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dyqik t1_j1hu5ck wrote

Heavily diluted by rain water.

I wouldn't drink it, but skin contact would not be an issue.

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j1i3ppm wrote

We think that the pollutants in the sediment come from local industry and from the sewage pollution.

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Hyperbowleeeeeeeeeee t1_j1hzizp wrote

Umm, are we drinking it? Isn't Fresh Pond one of the reservoirs and right next to there?

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SheeEttin t1_j1ibqut wrote

It's treated and filtered before being used as drinking water. When Cambridge switched to MWRA water a while back, it was because they were installing a new filtration system.

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j1i3znj wrote

Alewife Brook was hydrologically connected to Fresh Pond. In fact, the Alewife Brook used to be a substantial river before that connection was severed. Some people believe the connection is still there. But it would take a large storm event for the Alewife water to get into Fresh Pond.

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wittgensteins-boat t1_j1jq7rq wrote

Fresh pond is upstream.

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j1lpjcw wrote

Yes, Fresh Pond is upstream of the Alewife Brook. And during big flood events, the direction of the brook reverses, sending it’s contaminated water upstream. The storm surge flood maps of future years are frightening.

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wittgensteins-boat t1_j1m5m11 wrote

It is definitely interesting that the elevation of Alewife Brook is less than 10 feet above sea level.

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ret_diy t1_j23ohq1 wrote

I don't think it reverses flow during typical flood events -- only if the Amelia Earhart dam in Everett is overtopped by rising sea level / storm surge, which would make the Mystic River flow in reverse.

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j23st3u wrote

I’ve seen the Alewife reverse direction during major storm events, with no breach at the Amelia Earhart Dam. What happens is the Mystic River rises above the height of the Alewife and then tailwater from the Mystic fills the Alewife Brook and it reverses direction. For reference, this is documented in the Tri-Community Working Group Final Report from 2005. This statement is not meant to underplay the seriousness of a breach of the dam. But it’s important to understand how slow the Alewife Basin is and that the Alewife does reverse direction in large storms.

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guimontag t1_j1i5lae wrote

Lmao Jesus christ OP, skin contact with some forever chems aren't going to harm the jogger any more than putting a cell phone against your head might

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Leodickraprio t1_j1ifiwb wrote

Yeah OP seems to be a bit dramatic….just a little flood

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j1jeqzi wrote

We’d like to see the brook dredged, to remove the toxic chemicals, to increase flood storage capacity, and to improve water quality. And the reason for this is the the Alewife Brook floods into residents’ homes. I think being dramatic about PCBs is fair in this case. It’s a public waterbody. It belongs to the people. It should be safer than it is.

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guimontag t1_j1l4y3a wrote

What does that have to do with a jogger walking through it?

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j1lpdm0 wrote

Good morning and Merry Christmas. We don’t think the water is safe. There was not a sewage pollution discharge into the Alewife Brook yesterday. But if the rain had come down harder and faster, then there would have been raw sewage in the brook. We do know that there are PCBs and PAHs and heavy metals in the sediment, but no one has done any kind of health study on the folks who live next to the brook who get flood water in their homes. I personally had the Alewife Brook in my house when there was flooding and I got really sick from it. Anyway, while we’re happy to save the determined jogger from getting his shoes wet (and i still can’t believe he wanted to run through it for that reason alone),… we also want to share the message that the brook is not safe, especially when it floods. I’m sorry if I failed to get the message across here, lolz.

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taguscove t1_j1i6waq wrote

This is the kind of over-exaggerated alarmism I log onto social media to consume in the morning. The biggest issue I see is that your shoes will get wet running through this

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dny6 t1_j1iravv wrote

This whole area is predicted to be a massive flood zone in the not so distant future

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SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j1j7vs9 wrote

Not sure what the definition of “massive flood zone” is. But, there are currently 5000 people who live in the 100-year flood plain surrounding the Alewife Brook.

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JoesBurning t1_j1jd30f wrote

Eh, strengthens the immune system

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