A definite deal killer
I’m not the pickiest person when it comes to location. My wife and I bought a house on a fairly busy street within earshot of the railroad tracks.
But there are a few things I would draw the line at when it comes to checking out the neighborhood. The local dump, a major highway and a pig farm top my list.
Now, thanks to the Globe’s Keith O’Brien, I have a new item for my list of deal killers: an “odor-control’’ plant.
That is what the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority plans to build near the shores of Dorchester Bay, one of the most beautiful, and least appreciated, waterfront tracts in Boston.
The plant is designed to minimize the stench from a new sewer tunnel, one that has the noble purpose of eliminating the combined sewer overflows that periodically make the city’s beaches un-swimmable, O'Brien reports.
But it comes just as local developer Corcoran Jennison pushes plans for a $1.5 billion condo, restaurant and retail complex on Columbia Point.
The MWRA contends the plant will work as advertised, with little if any smell the public will be able to detect.
But the developer, not surprisingly, is pushing back. A consultant hired by Corcoran Jennison paints a picture of some rather unpleasant smells periodically blanketing the firm’s new waterfront community and nearby Dorchester and South Boston to boot.
“Inside the red, it would be like a bathroom you would go into and want to leave,’’ Michael Lannan, vice president of Tech Environmental, the consultant hired by the developer, told the Globe. The "red" refers to the area closest to the plant.
That sounds rather unpleasant, especially if you just plunked down a cool million or two for a condo with killer views, only to find out it comes with a killer stench as well.
Corcoran Jennison wants the new odor sanitizing facility to be built underground, instead of above, as currently planned.
However, let’s suppose the MWRA is right about the odor, a gamble in and of itself when dealing with any government agency.
It’s hard to imagine a worse next door neighbor for a new residential development – one that could breathe new life into a long-neglected tract of the city’s harborfront.
A large, bulky building topped by a ventilation stack is bound to attract the curiosity of potential condo buyers.
And how many are going to stick around after finding out just exactly what it is?
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Yeah, that's horrible. Let's just continue to dump raw sewage into the water and let it make our beaches unswimmable. Persoanlly, I'd prefer that the rich folks looking to buy their million dollar condos not be inconvenienced with a treatment plant. They should be able to shop at their high-end stores without such an eye-sore. The children from the city who'd like to swim and play at the beach can go without, or just run through sprinklers in their front yard. We should all make sacrifices so that the rich people can continue to enjoy their preferred lifestyles.
I'd be more concerned if I thought the Condos at Columbia point had any chance of actually getting built in the next 10 years....
Borderline real estate neighborhoods rarely get million dollar condos built in recessions.
i guess south boston isn't going to be doing too hot depending on the spell when construction is finished...
The kids won't want to swim at the beach if it smells like sewage. Front lawn slip and slide beats beach-side sewage stench any day.
This is clear NIMBYism. The developer wants to influence a project that was in planning before the development. They want changes to the plan that will make it more expensive, but don't want to help pay for it. They ignore the fact that there are similar facilities elsewhere that result in zero complaints. If the developer wants to change the plans, they should put up or shut up.
NIMBYism? then why dont you you move next ot a sewage plant? Does it really make people upset that a developer wants to make sure that something crucial to it plans is done right before they invest 1.5 BILLION? i dont recognize any simmilar objections to projects like the columbus projectt - received 500 million form the state for a bridge? and that project is already in a nice area. whats wrong with making sure the goverment gets something right before they build that will last 100 years. Isnt it easier to get it done right the first time? alos this is something IF built that would be good for the area!!
In western MA where I reside, the stench from the sewage treatment plant on the CT river in Springfield periodically escapes. It overwhelms the areas of Springfield, Longmeadow and Agawam. You can expect an odor control plant to do just that, control (but not completely eliminate) the odor. I am glad that I am not the developer (or any of the neighbors) near this sewage effluent.
When completed, this MWRA project, as the final piece of the Boston Harbor clean-up, will restore South Boston’s public beaches and will be a key component of revitalizing this entire area! Over the past ten years, this project was fully vetted, fully permitted and received a two-thirds vote of the State Legislature. There have been numerous public meetings with neighborhood groups over this time line, including the Columbia Point Association and Corcoran Jennison Company staff. As an abutter, Mr. Corcoran was privy to the numerous details of this process and had ample opportunity to weigh in.
In the final stages of the project, Mr. Corcoran has decided that a different location for this Odor Control Facility would better suit his view. As the MWRA moves into the final stage of design and bid for construction, and is working to meet a court milestone, Mr. Corcoran objects, threatens law suits and expects ratepayers to pick up the tab for $3 to $4 million more to move the facility underground. The project will already cost ratepayers over $300 million when completed.
Mr. Corcoran hired an engineer to distort the impacts of this facility even after the DEP and EPA have approved it. There are 13 other MWRA odor control facilities in the state that exist without impact. An Odor Control Facility works to ensure that there is no problem with air quality; it is not a sewerage treatment plant. In fact, the term “Fresh Air Facility” might be more aptly used to describe the facility’s function, in that it prevents odor!
Additionally, if Mr. Corcoran is so concerned with the placement of this facility, it is hardly inappropriate to ask abutters to share costs of a project, especially if they are the sole beneficiaries of the changes they are requesting. There is precedent of developers paying costs of infrastructure changes that conflict with their projects. Examples are found in the MWRA collaboration with the Harvard-Allston Project, the Shops at Saugus, and the Meadow Walk in Lynnfield.
Ratepayers are facing the same challenges in this economy as everyone else, including the struggles to pay mortgages and ever increasing water and sewer bills. Ratepayers should not and will not pay for major changes in this facility to place it underground to better suit Mr. Corcoran’s view.
Joseph Favaloro
Executive Director
The MWRA Advisory Board represents the ratepayers in the 60 cities and towns within the MWRA service area.
I think the story should be more about existing residents of Southie and Dorchester. This is a huge mistake to put this there as-is. The Dorchester Reporter also reported that Corcoran had a proposal for an underground facility that was projected to be cheaper and more effective. Of course it is nimbyism, who would want this in their back yard? This is going to affect alot more than expensive condos. It looks like a huge chunk of Southie is going to be affected as well as part of Dorchester, including the Boston Globe building. There is no reason our neighborhood should have to be subject to this.
Having witnessed other similar plants in Mass and other parts of the country, specifically Florida where drainage and heavy rains are an issue, they are largley ineffective and should never be built with neighborhoods downwind. The lawsuits and relocation of this will end up costing more in the future than putting in an appropriate plant in an appropriate location to begin with. I smell a class action by the residents affected.
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