Reports: Executive Director’s Reports

January 31, 2008

  1. City-State Groundwater Working Group - The Working Group met on January 24. The level of cooperation and information interchange remains high. Individual reports are summarized under the agencies below.
  2. DCR - The DCR is currently performing emergency repairs on the Storrow Drive Tunnel. They will be bidding the interim repair work on the tunnel in February. An interim recharge system that would bring all of the water removed at the west pumping station to the recharge galleys installed by BWSC in Back Street will be bid as an add/alternative. DCR has committed to include the recharge system unless bids are significantly over budget. The interim project is scheduled for installation between April and September. Long term repair/replacement of the tunnel awaits the DCR study of sequencing of repairs on all of the Charles River Basin roads and river crossings, to be conducted starting this spring.
  3. MBTA - The T held a public meeting on January 30 to discuss the long term solution recommended for the section of the South End near Back Bay Station. This will include a recharge system using water presently pumped away from the Follen Street pumping station with full design of an underground barrier along Berkeley and Chandler Streets. The underground barrier will be bid as an add/alternate and will be installed if further study shows that it is necessary. Funding for the project comes from the MBTA capital budget as well as an appropriation from the Commonwealth sponsored by Speaker Sal DiMasi. The T also met with me to bring me up to date on Silver Line Phase III. They have installed five new observation wells near the projected portal route in Bay Village; we will begin reading them in our current round of observations. The SFEIR for the project will be filed late this summer with comments due in the fall. At the most optimistic, construction on the project, expected to take six years, would begin in 2010.
  4. BWSC - They have video inspected 55,000’ of low lying sewers. While 15,000’ will need repair or replacement, none showed any obvious current leaks. They would like to video another 5000’, but have to work out some access and technical issues.
  5. GCOD - Compliance with GCOD requirements continues to be excellent. Only two variances have been requested, both clearly justified by site conditions and reviewed by BWSC, the BRA, ISD, and the Trust before approval by the Board of Appeals. We have prepared a guide to the process that is now up on our website.
  6. North End - BWSC injected over 500,000 gallons of water with green dye at the injection well that we installed in the North End. So far none has been seen. They plan to resume the process when the weather warms up. BWSC, the MTA, and the Trust are looking for dye at locations where it is thought likely to show up.
  7. MWRA - The MWRA will perform additional video inspection of their sewer lines at three locations in East Boston where readings remain low: Bremen and Porter Streets; Porter and London Streets; and Maverick and Frankfort Streets. They will repair any leaks that show up. Work is scheduled to get under way this summer on their court ordered reconstruction of their sewer system in much of East Boston.
  8. Legislation - Citywide GET has developed a later draft of their legislation since meeting with the Trust in November. Rep. Walz has asked me to advise her in considering it.
  9. Website - Traffic to the website dropped in December, as it often does. It has picked up since the middle of January. In addition to the section on GCOD procedures, we are looking into upgrading the interactive map so that inquiries can be made by address instead of zooming in on a location.
  10. Research Projects - The City has decided not to fund the installation project in East Boston because of the need to remove the new foundation so that work can proceed on a new building on the site. However, the project has let us work through many of the design issues and get a legitimate bid for the work that was far lower than the cost of underpinning. The City continues to look for an alternate site. The project to develop a method to remotely sense pile cutoff elevations remains a difficult technical challenge. The researchers at Northeastern have been able to determine a cutoff, but at a distance that is far to close to be practical. They continue to work at whether they can find a practical solution.
  11. 350 Boylston Street - I have been appointed to the Impact Advisory Group for this project at the corner with Arlington Street. The site is one where groundwater levels have been a concern. The IAG comments will include an emphasis on groundwater among other issues. I have also filed comments on the project and met with the developer and his engineers to discuss their plans for a recharge system that will be used for both construction dewatering and reinjection from underdrains in addition to handling recharge from roof drains.
  12. Comment Letters - I have just filed comments on a project at 30 North Margin Street in the North End that includes a four level underground garage. I anticipate filing comments next month on the Turnpike Air Rights Parcel 7 project near Kenmore Square. This project also includes an underground garage on the terra firma portion of the site that is relatively close to an area where we understand there are wood piling supported structures. As always, all comment letters will be posted on our website.