In The News

Experts are warning that many more ponds could be closed this summer compared to past years, that’s because toxic blue-green algae blooms seem to be getting worse: affecting more ponds, for longer periods.

CAI’s climate and environment reporter Eve Zuckoff has been trying to figure out why and what you can do to stay safe. She talked with Morning Edition Producer Brian Engles. Here’s their conversation.

Full Article

New state regulations finalized today will require thousands of Cape Cod residents to replace or upgrade their septic systems, unless local water districts come up with plans to mitigate nitrogen pollution.

Full Article

Susan Dangel with the citizens group Save Mashpee Wakeby Pond Alliance screened recent aerial footage of Mashpee River and Shoestring Bay at this week’s Mashpee select board meeting.

Full Article

Should state officials rethink the National Guard base on Cape Cod? So the federal prosecution of Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking military secrets online, continues; the latest development is that the judge allowed him to add a third lawyer to his defense team, an attorney with experience in national security cases.

Full Article

Rapid development over the last few decades has fragmented the Cape’s critical habitats, impaired drinking water, and degraded water quality, according to a new report from the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. Now, the environmental organization based in Dennis is urging towns and developers to stop building on undisturbed land, saying the Cape’s housing needs can be met elsewhere.

Full Article

The State of Cape Cod Waters is not good. Embayments, estuaries and fresh water ponds are all declining from excess nutrients in wastewater. On The Point, we discuss how many Cape towns have implemented comprehensive wastewater management plans, the promises and limitations of Alternative septic systems, and changes to Title V septic systems proposed by the Mass Department of Environmental Protection that would require upgrades to systems in nitrogen sensitive areas. Towns could be exempt from the septic regulations if they obtain watershed permits demonstrating they’re managing nitrogen.

Full Article

CAI has learned that the Association to Preserve Cape Cod has hired a Boston law firm to try to block the discharge of radioactive water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

Full Article

The Environmental Protection Agency issued another stern letter to the company cleaning up the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, warning them not to dump contaminated wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. In the letter to Holtec president Kelly Trice, the EPA reaffirmed that unauthorized discharges into the Bay would be violation of the Clean Water Act.

Full Article

DENNIS — A West Dennis saltmarsh that has been nearly cut off from the ebb and flow of the tides, its marine heartbeat fading as it has steadily choked on invasive reeds and freshwater plants, may have a chance at rebirth thanks to a grant from the Southeast New England Program.

Full Article – May require subscription.