Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)
Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) wrote to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin requesting additional federal support in response to the ongoing Haverhill wastewater emergency.
“As communities across the Commonwealth continue recovering from the recent sewer main failure in Haverhill, it is increasingly clear that local governments, even those acting responsibly and proactively, cannot shoulder the costs of long-term infrastructure modernization without stronger, more reliable federal partnership,” the lawmakers wrote.
ollowing intense rainfall last month, a main sewer line in Haverhill broke, resulting in the significant discharge of untreated wastewater into the Merrimack River. Despite state and local efforts, harmful bacteria made its way down the river, impacting communities across the Merrimack Valley and even forcing the temporary closure of multiple North Shore beaches.
In their letter, the lawmakers cite the City of Haverhill’s aging combined sewer system, which collects both sewage and stormwater runoff into the same network of pipes. During significant precipitation, these systems can become overwhelmed and lead to combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into nearby bodies of water. Haverhill, like many communities along the Merrimack River, has been working for years to complete expensive sewer system upgrades with little to no federal investment.
“For nearly a decade, Haverhill has been working closely with the EPA under a 2016 consent decree that requires substantial upgrades to its sewer system and treatment plant. The City has acted in good faith, investing heavily in planning, engineering, and permitting to overhaul a decades-old system and reduce the risk of pollution and public health crises,” the lawmakers continued.“However, despite the city’s long-standing efforts to modernize its aging wastewater infrastructure, the lack of sustained federal investment has left the infrastructure still vulnerable to incidents like this.”
In their letter, the lawmakers requested that the EPA work with Congress to identify long-term federal funding streams for communities replacing aging water infrastructure, including the establishment of rapid-response dollars for emergencies like the one in Haverhill and the restoration of robust grant funding for combined sewer upgrades. They also warned that the administration’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request would cut federal water infrastructure funding by roughly 90 percent, slashing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund from approximately $2.5 billion to just $155 million.
“Underfunding these programs forces communities to defer essential repairs, leaving systems vulnerable to catastrophic public health failures like the one Haverhill just experienced,” the lawmakers concluded. “We urge you to work with our offices to identify long-term federal funding streams to ensure cities like Haverhill are not continually overburdened by the growing costs to replace aging water infrastructure.”
Trahan and Moulton have repeatedly advocated for increased federal funding for combined sewer upgrades. In addition to supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which has delivered more than $600 million in federal investments for wastewater improvement projects across the Commonwealth, the lawmakers have also worked to increase funding for the EPA’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant (OSG) Program. When Trahan first took office in 2019, the grant program was entirely unfunded. Following the lawmakers’ efforts, the OSG program saw modest increases year over year, but that growth has stagnated in recent years. Trahan also introduced the bipartisan Stop Sewage Overflow Act to expand and improve the OSG program.
A copy of the letter sent today can be accessed HERE.
###