Didn't love that dirty water

440px-BosHarbor_DrainWan.jpg

From Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com


“Well, I love that dirty water (I love it, baby)
I love that dirty water (I love Baw-stun)’’

From “Dirty Water,’’ (1965) by the Standells, a tribute to the polluted waters of Boston Harbor and the Charles River, which of course flows into it.

As the Trump administration continues to weaken the understaffed Environmental Protection Agency, I think of Boston Harbor before the EPA and the great Boston Harbor cleanup, which the creation of the EPA (1970) and the Clean Water Act (1972) helped set in motion. I had summer jobs on the Boston waterfront in the ‘60s and well remember how rank the harbor was. My workmates and I would sometimes take the lunch boat, which offered many scenic attractions, but on a hot day, the smell was foul enough to make us put down our sandwiches.

The cleanup was a great social, aesthetic and economic boon for our region, as has been the gradual cleanup of Narragansett Bay.

Bostonharbourtopomap.png



Previous
Previous

As long as he doesn't squeal

Next
Next

Don Pesci: The real cost of Connecticut's tax increases