Meetings and Events | Mystic River | New England

Steering Committee Meeting, March 7, 2012
Location: Pfizer Building, 200 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge MA

Draft Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 135K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (5 pp, 214K)

Steering Committee Meeting, December 7, 2011
Location: EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA RA's Conference Room (1st Floor)

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 104K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (6 pp, 312K)

Steering Committee Meeting, September 7, 2011
Location: Conservation Law Foundation, 62 Summer Street, Boston, MA (Main Conference Room)

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 96K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (10 pp, 240K)

Steering Committee Meeting, May 18, 2011
Location: Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA, Room B-2

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 46K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (11 pp, 68K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Open Space Group - Conference Call, April 26, 2011

Conference Call Notes (PDF) (3 pp, 97K)

Water Quality Subgroup Meeting, April 11, 2011
Location: EPA New England, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Meeting Notes (PDF) (4 pp, 94K)

Steering Committee Meeting, February 16, 2011
Location: MAPC, 60 Temple Place, Boston MA (3rd Floor Conference Room)

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 10K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (9 pp, 115K)

Water Quality Subgroup Meeting, January 24, 2011
Location: EPA, Boston, MA (Mt. Roosevelt Room, 6th Floor)

Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (2 pp, 64K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Water Quality Group, December 8, 2010
Location: EPA New England, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (2 pp, 62K)

Steering Committee Meeting, November 17, 2010
Location: Tuft's Boathouse, 300 River's Edge Drive, Medford, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 10K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (10 pp, 68K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Open Space Group, November 8, 2010
Location: EPA, Boston, MA (Room: Mt. Monadnock)

Meeting Notes (PDF) (4 pp, 32K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Open Space Group, October 4, 2010
Location: Groundwork Somerville, Somerville, MA

Meeting Notes (PDF) (3 pp, 23K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Water Quality Group, September 29, 2010
Location: EPA Offices, 5 Post Office Square, 15th Floor, Mount Adam Room

Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (3 pp, 45K)

Steering Committee Meeting, September 15, 2010
Location: Delta Dental Building, Schrafft's Complex, 465 Medford Street, Charlestown, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 11K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (9 pp, 63K)

Steering Committee Meeting, July 21, 2010
Location: Whip Hill Park, Perkins Street, Stoneham, MA.

Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (10 pp, 52K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Open Space Group, July 7, 2010
Location: Pfizer, 25 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA

Agenda and Directions (PDF) (1 pg, 13K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (7 pp, 49K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Water Quality Group, June 14, 2010
Location: EPA New England, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 11K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (6 pp, 40K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Open Space Group, May 26, 2010
Location: Pfizer, 6th Floor, 200 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 11K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (5 pp, 31K)

Steering Committee Meeting, Water Quality Group, May 12, 2010
Location: EPA New England, 15th Floor, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Meeting Notes (PDF) (6 pp, 35K)

Steering Committee Meeting, March 31, 2010
Location: Century Bank, 400 Mystic Avenue, Medford, MA, Main Conference Room

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 11K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (12 pp, 69K)

Steering Committee Meeting, January 20, 2010
Location: US EPA New England **new office** 15th Floor, Court of Appeals, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 88K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (9 pp, 203K)

Steering Committee Meeting, November 18, 2009
Location: Chelsea City Hall, 3rd Floor City Council Chambers, 500 Broadway, Chelsea MA

Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (9 pp, 58K)
Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 87K)

Steering Committee Meeting, September 16, 2009
Location: US EPA's Boston Office, 1 Congress Street, 11th Floor Training Room

Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (8 pp, 243K)
Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 94K)

Steering Committee Meeting, July 15, 2009
Location: Century Bank, 400 Mystic Avenue, Medford, Main Conference Room

Meeting Notes (PDF) (6 pp, 236K)
Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 79K)

NAWCA Grant Writing Workshop, June 9, 2009
Location: Chelsea City Hall, 500 Broadway, Chelsea, 3rd Floor City Council Chambers
Agenda: To be Posted

Steering Committee Meeting, May 20, 2009
Location: Winchester, MA Town Hall in the Winchester Room

Draft Flip Chart Notes (PDF) (5 pp, 172K)
Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 87K)

First Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee Meeting, March 11, 2009
Locaton: JFK Federal Building Low-rise Room E275C

Draft Flip Chart Notes (PDF) (4 pp, 161K)
Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 99K)

Pre-Steering Committee Meetings

2009
- January 28, 2009 (PDF) (6 pp, 118K)
2008
- December 3, 2008 (PDF) (6 pp, 131K)
- October 6, 2008 (PDF) (6 pp, 115K)
- July 21, 2008 (PDF) (8 pp, 173K)
- June 23, 2008 (PDF) (10 pp, 128K)
- January 9, 2008 (PDF) (8 pp, 188K)

Municipal Subcommittee Meeting, September 22, 2011
Location: Everett City Hall, 484 Broadway, Everett, MA (Keverian Room 3rd floor)

Draft Agenda (PDF) (7 pp, 58K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (7 pp, 58K)

Municipal Subcommittee Meeting, July 20, 2011
Location: Woburn Senior Center, 144 School Street, Woburn, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 10K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (9 pp, 66K)

Municipal Subcommittee Meeting, October 28, 2010
Location: Winchester Town Hall, Winchester, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 10K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (4 pp, 43K)

Municipal Subcommittee Meeting, July 29, 2010
Location: 2nd Floor, Reading Public Library, 64 Middlesex Avenue, Reading, MA.

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 12K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (6 pp, 37K)

Municipal Subcommittee Meeting, April 29, 2010
Location: Senior Center, 144 School Street, Woburn, MA

Meeting Notes (PDF) (5 pp, 37K)

Municipal Subcommittee Meeting, January 14, 2010
Location: US EPA New England **new office** 15th Floor, Court of Appeals, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 84K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (3 pp, 36K)

Science Subcommittee Meeting, Water Quality Workgroup, May 11, 2011
Location: EPA Laboratory, Chelmsford, MA

Meeting Notes (PDF) (5 pp, 242K)

Annual Mystic River Water Quality Forum, January 11, 2011
Location: EPA, Boston, MA (Room: Court Room #6, 15th Floor)

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 19K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (19 pp, 106K)

Science Subcommittee Meeting, Water Quality Workgroup, November 3, 2010
Location: EPA Offices, 5 Post Office Square, 6th Floor, Mount Roosevelt Room

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 11K)

Science Subcommittee Meeting, Water Quality Workgroup, May 4, 2010
Location: EPA New England Regional Laboratory, 11 Technology Drive, Chelmsford, MA

Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 37K)
Draft Meeting Notes (PDF) (3 pp, 24K)

Water Quality Science Subcommittee Meeting, January 7, 2010
Location: US EPA New England ** new office ** 15th Floor, Court Room No. 6, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA

Draft Agenda (PDF) (1 pg, 11K)
Meeting Notes (PDF) (12 pp, 238K)
Presentations (Links to other presentations coming soon.)
- EPA Stormwater Monitoring and Research Effort Summary (PDF) (21 pp, 2.1MB)
- EPA Superfund Sites Within the Upper Mystic River Watershed - Olin Chemical Superfund Site Wilmington, MA (PDF) (13 pp, 1MB)
- EPA Presentation on Industri-plex Superfund Site Operable Unit 2 (OU2) Remedy (PDF) (19 pp, 2.4MB)
- Non-EPA Presentations

Science Subcomittee

Mystic River Water Quality Project Inventory (PDF) (4 pp, 48K)
Agenda and Meeting Notes: Water Quality Science Committee Meeting February 11, 2009 (PDF) (13 pp, 221K)
Mystic River Data Report - Summary 2008 (PDF) (7 pp, 121K)
Mystic Watershed Map - E.coli Results (PDF) (1 pg, 3.9MB)

Summit Photos

The Mystic River as it nears Boston Harbor with Boston in the distance.

EPA New England is currently compiling information about ongoing projects in the Mystic River Watershed. Please let us know about your priority projects by clicking here.

EPA New England would like to thank everyone that participated in the Mystic River Watershed Summit, held April 10, 2008 in Boston. Over 170 people attended the summit and we are quite pleased with all the energy and enthusiasm that was displayed at the summit. We look forward to working with the Mystic watershed groups and communities to restore water quality in the watershed. Revitalizing the Mystic will be quite a challenge, but forming strong partnerships is the first step toward reaching our common goals.

The draft meeting notes from the Summit have been posted on this web site. Numerous conference calls were held over the summer to finish up discussions and review our typed notes from the breakout sessions. The goal of these calls was to review and refine the meeting notes and further develop actions and priorities.

As an outgrowth of the Summit, EPA New England is spearheading a collaborative effort to revitalize the Mystic with federal, state, and local partners. We are hoping to work with a formal steering committee to implement short- and long-term water quality goals that will be established early 2009. This winter, EPA New England hopes to co-sponsor a science committee meeting, which will be a forum to provide opportunity for researchers to share information on their projects within the watershed.

Mystic River Summit Notes:

Flooding
The flooding group met at the summit and discussed several opportunities for additional communication between agencies and municipalities during a flood event. Currently, DCR, Winchester and Woburn work together during a flood event, but there is opportunity for additional collaboration with the Arlington-Belmont-Cambridge flooding group and the City of Somerville. There remains difficulty discussing flooding as it relates to water quality. A brainstorming session was summarized into several types of actions that could improve flood conditions and reduce flooding in the watershed. They are: maintenance actions, regional communication/collaboration, and updated land use policies.

Land Use and Connecting people to the River
The land use group identified several areas where action is needed in the watershed. The group tackled issues such as changing land use and its impact on the river, reconnecting people to the river, and fish advisories. The group determined that access and redevelopment are needed in designated port areas; that enforcement of permits and regulations at the federal and state level should be a priority; that there is a need to add and connect bike paths, multiuse paths, and walkways in the watershed; that all new development and redevelopment should be environmentally responsible; and that public access to the river is still a big issue. This group recommended public education campaigns for many of these issues as well as for subsistence fishing, for which there is a watershed-wide advisory.

Bacteria & Stormwater
One of the biggest outcomes of the bacteria group is the recommendation to add a Science Committee to the Initiative structure. The Science Committee will provide a venue once or twice a year for scientists to share research and information about water quality in the watershed. The committee may also be accessed for recommendations or scientific advice in future steering committee actions. Other follow-ups suggested from the session are to reduce the inflow from CSOs and SSOs, to increase monitoring thru increased funding and support for monitoring, and to reduce and eliminate stormwater and illicit connections in the watershed.

Industrial Contaminants
The Industrial Contaminants group has continued to focus on expanding recreational uses in the watershed by prioritizing key sites (Mill Creek, Malden River, Spy Pond, and Upper Mystic Lake). These locations were selected from an initial list of ten sites* based on their geographic distribution, potential for improvement, and diversity and number of people who will benefit from their improvement. This is still a draft list, as the group intends to vet these to a wider audience. Since July, MyRWA and EPA have conducted water quality studies, collecting more than 500 samples from throughout the watershed. USGS has also conducted sediment quality monitoring. Data from these studies are being used to identify and eliminate both point and non-point sources of pollution in areas that can provide greater recreation to residents.

*The original list of sites included: