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 …
Continue reading Mass. DEP Releases Draft Plan to Clean Up Cape Waterways
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 …
Continue reading CLF Update on Lawsuit at Freedom Hall 10/18/22 at 7:30pm
Photo: The Patriot Ledger, August 7, 1996 Remember the old Standells’ 1965 tune Dirty Water, a tongue-in-cheek ode to the (then) filthy Charles River? Well, 30 years and a ton of hard work later, Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld showed just how clean the Charles had become by leaping (off-script) into the chilly brown waters of …
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 …
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 …
The common refrain we hear from state and local government officials every time we plead for a moratorium on Title 5 septic installations and the immediate approval of High Performance Innovative Alternative (HPIA) septic systems is, “It’s too soon. The data is inconclusive. And IA systems aren’t good enough.” Well, the State of Washington would …
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 …
Part 2 of a 2-Part Series on the Validity of the CLF Lawsuit In Part 1 [read], we considered the basis for the Conservation Law Foundation's lawsuit against Barnstable, Mashpee, and the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] -- whether these entities have been violating Title 5 law by sanctioning septic systems that far exceed …
Continue reading Part 2: Are Barnstable + Mashpee Breaking the Law?
Part 1 of a 2-Part Series on the Validity of the CLF Lawsuit In June 2021, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed suit against the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Towns of Barnstable and Mashpee, charging them with violating the state’s Title 5 regulations, specifically targeting the passages on limiting nutrient discharge …
For the last few years, we have been politely asking everyone in charge at the Town of Barnstable to allow homeowners in areas the sewer won't reach for a decade or more to install, at our own cost, an I/A septic system to speed up the attack on nutrient pollution. And with each phone call, …
Continue reading Mashpee Proposes What Barnstable Won’t Even Consider
Save Our Shoestring 