David Mazzone, 76; Federal Judge Ordered Boston Harbor Cleanup

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The New York Sun

A. David Mazzone, the federal judge who guided the massive cleanup of Boston Harbor, died Monday of complications from cancer at his home in Wakefield, Mass. He was 76.


In 1985, Mazzone ruled wastewater discharges into the Boston Harbor by the state Massachusetts Water Resources Authority violated the federal Clean Water Act. The decision set in motion the ongoing clean-up, widely viewed as a stunning success story.


Mazzone first entered the Boston Harbor cleanup case in 1983, a time when the harbor was known as an open sewer. His ruling in 1985 helped start the $3.8 billion clean-up, which included the construction of the Deer Island waste treatment plant that ended direct dumping into the harbor. Mazzone continued to oversee the cleanup’s progress until transferring the case to another judge a month ago.


In another well-known case, Mazzone awarded $873 million in damages, before interest, to Polaroid in 1991 following its patent infringement suit against Kodak.


Between 1990 and 1997, Mazzone was a member and vice chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, which developed federal sentencing guidelines.


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