A Plea to Local + State Lawmakers to Support New Septic Rules

There's a movement afoot among some Cape and Southcoast politicians to thwart the new DEP regulations on septic pollution. So we're all fighting back. If you get the Boston Sunday Globe, check out page A7 in today's paper to see the full-page ad demanding state and local officials commit to new septic rules to cut …

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“Pooponesset Bay” Memorialized in Boston.Com Article!

Visually, the water is usually less than translucent, smells, and is clogged with a vast field of dying red and green algae,” said Gary Markowitz, co-founder of Cape Cod advocacy group Save Our Shoestring. “Visitors to our home note the contamination and the smell and have renamed the bay in conversation — of course, in …

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Our Comments Read at the DEP Public Hearing on December 1

Note: Today Gary read the following statement at the DEP public hearing regarding the proposed septic upgrade regulations. We encourage all of our Shoestring Bay neighbors to submit comments to the DEP. Feel free to borrow any content from our statement. My name is Gary Markowitz and I’m the co‐founder of SOS‐Save Our Shoestring Bay, …

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WBUR Covers Mass. DEP Proposed Changes to Title 5

Note from Save Our Shoestring: We couldn't agree more with Zenas Crocker of the Barnstable Clean Water Coalition, who says the DEP's proposed changes should target properties close to waterways first. "You treat first those areas that are closest to the water because these are the ones that are contributing the most load most quickly," …

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Mass. DEP Releases Draft Plan to Clean Up Cape Waterways

Yesterday, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] released its long-awaited draft regulations intended to fix the disaster that is Title 5. The release follows the DEP's preliminary announcement in June 2022 of pending changes to septic system siting in nitrogen sensitive areas. [See our post on the June announcement.] When implemented, the regs. will …

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CLF Update on Lawsuit at Freedom Hall 10/18/22 at 7:30pm

If you're free tonight, head over to Freedom Hall [976 Main St, Cotuit] at 7:30pm when the Cotuit-Santuit Civic Association hosts a meeting/discussion with Chris Kilian from the Conservation Law Foundation. Chris will update us on CLF's work to preserve and restore Cape Cod's waters through litigation and community pressure. Save Our Shoestring has worked …

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Send This Email to Your Town Leader

So many readers have asked us what they can do directly to affect policy regarding the clean-up of Shoestring Bay. For starters, send Town Managers Mark Ells [Barnstable] or Rodney Collins [Mashpee] an email expressing your outrage at the continued decline of the Bay. Collective action yields results! Town of BarnstableMark Ells, Town ManagerTel: 508-862-4610mark.ells@town.barnstable.ma.us …

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Code Red: Stop Ignoring Shoestring Bay

A History of Inaction Massachusetts leaders have long been considered in the vanguard of environmental stewardship and coastal resource preservation. But for 20+ years, State, County, and Town leaders have known about the link between excess nitrogen loading in a watershed and deteriorating water quality on Cape Cod. They’ve known that Shoestring Bay and the broader …

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Mass. DEP Takes a Baby Step

On June 1, 2022 the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued the much-awaited draft of its "let's fix Title 5" Fact Sheet [download] entitled "MassDEP Regulatory Strategy for Estuaries Impaired by Nitrogen." The proposed rules could "require upgrades of all existing systems to add nitrogen removal technology within five years of the regulation’s approval …

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