City Council Unanimously Opposes Plan to Install 10 Million Gallon Storage Tank at Magazine Beach

The Cambridge City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday morning opposing the construction of a 10 million gallon sewage storage tank at Magazine Beach.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority proposed the construction of the tank in April, pushing to fence off roughly 2.3 acres of Magazine Beach to build the tank underneath existing playing fields — a pitch that city leaders, including City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05, have staunchly opposed.

The MWRA’s plan would have permanently blocked off the 2.3 acres for the tank, and fenced off an additional eight acres for construction for at least six years.

The push comes as part of the MWRA’s $1.3 billion plan to reduce Combined Sewage Overflows, which the Council has largely supported. Cambridge’s sewage system collects both rainwater and wastewater, which then flow into the Charles River during controlled releases after periods of heavy rainfall.

But councilors took issue with the practicality of installing a tank underneath Magazine Beach — arguing that blocking off a significant plot of land would strip residents of recreational space.

Cambridge, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation, has spent more than $10 million since 2010 on efforts to revitalize the 17-acre Magazine Beach Park. The Council pointed to recent improvements, including turning a former parking lot into a grassy beach and adding a dock for public access to the Charles River.

Magazine Beach Partners and the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association have also spearheaded a resident-led effort to oppose the tank — each submitting formal letters to the MWRA—and have encouraged community members to submit public comments before the Oct. 30 deadline.

And on Tuesday, all nine councilors signed on as co-sponsors of the order, urging the MWRA to “develop alternative plans.” The order encourages the MWRA to explore other sites in Cambridge, naming the Cottage Farm Facility — an existing storm and wastewater treatment facility in East Cambridge — as a potential alternative.

Councilor Marc C. McGovern, who was added as a co-sponsor of the order during Tuesday’s meeting, said the entire Council should sign on to the order “ to send a message that you know we are all on board with this position.”

Advocates, including the Charles River Watershed Association, have argued that installing a tank at Magazine Beach does not solve the root of the sewage overflow problem — that storm and wastewater are collected through one system. The existing management system is several centuries old, and a replacement would require pulling apart sewage systems neighborhood by neighborhood.

“Instead of looking upstream at where the problem is starting, storage says, ‘Well, maybe it would be cheaper to just build a big tank and store all the all the CSOs, all this mixed sewage and stormwater after we’ve created it,’” Max Rome, the CWRA’s clean water director, said in an interview.

The City Council reaffirmed their commitment to reduce CSOs and improve stormwater management within the city, but not at the expense of widely-used public facilities.

“If we’re going to have a fight with someone, this is the fight we should have,” said Councilor Tim R. Flaherty. “This is the fight maybe all of us can join in and fight to preserve a public park in the city of Cambridge that is essential for the people who live here.”

—Staff writer Samuel Ruiz-Macias can be reached at [email protected].