
THAT BUT HOW OFTEN IS IT HAPPENING?
>> IT DEPENDS ON YOUR PIPING NETWORK.
YOUR TYPICAL SEWER SYSTEM IN A COMBINED AREA TAKES ALL THE
DRAINAGE FROM STREETS AND SIDEWALKS, ANY PAVED AREA, GOES
INTO CATCH BASINS AND THAT GOES INTO A COMMON PIPE WHICH IS A
COMBINED PIPE, STORM WATER AND SEWAGE.
THEY HAVE A LIMITED CAPACITY.
SO WHEN YOU GET A RAIN EVENT OF A CERTAIN SIZE, THAT CAPACITY IS
REACHED AND THE SEWAGE HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE.
THE COMBINATION OF SEWAGE AND STORM WATER HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE.
>> MORE MODERN CITIES AND SYSTEMS, THESE ARE SEPARATE,
RIGHT?
>> CORRECT.
>> SO THEY'RE NOT HAVING THAT PROBLEM, WHICH WE STILL CONTINUE
TO HAVE.
>> IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO SEPARATE AFTER THE FACT, AND
THAT'S WHERE THE EXPENSE COMES.
>> IT'S WHERE WEB FIND OURSELVES AS A COMMUNITY IN SPRINGFIELD?
>> RIGHT.
WE'RE LOOKING AT PROBABLY SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF
$300 MILLION YET TO GO.
SO IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARILY EXPENSIVE PROBLEM, BUT IT'S THE
ONLY WAY REALLY TO GET THAT WATER QUALITY THAT WE'RE
STRIVING FOR.
>> WHEN IT COMES TO FUNDING TO FIX THESE TIMES OF PROBLEMS,
IT'S UNLIKELY, AS I UNDERSTAND THAT IT THERE WOULD BE FEDERAL
DOLLARS AVAILABLE FOR THIS IN THE SHORT TERM, IS THAT RIGHT?
>> YES.
WE HAD THE FORTUNATE SITUATION FOR MANY YEARS OF FORMER
CONGRESSMAN OGLEBY ABLE TO CHAMPION EARMARKS AND WE COULD
GET AN -- >> THAT WAS IN THE 90'S, THOUGH.
>> RIGHT, THAT ENDED.
SO NOW WE'VE HAD TO LOOK TO THE STATE AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL BOND
BILL OF THE STATE TO GET ANY RESOURCE TO COMBINE WITH THOSE
RHODE LIMITED RESOURCES.
>> RIGHT NOW THE STATE IS, HAS A HOPEFUL BEACON AROUND FUNDING
FOR THIS ISSUE?
>> YES.
WE DID GET AN ALLOCATION FROM THE LAST BOND BILL PASSED IN
2014, IN THE VICINITY OF $3 MILLION, OUT OF THE
10 MILLION THAT WAS -- AGAIN 300 MILLION VERSUS
SPENDING MAYBE 3 MILLION A YEAR, STILL A LONG WAY TO G.
>> IN THE E.P.A.
PERMIT I KNOW THAT THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
AND RIVER ADVOCATE THERE'S HAVE CHALLENGED THE FACT THAT THE
MASSACHUSETTS PERMIT HERE THAT'S GOVERNED BY THE E.P.A.
HAS BEEN DELAYED REPEATEDLY AND EXTENDED
AND RECENTLY EXTENDED AGAIN.
SO YOU'VE GOT SOME MORE LEEWAY AROUND HOW QUICKLY YOU WOULD
NEED TO CLEAN THIS UP.
BUT IN THE SHORT TERM DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO TRY AND DEAL WITH
THIS ISSUE EVEN THOUGH THE E.P.A.
IS SAYING YOU HAVE A LITTLE MORE LEEWAY?
>> SURE, WE DO.
WE DEAL WITH IT, WE'RE THE STEWARDS OF THE RIVER.
SO THERE'S ONLY ONE COMMUNITY THAT
CLEANS UP THE RIVER AND THAT'S WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
THERE AREN'T OTHER TREATMENT SYSTEMS.
SO WE'RE THE ONES THAT DO THE HEAVY LIFTING, AND THAT'S PART
OF OUR MISSION.
SO REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE FUNDING IT'S COMING FROM OR THE
LACK OF FUNDING, WE TAKE THAT AS PART OF OUR MISSION AND WE GO
ABOUT IT EVERY DAY AND WE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE.
SO THERE'S A HUGE SCARCITY OF DOLLARS, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK BACK
TO THE 70'S, WHEN THERE WERE FEDERAL DOLLARS ON THE TABLE,
THAT IS WHEN THE BULK OF THE WORK GOT DONE, THAT'S WHEN
TREATMENT PLANTS GOT BUILT AND THAT WAS A 95% GRANT AND A 5%
MATCH BY YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY.
SO NOW WE'RE LUCKY TO GET A ONE OR TWO PERCENT GRANT FROM
WORKING WITH PVC AND IT'S 99% OF THAT EFFORT AND LIFT IS BY THE
UTILITIES THEMSELVES.
SO IT'S A SUPER HUGE CHALLENGE FINANCIALLY BECAUSE COMBINED
SEWER OVERFLOWS AREN'T THE ONLY CHALLENGE WE HAVE, OBVIOUSLY.
ALL THAT INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS 160 YEARS OLD THAT'S STILL IN
SERVICE NEEDS A LOT OF MAINTENANCE.
SO IT'S BALANCING ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
>> AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHILE DOLLARS AND CENTS ARE IMPORTANT
AND WE NEED BE TALKING ABOUT THEM, THE AVERAGE PERSON IS
PROBABLY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE HEALTH OF THE
RIVER.
SO WHAT DO WE KNOW CURRENTLY ABOUT THE HEALTH OF THE
CONNECTICUT RIVER?
>> WELL, IN BROAD STROKES WE KNOW IN THE WORK THAT'S BEEN
DONE, IN CONCERT WITH THE AFFECTED COMMUNITIES, WE'VE
PROBABLY REDUCED THE POLLUTION LEVEL ABOUT 15 PLUS PERCENT.
AND WE'VE ACTUALLY ACHIEVED CLASS B WATER ABOVE THE HOLYOKE
DAM.
YOU CAN VISUALLY SEE THE DIFFERENT IN USAGE UPSTREAM
VERSUS DOWNSTREAM.
SO NOW THE FOCUS IS ON THE CONNECTICUT, THE
LOWER CONNECTICUT AND THE THREE CORE CITIES WHICH ARE THE
COMMUNITIES THAT STILL HAVE THE BULK OF THE C.S.O.
ISSUES TO OVERCOME.