TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026
As State Representative for the Cambridgeport Neighborhood, Magazine Beach, and other parts of Cambridge and Somerville, last night I attended a meeting at the Morse School where the City of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) presented their recently-released Draft Updated Combined Sewer Overflow Control Plan to members of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association.
The plan is intended to address the fact that the Greater Boston area contains several archaic combined sewer systems where both sewage and stormwater travel through a single pipe network that can toxins into local rivers (aka CSOs). The MWRA and our local municipalities are under an EPA order to stop letting raw sewerage run into our local rivers during heavy rainstorms, which are only expected to get worse due to climate change.
Shockingly, at last night's meeting, the City of Cambridge and the MWRA presented an option to sacrifice some 2.3 acres of parkland at Magazine Beach — essentially the entire sports area — fencing it off and making it permanently inaccessible. Construction at Magazine Beach would run for years and require closing off even more of the park for staging supplies and equipment, effectively destroying Magazine Beach as we know it.
For my part, I emphatically stated to the MWRA representatives present that this proposal is clearly not an option. Moreover, I told the City of Cambridge staffers who were present that this represents a failure of city planning.
There is absolutely no way the future use of a large part of Cambridge's second-largest park will be sacrificed for water-storage and pumping facilities. Furthermore, it is ludicrous that the MWRA asserted that if a large water-storage tank were someday placed under Magazine Beach, the only option would be to fence off the entire area above the tank for security reasons. Over in Somerville near Brickbottom, a massive underground stormwater storage tank was recently constructed, and above it are plans for a park called ArtFarm. Apparently, the MWRA has made little effort to address the obvious question: if a tank were built here, why not restore usable parkland above it?
Magazine Beach park is protected by Article 97 of the state constitution, and converting protected parkland to another use would require a two-thirds vote from both branches of the state legislature. So I can say this so-called option, were it ever allowed to proceed, is dead on arrival.
I told the presenters that this is frankly a highly manipulative move. In a nutshell, what happened is that the MWRA made an initial proposal for how to address their future combined-sewer overflow obligations. Advocates for the environment and the Charles River, myself included, called on them to be more ambitious and do more to address future discharges to keep toxins out of our rivers and streams. In response, the City and the MWRA are now offering the idea of sacrificing Magazine Beach. For the City and the MWRA to even put that option on paper was irresponsible and a wild insult to our community.
On the one hand, I encourage everyone to learn more and get involved in the public comment process, which runs through October 30, 2026. That's so important. On the other hand, I want to reassure folks we will never abide the loss of Magazine Beach. I am in contact with my legislative partner, Sen. Sal DiDomenico, and I am working with him and neighborhood leaders to demand accountability for this ridiculous proposal and to insist on real alternatives. As I stated at last night's meeting, a proposal this obscene really harms people's trust in government. I am furious and disappointed that instead of doing the work of considering real alternatives to address our sustainability concerns, the MWRA opted to make such a manipulative and empty proposal.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly with any questions or concerns via [email protected].
Thank you, once again, for being an informed and engaged constituent.
Yours in service,
Mike
