Political Waters
Boston Harbor served as a colonial gateway to the world, witnessed the Boston Tea Party, and helped the community transform itself from an outpost of a few hardy settlers into a bustling metropolis and self-proclaimed hub of the universe. Yet for hundreds of years Boston Harbor was also a cesspool. Long before Bostonians dumped tea into the harbor to protest English taxes, they dumped sewage there.\ As the Boston area grew and prospered, its sewage problems worsened, as did the harbor's...
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Traveling back to the founding of the city, but concentrating his story on the latter half of the 20th century, the author discusses the political battles that have raged over the sewer management in Boston and the pollution of Boston Harbor. Much of the narrative is concerned with the founding of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and its sewage management projects. Annotation © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Library Journal "Boston Harbor is America's harbor," says environmental author Dolin (Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges) in this sprightly account of its history and cleanup. This tale of politicians, engineers, and money began in 1632 when the Puritans, in search of a clean water supply, settled on the Shawmut Peninsula. Within two years, Boston became the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and like all cities, it wrangled with its waste. After the Boston Board of Health was established in 1799 with Paul Revere as president, city fathers began tackling the job of building a sewer system that carried away human waste, sewage, and water runoff into Boston Harbor. By the 1980s, the harbor was a stagnant, putrid disgrace. Drawing on extensive quotes from a variety of primary sources, Dolin details how in one of the most impressive environmental cleanups in U.S. history, the harbor was restored. It took just two lawsuits, the creation of a sewage authority, billions of dollars, and many individuals, including Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and Republican candidate George Bush, who exchanged jibes over the harbor. Recommended for libraries with environmental, law, and urban history collections.-Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley Coll., Mt. Carmel, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Acknowledgments ixAcronyms xiIntroduction: Dirty Water, Clean Water 1"A Very Stinking Puddle" 4The Sanitary Awakening 21"Future Wants of the City" 37Planning and Reality 51From Bad to Worse 64The "Ultimate Remedy" 99Enter the Federal Court 129"A World-Class Project" 143Conclusion: How Clean Is Clean Enough? 195Notes 199Interviews 231A Note on Sources 233Index 235
\ Library Journal"Boston Harbor is America's harbor," says environmental author Dolin (Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges) in this sprightly account of its history and cleanup. This tale of politicians, engineers, and money began in 1632 when the Puritans, in search of a clean water supply, settled on the Shawmut Peninsula. Within two years, Boston became the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and like all cities, it wrangled with its waste. After the Boston Board of Health was established in 1799 with Paul Revere as president, city fathers began tackling the job of building a sewer system that carried away human waste, sewage, and water runoff into Boston Harbor. By the 1980s, the harbor was a stagnant, putrid disgrace. Drawing on extensive quotes from a variety of primary sources, Dolin details how in one of the most impressive environmental cleanups in U.S. history, the harbor was restored. It took just two lawsuits, the creation of a sewage authority, billions of dollars, and many individuals, including Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and Republican candidate George Bush, who exchanged jibes over the harbor. Recommended for libraries with environmental, law, and urban history collections.-Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley Coll., Mt. Carmel, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
