Restore and Protect Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay
Since 1986 we have led the fight for clean water in the Harbor and the Bay, on our beaches, in our rivers, and on the Fort Point Channel. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay raises awareness of the health of the Harbor and the Bay, focusing on human health risk and on the health of important species including finfish, marine mammals, and sea and shore birds. Through our programs, we communicate complicated technical and scientific information to the public in accessible language, so that they can better participate in important public policy decisions.

On March 8, 2006 there was a legislative hearing on House Bill 4500, the bill to lease Outer Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area to AES Corporation of Arlington Virginia to site what they have described as the “largest LNG terminal and storage depot in the country”.

Click here to download the testimony. [13,829 KB]

We have established a strong coalition of more than two dozen organizations, including Mass Audubon, the Sierra Club, The Environmental League of Massachusetts, Mass PIRG, the Conservation Law Foundation, The Island Alliance, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, The Mass Lobsterman’s Association, Mass Boating, and the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association.

An important part of our strategy was to let our Legislators hear from us with a personal phone call or letter expressing our opposition to this bill. Download a sample telephone script [26 KB] and/or letter to your senator and representative. [28 KB]

To find out who your State Representative or State Senator is: Just visit http://www.wheredoivotema.com and enter your street address.

For a complete list of legislators telephone numbers and addresses, visit
http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenu.htm

Please Note: Only the room numbers are listed in the directory. The full mailing address is:
Senator X (or Representative Y)
State House, Room xxx
Boston, MA 02133

Learn about the seventeen (17) proposed LNG import terminal projects in the northeast! [29 KB]

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE LEGISLATION [1,338 KB] that would, if passed by a 2/3 vote of both the House and the Senate, authorize the lease of Outer Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park for use as the largest LNG terminal and storage facility in the nation.

Click here to download the Joint Statement [17 KB] in opposition to the proposed LNG terminal on Outer Brewster Island.

Click on the link below to read why Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is opposed to the proposed LNG facility in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.
Position Paper [2,352 KB]

Click on the links below to download recent Press Articles on the proposed LNG facility in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.
Boston Globe 2/16/06 [32 KB]
Boston Herald 2/19/06 [34 KB]
Boston Globe 10/18/05 [727 KB]
Associated Press 10/18/05 [14 KB]
Boston Metro 10/18/05 [4,202 KB]
Patriot Ledger 10/17/05 [1,687 KB]
Boston Globe 9/17/05 [17 KB]
Boston Globe 9/23/05 [12 KB]

Following is the list of those who have joined together in opposition to the AES plan to convert Outer Brewster Island into an LNG terminal:

3A Marine Service, Inc.
Bay State Cruise Company and New England Fast Ferry Co.
City Water Taxi
Conservation Law Foundation [271 KB]
Environmental League of Massachusetts
Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands Inc. [120 KB]
Harbor Express
Hull Lifesaving Museum [791 KB]
Island Alliance [24 KB]
Island Moorings, LLC
Massachusetts Audubon Society [16 KB]
Massachusetts Bay Lines, Inc. [21 KB] Massachusetts Boating & Yacht Clubs Association, Inc.
Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, Inc. [148 KB]
Massachusetts Marine Trades Association [214 KB]
Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) [335 KB]
Massachusetts Sierra Club
Odyssey Cruises
Piers Park Sailing Center
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies
Russo Marine
Safe Waters in Massachusetts (SWIM)
Save The Brewsters [158 KB]
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay [28 KB]
Seaside Environmental Alliance
Surfrider Foundation

In March of 2004 Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Science Advisory Committee
released its report on the causes of the beach closings in South Boston and Dorchester. This report provided critical information to better evaluate the proposed solutions to the problem.

Click here to download a copy of our Beaches Science Report [986 KB]

At their April meeting, the MWRA's Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve a comprehensive solution to the problems that continue to close the swimming beaches of South Boston and North Dorchester Bay, and to submit it to the regulators for review and the court for approval.

The board voted to submit a plan that will provide a 5-year level of storm water control and a 25-year level of CSO control on the beaches. When the plan is finished, in 2010 or 2011, we expect to see beach closings drop dramatically - from one every five days to one every few years.

Click here to download a Boston Globe news story on the proposed plan [247 KB]
Click here to download a Boston Globe Editorial [66 KB]

~ Through Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s independent Beaches Science Advisory Committee, we helped the public understand the causes of the beach closings in South Boston and North Dorchester and built consensus around a comprehensive solution to get both stormwater and sewage off the beaches. Click here to download the Science Advisory Committee’s report on the beach closings

~ We lead the effort to re-examine both the water quality and the water quality standards on the Fort Point Channel, so that it can become the "next great place in Boston". Click here to learn more about the Fort Point Channel

~ We lead the effort that keeps the public informed about the impacts of the outfall pipe on Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays and to inform the public about the health of the Bay. Click here to learn more about our work in Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays

The Fort Point Channel connects the Financial District with the South Boston Seaport to the south and Boston’s neighborhoods to the west. For years the Fort Point Channel has been considered an industrial backwater with decayed infrastructure, nearly no public access, and poor water quality.

Today, things have changed. Working with advocates, activists, the private landowners, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Children’s Museum, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay chaired an award winning planning partnership that developed – and has permitted – the dramatic Fort Point Channel Watersheet Activation Plan [2,007 KB] to create the "next great place in Boston" on the Fort Point Channel.

For the plan to work, we have to be able to use the Channel – for small boats and other recreational activities that require contact with the water. Unfortunately, the Channel is currently unsafe for human contact nearly 100 days a year.

Over the next few years we will work with the City, the abutters, residents and the newly formed "Friends of the Fort Point Channel" to begin formalizing the strategy to impliment the plan.

In March 2004 Judge Mazzone sent a strong message about water quality goals in the Fort Point Channel. In his hundred eighty-ninth compliance order, the Judge asserts "The water quality in the Fort Point Channel must be commensurate with the proposed increased recreational uses."
Click here for a copy of Judge Mazzone's most recent order [357 KB]
Click here for a recent Boston Globe Editorial [92 KB]

Our next steps to improve water quality in the Fort Point Channel include:

~ Creating a Science Advisory Committee to help us understand the causes of the problem, and evaluate possible solutions.

~ Coordinating a working group to keep the pressure on the regulators, Boston Water & Sewer Commission (BWSC) and the MWRA to make sure that we solve these problems before the planned redevelopment of the area occurs.

~ Continuing to lead an advocacy effort to force the Commonwealth to finally conduct its long overdue review of the uses and water quality standards on the Channel so that water quality will be appropriate for the planned uses.

~ Developing a public awareness campaign to bring the public back to the Channel and build a constituency for continued improvements.

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay has a responsibility to ensure that improvements to the Harbor do not come at the expense for the Bay. In order to do this, we need accurate – and timely – information about the health of both Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays and the impacts of the outfall pipe on both the inshore and far field marine environments.

As a way to ensure that the public has accurate information about the health of the Bay, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay leads the Public Interest Advisory Committee (PIAC). PIAC represents the public’s interest as the scientists and regulators monitor the health of the Bays through the Outfall Monitoring Science Advisory Panel (OMSAP), a committee created by the regulators and the Federal Court.