Framingham Water Project Could Dry Up
State officials have ordered Framingham to slow down in its pursuit of federal stimulus money to construct a new water treatment plant and bring back online a decades-old water well.
Town leaders want to reinstate the former Birch Road water well, which has been inactive since 1979, in an effort to save money on current and future costs of purchasing water from the state Water Resource Authority.
But, in late October, state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles ordered Framingham to do about another year's worth of studying on the $30 to $40 million project before he will approve it, putting into jeopardy Framingham's bid to use stimulus money to supplement the project's costs.
"The town looked at the financial advantages of restoring the well and treating the water, at least for a portion of the town's needs, and it was found to be cost effective," said Framingham Town Manager Julian Suso.
But, Suso said there is "more to be done" thanks to the secretary's order.
Back To The Drawing Board
Bowles has ordered the town to redraft an environmental impact study that will indicate how drawing millions of gallons of water from the well will impact surrounding watersheds.
Framingham officials have been working on the issue for about 10 years and their plan is to bring back the former well field, which was taken off line almost three decades ago because of chemicals that were found to be in the water.
Since then town officials have concluded that it would be cost effective to construct a water treatment plant that would cleanse the water.
Framingham purchases nearly 7 million gallons of water per day from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, which supplies water to many communities in the state.
Officials originally proposed drawing about 4.3 million gallons of water per day from the well, but in subsequent applications reduced that number to 3.17 million gallons per day. Suso said doing so would reduce the amount of water Framingham purchases by 30 to 40 percent.
But during the state's Environmental Policy Act process, about a dozen environmental groups, including river associations and private citizens, raised concerns about what impact drawing millions of gallons of water per day out of the watershed will have on surrounding bodies of water, such as the Sudbury River and Lake Cochituate.
Eric Johnson, the director of planning and design for the Framingham Department of Public Works, said the prospect of stimulus funding for the project moved it off the back burner. But after Bowles order, Johnson is expecting a major delay.
"Of course we're disappointed," he said. "But, now we'll just go back and do the studies."
Johnson said that even without stimulus funding the project is still financially viable for the town due to expected increases in costs.
Critics of the project applauded Bowles' move to require additional ground water studies before approving the project.
"I don't know to what degree this is a bad idea, but they haven't provided good enough numbers to prove this is a good idea yet," said A. Richard Miller, a Natick resident and environmental advocate who has created a web site documenting the town's plans. "It just hasn't been backed up with good numbers."
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