New MWRA Sewer Pump Station in Weymouth will Prevent Overflows, Backups

Construction began this week in North Weymouth on a new pump station expected to deliver relief from local sewer back-ups and overflows in Weymouth Landing, Smelt Brook, and the Idlewell section of Weymouth. MWRA recently awarded a $43.3 million contract to J.F. White Construction Co. of Framingham to complete the new pump station by Summer 2003.

According to MWRA Executive Director Douglas B. MacDonald, "This new pump station will work together with the new Braintree-Weymouth deep-rock sewer tunnel to fulfill the promise of years of planning for better sewer service for South Shore communities served by MWRA. With the beginning of the new pump station, and with the tunnel already under construction, we can see real progress toward preventing future overflows and back-ups in these areas."

Weymouth’s Mayor David Madden said, "I’m pleased that the project is moving forward, this is a key component to providing relief to our sewer system, especially when it comes to avoiding overflows in the Weymouth Landing and Idlewell sections of Weymouth. This project has been in the making for many many years and it’s good to see the work actually beginning."

Elizabeth Gowen, an MWRA engineer who has worked on the project said: "MWRA wants to thank Weymouth officials and neighborhood residents for cooperation in using the site for the project on King's Cove. At least people will be able to see for themselves the construction progress in coming months."

The new pump station, designed by Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. of Wakefield, will eventually lead to the addition of 19 million gallons of new daily capacity to MWRA's sewer lines serving Braintree, Holbrook, Randolph and parts of Weymouth. Once the new station is complete, the old Braintree-Weymouth pump station located on Kilby Street in Quincy, built in 1933, will be replaced with a new, smaller station serving only neighborhoods in portions of Weymouth, Hingham, and the Germantown and Adams’ Shore sections of Quincy.

The various parts of MWRA's Braintree-Weymouth sewer facilities together help move sewage from Weymouth, Braintree, Holbrook, and parts of Hingham and Quincy to the 12 foot diameter, 2.7 mile deep rock tunnel that extends to the Inter Island Tunnel. The Inter Island Tunnel then moves the sewer to the new wastewater treatment plant on Deer Island in Boston Harbor.

Improvements for the system, including the new pump station, have been in planning for many years with the support of many local officials, including State Representatives Paul Haley (D-Weymouth), Ron Mariano (D-Quincy), Joe Sullivan (D-Braintree), Stephen Tobin (D-Quincy) and Senators Bob Hedlund (R-Weymouth), and Michael Morrissey (D-Quincy), and Mayor Madden. Business, environmental and other civic groups also played a key role. Construction deadlines for the project were set by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection in a consent order to which MWRA agreed in 1999.