Hard Work Pays Off

A short walk from my house, my local beach is one of my favorite places to visit. I’m grateful that it gives me a chance to get outside and away from the endless hours of technology we teenagers often find ourselves immersed in. Gaming or browsing through TikTok may be entertaining, but the profound opportunity to experience nature is key to what a clean Boston Harbor means to me.

As I breathe in the crisp, salty air, my body relaxes. There is nothing like a brisk walk with the sea breeze blowing my long, dark hair back behind my ears. Wollaston Beach, just a small slice of Boston Harbor, is where our neighborhood comes together to relax, refresh, and come together as a community. It even provides business for local restaurants and shops along the waterfront.

Seeing both people and wildlife thriving as part of the beach ecosystem is evidence that the MWRA’s work – both past and present – pays off. When I was in the 5th grade, I remember we were challenged to create a water filtration system out of plastic bottles, cotton balls, and other simple materials. At the time, I felt proud and accomplished for what my friend and I came up with, but realized that the MWRA is doing the same, only on a much more significant scale, is impressive. Our engineering assignment had been challenging enough, so how could others manage to take on a task as colossal as cleaning up what had been known as “America’s filthiest harbor?”

In short, the MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) saved Boston Harbor. Close your eyes and imagine rivers of filth, ranging from loads of sewage, pesticides, heavy metals, and more. Envisioning all of that displacing our current acres of clean water and marine habitat seems preposterous. As citizens, it is our responsibility to recognize and appreciate how much work was required to make the harbor healthy over the course of three decades.

It started in 1972, when Congress passed the Clean Water Act. This act governs and prevents the dumping of pollutants into our nation’s waters. This was a game changer for Boston Harbor, which at the time was severely polluted. After the Clean Water Act was initiated, the MWRA was established and the cleanup began. The primary goal was to stop the contaminated sewage from reaching the waters, and creating a much more effective sewage system that didn’t involve dumping untreated waste into Boston Harbor. This led to the start of the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. In addition, the MWRA completed an accumulation of 35 construction projects to create and maintain a healthy harbor. After nearly 30 years of industrious commitment and dedication, the Boston Harbor cleanup ended, leaving out ocean resources in a much better state than before.

Strolling across the busy street leading me to Wollaston Beach, I leap over the sea wall and submerge my feet into the grainy, multi-colored sand. Scanning near and far, my eyes settled on toddlers scavenging for shells and constructing sand castles, as well as families cooling off in the refreshing surf. I can see all the way to the horizon, where I’m delighted to witness a crescent moon rising, even though the sun is still shining. In the distance I see our spectacular Boston Harbor Islands State Park, stretched out like a necklace of emeralds before me, and I think of the millions of organisms – from the microscopic zooplankton which is making a comeback thanks to a cleaner Massachusetts Bay all the way up to the endangered right whale it sustains, and everything in between from crustaceans to fish – thriving out there under the surface of the water.

Without the commitment of the MWRA, our community would have experienced neither these simple pleasures which improve our quality of life, nor these profound habitat improvements. May we all remain grateful for both our community’s commitment to environmental stewardship, as well as our own personal feelings of what a clean Boston Harbor means to us.