Charles River Watershed Association: Saving Moody Street?

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Saving Moody Street?

Hi! My name is Cait (one of three Cait/Kate’s currently working at CRWA) and I am a summer watershed science intern. This is my third week interning at CRWA, and thus far, I have been working on "indoor" projects, such as writing an invasive aquatic plant field guide, and preparing for outdoor projects, such as Water Chestnut surveying and removal. However, last Friday, I went out in the field (or should I say, to the river) for the first time.

Mid-Friday afternoon, CRWA received a call reporting that there was oil in the Charles River near the Moody Street bridge in Waltham. Julie, our boss, instructed Evan (another intern) and me to investigate the potential oil spill and report back. Because this was my first time in the field, I was very excited, especially since we could be saving Moody Street, home to my favorite ice cream shop, Lizzy’s ( http://www.yelp.com/biz/lizzys-homemade-ice-cream-waltham), from what in my excited and slightly hyperbolic mind was an environmental disaster.

Camera in tow, we drove to the site. As we approached the river, we saw that both the Waltham Police Department and the Waltham Fire Department had also been called to the scene. Evan and I, and a few firemen and policemen, inspected the river, finding a milky substance along the bank. As new interns, our inspection was short and not that comprehensive. In other words, Evan took photos of the river, the substance, and a few particularly colorful ducks. After speaking with the policemen and firemen on the scene and a few curious onlookers, we headed back to the office.

We uploaded the photos and discussed what we saw with our supervisor. While our supervisor did not think that the substance was oil, we reported the substance to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (For more information on reporting spills see http://www.mass.gov/dep/about/callnow.htm) just to be safe. MassDEP, who had also inspected the substance, confirmed that the it was caused by a natural process and was not oil.

While we did not save Moody Street from destruction, our short trip into the field was a nice break from office work and a great learning experience.

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Welcome to the Charles River Watershed Association's Intern Blog

CRWA's mission is to use science, advocacy and the law to protect, preserve and enhance the Charles River and its watershed.

One of the country's oldest watershed organizations, Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) was formed in 1965 in response to public concern about the declining condition of the Charles. Since its earliest days of advocacy, CRWA has figured prominently in major clean-up and watershed protection efforts, working with government officials and citizen groups from 35 Massachusetts watershed towns from Hopkinton to Boston. Initiatives over the last four decades have dramatically improved the quality of water in the watershed and fundamentally changed approaches to water resource management.

While CRWA’s mission focuses on the Charles River, the implications and applicability of our science-based work go far beyond the watershed’s boundaries. Much of CRWA’s work is cutting edge and therein lies our unique strength and effectiveness: we use our scientific knowledge of the Charles to develop innovative, workable solutions to watershed problems. This knowledge allows CRWA not only to advocate persuasively for outcomes, but also to partner with government agencies and other environmental groups to protect the natural environment and to promote sustainable ecosystem policies and practices.