EPA: Charles River gets high marks for cleanliness
(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
With no worries about water quality, kayakers paddled their way back to Charles River Canoe & Kayak in Newton yesterday.
By Tania deLuzuriaga, Globe Staff
The water is still murky and its shores are still home to the occasional beef jerky wrapper, plastic bag or empty bottle, but federal environmental officials said today that the Charles River is the cleanest it has been since they began monitoring water quality in 1995.
The river scored a "B++" this year, meeting boating standards 100 percent of the time and swimming standards 63 percent of the time, slightly better than last year when the river was given a "B+" for meeting boating standards 90 percent of the time and for swimming 62 percent.
"We can all be very proud that our hard work to reduce bacteria levels in the Charles River is paying off," Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England office, said in a statement.
"The Charles River is one of our signature waterways and it is clear that more than a decade of focus and attention ... has begun to turn the tide toward the promise of a clean, fishable and swimmable river," said state Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles.
Still, problems persist. For the past two summers toxic blue-green algae blooms caused by phosphorous have exploded in the river, putting humans and animals at risk. Stricter rules aimed at reducing storm water overflows and phosphorous pollution introduced by the EPA last October should improve the situation, said EPA spokesman Ken Moraff.
“When you look at the river, you don’t want to see psychedelic colors,” he said.
