What are some critical attributes of the cleanup of the Boston Harbor?

• William Golden, City Solicitor for Quincy, was the first public official to openly acknowledge the declining state of Boston Harbor.
• In 1984, Governor Michael Dukakis signed a bill creating the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and granting it responsibility to take over and rebuild the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) sewer system.
• The U.S. District Court, finding MWRA liable for the MDC’s acts, imposed schedule for upgrading the MWRA system.  The principal goal of the system upgrade was the construction of a secondary treatment plant on Deer Island.  Once complete, the plant will operate both primary and secondary wastewater treatment facilities.
• In 1988, the federal Ocean Dumping Ban Act was passed and the MWRA ceased the discharge of sludge into the Harbor in 1991.
• On December 24, 1991, the ocean-dumping of Boston’s sewage sludge ceased, and the Quincy Pelletization Plant began operations.  The MWRA selected the New England Fertilizer Company (NEFCo) and its Biosolid Drying Process which converts sludge into low-nutrient, organic fertilizer pellets, thus reusing nutrients while minimizing the harmful effects from other disposal techniques.