A plan to bury a massive water tank beneath a shoreline park in Massachusetts has drawn pushback from residents concerned about losing access to a community space that took years to restore. Facing strong opposition, state officials appear to be backing down on some of the plan’s more controversial aspects.
Here’s what to know
Under the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s plan, construction for the proposed project would close nearly half of Cambridge’s 17-acre Magazine Beach for six to eight years, raising questions about whether the benefits justified the disruption, according to the Cambridge-Somerville Independent.
The project was intended to prevent combined sewer overflows, which send wastewater into public waterways after storms. The MWRA plan was to prevent those discharges with a 75-foot-deep tank capable of holding 10 million gallons of water.
The MWRA did soften some aspects of its plan in response to public pressure. Permanent closure of the 2.3-acre sports area was taken off the table, but problems remained for project opponents…