An ocean of concern
Climate change may not have been as prominent in the headlines in the 1980s as it is today, but it was certainly on the minds of engineers designing a new sewage-treatment plant for Boston. Today, the massive Deer Island plant can boast of being one of the first major coastal projects that had a nearly 2-foot rise in sea level designed into its construction. That is good news to area residents because the plant — one of the nation’s largest — handles sewage from 61 Boston area municipalities and 2.5 million customers. Built to clean up Boston Harbor, partly in response to a major lawsuit, the plant was designed to withstand a 100-year storm, then was raised an additional 1.9 feet in anticipation of possible sea-level rise. Its outflow tunnel, which disperses treated wastewater into the ocean nine miles offshore, was made larger to account for changes to the dynamics of the...