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MWRA seeks to recoup some of $3.3 million in flood-related costs

E-mail|Link|Comments () April 14, 2010 04:44 PM

By Emma Stickgold, Globe Correspondent

The Massachusetts Water Resource Authority is putting together a list of flood-related costs they hope to recoup from state and federal emergency management agencies, after shelling out an estimated $3.3 million to address the recent widespread flooding, officials said today.

Much of the money was spent on diesel fuel to power the combustion turbine generators that ensure the pumps keep going at Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant when power outages are feared.

The roughly 400,000 gallons of fuel used over 26 days cost about $1.7 million. Overtime pay was estimated at $837,000, while equipment failures also took a financial toll on the state agency.

In mid-March, MWRA officials said they had to release 15 million gallons of raw sewage into the Boston Harbor to prevent waste from backing up into residences and flooding waste-management stations.

"Things were back up to normal within days," MWRA spokeswoman Ria Convery said. "The flows remained high for a while, but we recovered pretty quickly."

Convery said Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency officials toured Deer Island on Tuesday to assess the situation.

She said they started a list back in February of storm-related finances, and now, "We're tallying it up and giving it to MEMA and FEMA," she said. "We'll seek recovery of anything possible."

Time and tides have helped normalize the waters off of Boston, Convery said.

"And the reservoirs are high, which is good news going into the summer," she added.