"Technically, almost impossible"

The Board of Selectmen recently took up the issue of the main sewer line in response to a letter to the editor I had submitted to the daily newspaper. The piece can be found on this site in a July 1 entry entitled "Sewer Talk".

Apparently plans are underway to address the length of the line which extends beyond the three sections that have already failed. According to Mr. Mercier the line has been camera tested and plans are underway to line the inside of the pipe to prevent further erosion and potential failure caused by sewer gas.

The second concern raised in the letter related to the age of the primary force main which runs from Terrace Hall directly through the Great Meadow well field. The comments on this problem were not quite as proactive.

The essence of my concerns are these:
1.The cross country forced main is over fifty years old and the bulk of the town's effluent flows through it.

2. The line will be put under further strain as a result of a variety of new and very large developments coming on board. Lahey Clinic's expansion, Wayside Commons, and the National Development site on Muller Road will add enormous amounts of new effluent flow into the system supported by the cross country sewer main. The Wayside Commons is of particular concern because of the large number of restaurants that will located there. Restaurants are huge producers of sewerage.

3. If the line fails in the Great Meadow it might be days or even weeks before the leaking sewerage was detected and might result in damage to the production capacity of the well field.

The result of such a failure would be a catastrophic event from an economic and environmental perspective. I do not have any information or a crystal ball that indicates to me that that failure of this line is either imminent or even probable. Conversely, neither does town management have any information to indicate that the line is immune from such a failure.

There is one way to be sure and that is to get inside the line with a camera and assess its condition. According to the DPW this is "almost technically impossible". The argument here is that since the line is under constant pressure how can a camera be placed in the line to check the integrity of the pipe?

Impossible and almost impossible are two entirely different scenarios. I contend that it is possible to thoroughly examine this pipe. Very late at night when the flow is the smallest, the DPW could pump the remaining flow out of the Terrace Hall station and into the Vine Brook. While the flow was bypassed a camera could then be sent into the line to explore the entire length from Terrace Hall to the junction at South Bedford Street.

Another action that could be taken on a regular basis is water and soil testing along the length of the line that is in the Great Meadow. Any change in bacteria levels could certainly indicate problems with the line.

I am not crying that the sky is falling or shouting fire in a crowded room. I would be glad to see any of these concerns proven to be only those of a nervous Nellie. The location of this pipe is common knowledge and so is its importance to the community. Everything possible should be be done to insure its integrity.

Plame suit cuts both ways

The suit by Valerie Plame and her husband Joseph Wilson IV against Vice President Dick Cheney, I. Lewis Libby, Karl Rove and 10 unnamed government officials seems on the surface to be a waste of more time in the public courts. Plame/Wilson charge an
"intentional and malicious exposure by senior officials" and a "whispering campaign" designed to injure the plaintiffs.

The suit can be read here http://news.findlaw.com/CNN/docs/iraq/wilsonlibby71306cmp.html

The origin of this dust up came from a 2003 Robert Novak article which named Plame as the wife of Wilson and a CIA employee. Wilson at the time had gained notoriety by disputing President Bush's state of the union address claim that Iraq had been seeking yellow cake uranium in Niger. He had been sent to Niger on a fact finding trip by the CIA. He refuted the president by way of an Op Ed piece in the New York Times

The CIA subsequently referred the matter to the justice department for alleged violation of espionage laws that protect the identity of undercover CIA operatives. This by itself is questionable since Plame had not been involved in covert actions for a number of years. A number of people have stated that Joe himself never seemed to be reticent about mentioning that Valerie worked at the agency.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has already spent million of dollars over a nearly 2 1/2 year period with virtually no results in terms of charges. It is apparent as result that no crime was committed in the naming of Plame. Up to this point only I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been charged and that was for reportedly lying to a grand jury about his actions.

Novak has since related his testimony regarding the leak and it seems that it was simply good research and reporting skills that led Novak to Plame. He said he found out Plame was married to Wilson through "Who's Who in America". He also said none of the people named in Plame's suit was the original source of the information. This source was reportedly Richard Armitage.

There may be some benefit to the public at large if we finally find out who in the CIA was responsible and under what conditions a notorious partisan like Wilson was sent on such a sensitive mission. Other questions that might be asked is why Wilson was not paid for the trip as either a consultant or an employee? His only remuneration for the trip was the expenses he incurred.

Can any of us volunteer for CIA work in foreign locations? If Wilson's mission was so sensitive why wasn't he required to sign a confidentiality agreement of some kind? Is every CIA fact finder allowed to write Op Ed pieces in national publications when they complete their mission?

Two other aspects of the mission seem to be absurd. It has been reported that Wilson was debriefed in his living room in the presence of his wife and that he did not submit a written report of his findings. Although the pair deny it, it seems quite apparent that Plame was the person who promoted her husband for the mission in the first place.

If this suit has been filed to create discomfort for the defendants or for continuing the notoriety of Ambassador Wilson it may end up serving a dual purpose. The Plame/Wilson couple may soon be in the position of having to answer some very difficult questions in depositions. If it results in exposing factions in the CIA responsible for this Wilson/Niger junket it may turn out to be an unintentional public service by the Wilson's.

The Red Sox at the All Star Break

Here we are at the All Star break with the Sox holding a three game lead over the Evil Empire. On the one hand it is rather surprising when you consider the 40 plus games that Coco Crisp missed with injury as well as the pitching staff without David Wells, Matt Clement and Keith Foulke. On the other hand, the Yanks have lost Matsui and Sheffield and Randy Johnson is pitching like your sister so it is somewhat understandable that the Sox have a lead.

A lead by the way that is crucial that it be turned into a division win. Detroit and Chicago show no signs of cooling off and currently second place Chicago has a 2 and 1/2 game lead over the Sox for the wild card spot. If things end this way the wild card entry would come from the Central division for the first time in many years.

There is not much to complain about at this check point. The team has been solid in a variety of different categories. Most importantly has been the complete turn around of the infield defense. This time last year the entire team had made 54 errors as compared to 30 this year. In a completely stunning development this team set the major league record for errorless games at 17. What member of the Fenway faithful every dreamed of such an event?

With a new face at each position it didn't take long for these guys to jell. Lowell and Gonzales are a joy to watch just handling a routine 1 hopper. Loretta is a very heady player and Youkilis has grabbed hold of the first base position with a death grip.

The offense is both powerful and flexible. They have hit three run home runs as well as bunted and stolen some runs the old school way. The heart of the order has produced with power as David Ortiz has put on a hitting clinic over the last month. Prior to the break he had homered in 8 straight games and now leads the majors with 31. Manny Ramirez just keeps hitting.

The starting pitching has been solid with a few question marks. One concern happened in the Chicago series when Schilling was hit by a line drive off the elbow. X-rays were negative but the Nation is holding it's breath. Another major concern is that Josh Beckett is leading the majors in giving up gopher balls. Young Josh needs to understand that 96 mile an hour fastballs out over the middle of the plate just leave the park quicker than a 90 mile an hour one.

Wakefield has been steady but suffered early in the season with a lack of run support and now with a bit of a cranky back. Jon Lester has been the major surprise in the starting rotation. He has nice stuff and control and an uncanny ability to get out of tight spots. It will be interesting if he is able to continue to live on the edge during the period in which clubs are seeing him for the second time.

The fifth starter is up for grabs and at this point it is safe to say the Jay Johnson experiment has been a disaster. The young kids Delcarmen and Hansen have both been getting more time in bull pen relief and it is not unlikely that one of them will get a start soon. Seanez and Tavares have been mediocre but with a lot of experience they possess they are likely to be major factors at some point during the second half.

The end of the game has been neatly disposed of with Timlin and the impossible to hit Papelbon. He exhibits all the traits of a closer. He has that stare of death when he takes the sign and he comes in throwing strikes. If your in the box against Papelbon you better be swinging.

So it will be a very interesting second half. Wily Mo Pena is due back as is perhaps Clement. It may be that both Wells and Foulke are finished. It would be a shame for Wells to go out this way. It would be great drama to see him in more Yankee games.

In addition the Sox have some money to try and counter any inevitable late season Yankee acquisitions. All in all a very exciting first half with very good prospects headed for October. I like this club's chances.

Sewer talk

A few months back the main sewer line leaving the town collapsed resulting in a severe back up that filled the nearby savings bank and restaurant on Cambridge Street with raw sewerage several feet deep. The result was that both operations were closed for an extended period of time. In the case of the restaurant it was several months. The damage done was beyond the closed period because in the restaurants case how could you go into restaurant and not have a thought as to just how deep the sewerage was in the building? Some how the vision is not that appetizing.

This event happened during a very rainy period which also resulted in surcharging in the Vine brook in order to relieve the down stream pressure. The state had issued an emergency and the town was re-imbursed for some of the cost of the disaster but a question remains as to whether this was a preventable occurrence.

This particular exit line begins as a forced main under pumping pressure at the Terrace Hall pumping station. It then goes directly through the Great Meadow well fields and up Mall Road. It takes a right hand turn at South Bedford Street and then a left hand turn down Wayside Road to Cambridge Street.

History told us that this line was going to fail further in the area where it did. Previously there had been a failure on South Bedford Street and then another several years later further down at Wayside Road. Apparently what happens is that the sewer gases which are created in the line eat away the cement pipes causing the ultimate failure and cave in. The town responds to this by repairing the line and then putting a vinyl type insert into the line which is impervious to the corrosive effect of the sewer gas. Each time it happens the town for financially short sighted reasons only extends the vinyl insert a few hundred feet beyond the latest fault point.

Given this history let me be bold and make a prediction that the next catastrophic failure will happen a few hundred feet beyond the end of the latest vinyl insert. That should put the exact location somewhere between Ray Avenue and the Burlington Woburn town line.

If I were a business or home in that area I would be calling the Selectmen right now to make sure that camera inspections are being done to determine the exact condition of that sewer line.

From a simply cynical and skin flint point of view it makes some sense not to spend the extra money for preventative action by vinyl lining all of the rest of the pipe if there is a slight chance that we won't experience another similar type failure. Personally I think that is a short sighted attitude. If something has happened three times along a predictable path then why not save the money and aggravation and take care of the whole problem now?

An isolated case of broken sewer main creates a miserable event for those affected but does not even show up on the radar screen for the rest of us. In this case it was in the papers a couple of days and some wondered why the two businesses were closed but for the most part the event went unnoticed town wide.

There is an element to this however that everyone ought to be concerned about. The front part of this line which extends back to the Terrace Hall station cuts the Great Meadow well field almost in half. This area is responsible for approximately 40% of the town's water production. Since the line is almost 50 years old it is just as susceptible to the twin elements of age and corrosion as the part of the line that has already collapsed.

If the line fails in the well field and leaks for an extended period of time what are the implications for water quality and the long term health of the well field? How long would production be affected? What is the cost of a potential repair versus replacing the line completely?

There has been some talk of replacing this line however no appropriations have appeared at town meeting to accomplish this. At the very least the town ought to take action to both test the surrounding ground water as well as somehow manage to camera inspect this line. Although it is under pressure there should be methods available and time enough late at night to allow for a camera to get in there and survey the whole length of the pipe.

The DPW has done an excellent job of preventative maintenance and responding to emergencies however this is a policy and a financial decision that requires action by the executive and legislative branches of town government. Three seperate failures should be sufficient warning to all of us.