摘要: The waterways of the Eastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Area consist of Boston Harbor, a large (47 square miles) relatively shallow complex of bays and tidal estuaries, with 180 miles of tidal shoreline; plus three rivers of subst... 展开 The waterways of the Eastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Area consist of Boston Harbor, a large (47 square miles) relatively shallow complex of bays and tidal estuaries, with 180 miles of tidal shoreline; plus three rivers of substantial length: the Charles River (length, 80 miles), Neponset River (length, 30 miles) and Mystic River (length, 17 miles including its major tributary, the Aberjona River). Outlying regions along the coast include: river and tidal estuarine systems of the Ipswich, Pines and Saugus Rivers; Gloucester, Beverly and Salem Harbors on the North Shore; and the Jones, North and South Rivers and Gulf, Cohasset and Scituate Harbors on the South Shore. The region has been subjected to ever increasing amounts of municipal wastes and other abuses. Corrective and remedial measures have been proposed. A real need exists for rapid and efficient evaluation of the impact of such proposed solutions so that the environmental consequences may be weighed against economic costs. As a partial step in this direction, the present study is aimed at evaluating both existing environmental data and the need for further environmental data collections. 收起