Milestones: A race to protect Mass. rivers is won

A development boom, unsafe rivers

It’s the 1990s and development in Massachusetts is booming, outpacing population growth by a rate of 6 to 1.

Yet more development often means more pesticides, oil and other pollution running off into the Bay State’s 9,000 miles of rivers. A 1996 MASSPIRG study finds 68% of the state’s rivers unsafe for fishing or swimming. The national average is only 38%.

MASSPIRG joins a coalition of canoeists and fishermen, throwing our weight behind the Rivers Protections Act, which promises to shield rivers with 200-foot (or 25-foot in urban areas) “buffer zones” — corridors in which development is barred, giving riverside vegetation a chance to filter out contaminants before they run off into the water.

Introduced seven years earlier by Sen. Robert Durand, by 1996 the Senate has passed the bill four times. In the House, however, the real estate lobby’s opposition has proven stronger. Each time the Senate passed the bill, the House let it die.

As the 1996 legislative session begins, changing the bill’s fate in the House will require a combination of public support and strategic advocacy.

​​Two weeks notice

The Rivers Bill coalition overcomes a major hurdle when the powerful House Ways & Means Committee approves the bill — on July 19, only two weeks before the end of the session.

The tight timeline isn’t the only problem.

MASSPIRG’s Rob Sargent and Paul Burns are among those who discover a monkey wrench: The bill headed toward the House floor carries an amendment that would shield companies from responsibility for hundreds of hazardous waste dumps. Among the companies that would benefit: Generic Electric, owners of a Pittsfield plant that had contaminated the Housatonic River with dangerous PCBs.

On July 22, MASSPIRG and our allies deliver a clear message to lawmakers: No polluter-friendly amendments. Pass the bill in its original form.

The next day, with the clock winding down on the legislative session, Paul organizes 65 volunteer phone bankers to rally activists around the state. Thousands of calls and letters flood lawmakers’ offices.

Crunch time for the Rivers Bill

On July 25, with the session ending in just six days, the House approves the Rivers Bill — but with a watered-down yet still polluter-friendly amendment, crafted to protect only General Electric.

The bill heads to a conference committee. On July 28, in a meeting with Rob, Paul and another environmental advocate, Sen. Durand agrees to hold firm on his original bill.

The next day, Rob helps sleuth out that the polluter-friendly amendment originated in the governor’s office of business development. After Rob tips off reporters, the story runs in the Boston Globe.

On July 30, Rob and Paul, our twin river stewards, show up early at the State House, urging members of the joint House-Senate conference committee to approve a strong Rivers Bill.

Well after midnight, in the early hours of July 31, Rep. Barbara Gray, one of our top allies on the Rivers Bill, emerges from behind the closed doors of the conference committee.

“Did we win?” Paul asks. Rep. Gray responds,  “How do I look?” “You look tired,” Paul says. “But I feel great!” she shouts back.

The conference committee had agreed to pass a strong Rivers Bill, providing new protection to 9,000 miles of the state’s rivers. Peter Schilling, of Trout Unlimited, praises Rob and Paul for their advocacy, saying “it was the attitude and spirit they both carried, and vocalized, which helped turn the tide in getting the Rivers Bill passed.”
On August 7, Paul stands at the podium and speaks before Gov. Bill Weld signs the bill into law. The governor and Sen. Durand take a celebratory leap into the Charles River, which would soon be called the cleanest urban river in the country.

About this series: PIRG, Environment America and The Public Interest Network have achieved much more than we can cover on this page. You can find more milestones of our work on clean water below. You can also explore an interactive timeline featuring more of our network’s clean water milestones.