With streams running low, environmentalists plan suit

June 27, 2008 06:39 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

A group of environmental organizations say they are going to sue the city of Brockton and state and federal environmental agencies for mismanaging water resources in southeastern Massachusetts.

The group, which includes the Jones River Watershed Association and the Massachusetts Audubon Society, announced today that it had filed a notice of intent to sue Brockton, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Pine duBois, executive director of the Jones River Watershed Association, said Brockton takes its water from Silver Lake, 20 miles east of the city, and it's damaging the lake and other waterways in the area by withdrawing too much.

The Jones River begins at the lake, which lies in Kingston, Pembroke, Halifax, and Plympton, and empties seven and a half miles later into Cape Cod Bay in Kingston. Eight months of the year now, the upper reach of the Jones is dry because of excessive water withdrawals from the lake, she said.

"The Clean Water Act is supposed to guarantee waters that are safe for swimming and fishing for everyone. How can that happen if rivers are deprived of water? We're taking this action on behalf of rivers and all citizens who care about them," Mettie Whipple, executive director of the Eel River Watershed Association, another of the organizations in the group, said in a statement.

A message left at the Brockton mayor's office wasn't immediately returned. Joseph Ferson, a spokesman for the DEP, said the agency was reviewing the group's notice of intention to sue.

"The notice of intent to sue federal and state agencies under the Clean Water Act raises concerns about the protection of valuable streams and rivers in Massachusetts. While we do not yet know the details of these concerns, EPA remains committed to using all of our Clean Water Act authorities to fully protect the nation's vital wetlands, streams and other waters," Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water, said in a statement.