Don't drink the water. [View All]

[WilliamPitt]

Rainstorm forces MWRA to dump untreated sewage into Quincy Bay
By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent, Andrew Ryan, Peter Schworm and John R. Ellement, Globe staff

Heavy rains forced the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to empty untreated sewage into Quincy Bay for the first time since 2005. The MWRA released the waste shortly after 12:30 p.m. today with its plant on Nut Island in Quincy overflowing. "It's really to save the station," said Ria Convery, a MWRA spokesman. "If it fills up with water we've got bigger troubles."

Convery said the controlled release is mostly water and is permitted under environmental regulations in an emergency. Officials plan to test the water for elevated bacteria levels. The Nut Island plant feeds the larger treatment plant on Deer Island, which has been running at capacity for 48 hours. Each day, the plant had handled 1.3 billion gallons of flow, compared to 360 million on a normal day.

In Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino directed the city's emergency-response teams to help deal with the storm that wouldn't go away, as the region grappled with strong winds and persistent rains that have submerged roads, cut power to thousands, and overtaxed sewage systems. Boston authorities were monitoring Dorchester and other areas prone to flooding after more than 10 inches of rain fell in the city in the past three days.

The rest: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/03/wet_windy_heada.html

Upside: if this had been snow, we'd all be dead.