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Boston Globe
a day ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Why is the Trump administration really holding up MBTA train shells?
The company strongly denies any wrongdoing and MBTA general manager Phil Eng says But the incident is another setback for a star-crossed project that's been hampered by delays, cost overruns, a pandemic, and geopolitical tensions. Advertisement Massachusetts picked the Chinese company back in 2014 because it offered the low bid and promised to assemble the trains in Springfield with shells shipped from China. To then-governor Deval Patrick, the deal was a perfect two-fer, providing the T with bargain trains while creating several hundred blue-collar jobs in a part of the state that often feels overlooked by state transportation spending. For the company, meanwhile, the deal was supposed to be its entree into the American market. The company did Advertisement President Trump slapped tariffs on imported With that history, it's hard to take the slave labor concerns completely at face value. I don't mean to minimize the issue; obviously, if the company really did violate laws against importing slave-made products that would be a massive problem, and a reason for the state to bail on the contract immediately. But the way the administration and Congress have had it out for this company makes me wonder how genuine their concerns for its workers in China really are. The trains are now years beyond schedule. There's undoubtedly plenty of blame to go around for that, and I don't mean to let the company off the hook. But what if politicians hadn't spent so much energy trying to thwart CRRC? Why was the company that made something as socially useful as trains held to such a higher standard than ones making, say, smartphones? I get the concerns about Chinese dumping — ie, using artificially low prices to gain market share at the expense of American firms. China has been accused of anticompetitive behavior when it comes to solar panels and other goods. But the T's trains are being built by American workers, and with many American components. If US government pressure results in CRRC leaving the American market, the Chinese government will barely notice. But a lot of people in Springfield will. Advertisement This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter about the future of transportation in the region. Sign up to . Alan Wirzbicki is Globe deputy editor for editorials. He can be reached at
Boston Globe
22-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
A swimmable Charles River? It's possible.
It doesn't have to be this way. Greater Boston could finally have a Charles River safe enough for swimming if it makes the necessary investments, as Portland did. Advertisement The city takes pride in the tremendous progress it has made toward a cleaner Boston Harbor and cleaner Charles River since the Standells sang about loving that 'Dirty Water' in 1966. Since the 1980s, thanks to the construction of the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment plant and billions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades, the amount of sewage going into the Charles has been markedly reduced. But the job is not done. There are still after every heavy rainstorm, thanks to the 19th-century infrastructure of 'combined' pipes carrying both household waste and rainwater. One potential solution to fixing the discharges is a massive underground tunnel below the Charles (up to 32 feet in diameter and four miles long) that would store sewage-laden storm water and then release it slowly to Deer Island, preventing the pipes and treatment plant from being overwhelmed and discharging sewage into the river. Advertisement This solution was proposed in January by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the cities of Cambridge and Somerville, with a preliminary estimated cost of $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion. While such a price tag may give some pause, the cleanup of the Boston Harbor cost more than twice that — $5 billion — and was clearly worth the investment. According to a Large storage tunnels are a common approach to addressing combined sewer overflows, or CSOs. Portland built a huge tunnel (called the ' 'The completion of this project ensures that the shores of Boston Harbor will be among the cleanest urban beaches in the country, enhancing recreational opportunities for city residents and visitors alike,' then-governor Deval Patrick If that could be done for Boston Harbor beaches, why not for Charles River beaches? In addition, the city has an opportunity to cut construction costs and bring beauty to our neighborhoods by pairing a tunnel project with installations of 'green infrastructure' such as rain gardens, vegetated ditches called bioswales, and new trees. Such projects enable storm water to infiltrate the ground rather than sending it into an already full combined sewer pipe. This reduces the size of the tunnel needed, reducing construction costs and bringing natural features into our urban spaces. Advertisement As we celebrate Earth Day, Boston should recommit to reopening the beaches that once lined the Charles — Magazine Beach, Havey Beach, Charlesbank Beach, Gerry's Landing Beach, and more — so that as we face ever hotter summers, residents will be able to cool off with a jump into the refreshing, clean water of the Charles River.
