PROBLEM. BOSTON HARBOR IS HOME TO SOME OF NEW ENGLAND’S MOST ICONIC LANDMARKS -- THE SPARKLING WATER AND FRESH ATLANTIC BREEZES PROVIDE A RESPITE FROM HECTIC CITY LIFE, BUT IT WASN’T TOO LONG AGO THAT THE HARBOR WAS NOT A DESTINATION OR SOURCE OF MUCH BOSTON PRIDE. >> THE CITY WAS BUILT WITH IT’S BACK TO THE HARBOR BECAUSE IT WAS A HORRIBLE PLACE. ANTHONY: RAW SEWAGE POURED IN THE HARBOR FOR CENTURIES, CREATING AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER. >> IF YOU FELL INTO PARTS OF THE HARBOR DURING RAIN, YOU ARE GOING TO GET A STOMACH FLU, STOMACH BUG OR AN EARACHE OR AN INFECTION. IT WAS HORRIFIC. ANTHONY: THE POLLUTED HARBOR BECAME A CAMPAIGN NIGHTMARE FOR MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR MICHAEL DUKAKIS DURING HIS UNSUCCESSFUL RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 1988. HIS OPPONENT, THEN VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE H W BUSH RAN ATTACK ADS FOCUSING ON BOSTON’S DIRTY WATER. >> AS A CANDIDATE, MICHAEL DUKAKIS CALLED BOSTON HARBOR AN OPEN SEWER. AS GOVERNOR, HE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BUT CHOSE NOT TO. ANTHONY: ULTIMATELY, A FEDERAL JUDGE TOOK SITE OF THE HARBOR CLEANUP IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE ESTABLISHED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS WATER RESOURCES AUTHORITY TO HELP SOLVE THE SEWAGE PROBLEM INCLUDING A NEW WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT ON DEER ISLAND. >> CONSTRUCTION OF THIS PLANT AT $4 BILLION WAS AN INCREDIBLE ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE MODEL OVERSEEN BY A FEDERAL JUDGE WHO HAD STRICT DEADLINES TO GET THE JOB DONE. IT INCLUDED THE BUILDING OF THE DIGESTERS WHICH REDUCES THE SLUDGE. ANTHONY: FRED LASKY HAS BEEN THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SINCE 2001. HE COMPARES THE DEER ISLAND DIGESTERS TO HUMAN STOMACHS. >> WE PUT THE BUGS, IF YOU WILL COME INTO IT. WE MAINTAIN IT AT 98 DEGREES AND PUT THE LIQUID SLUDGE IN IT. BUT THE BUGS DO, JUST LIKE YOUR STOMACH, THEY EAT THE SLUDGE AND DRAMATICALLY REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SLUDGE WE NEED TO DEAL WITH BY EATING IT AND IT CREATES METHANE GAS, WHICH WE CAPTURE 98% OF THE METHANE GAS AND USE IT TO CREATE ELECTRICITY AND HEAT HERE ON DEER ISLAND. ANTHONY: HE SAYS HE MEASURED THE SUCCESS OF THE HARBOR CLEANUP IN 2018. AN UNEXPECTED GUEST STOPPED BY FOR A SWIM. >> IT WAS LIKE YEAH. IT’S AN INDICATOR THE HARBOR IS CLEAN ENOUGH FOR THAT MAMMAL TO COME IN. IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS PLAYING, JUST FLOPPING ALONG, JUMPING OUT OF THE WATER. IT WAS A MORALE BOOSTER FOR ALL THE FOLKS WHO WORKED SO HARD ON THIS PROJECT AND WORK EVERY DAY TO MAKE SURE THE WATER IS CLEAN AND SAFE AND WE ARE DOING OUR JOBS. IT’S TRUE FOR THE FOLKS WHO WORK HERE. THEY ARE THE TRUE ENVIRONMENTALISTS. ANTHONY: HE SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER DEER ISLANDS SUCCESS STORIES AS WELL AS ITS DARK PAST. DEER ISLAND WAS AN INTERNMENT CAMP IN THE 1600S. >> IT WAS A HORRIFICALLY CRUEL EVENT WHERE IN THE DEAD OF WINTER, NATIVE AMERICANS WERE PUT OUT ON THIS ISLAND WITH NO PROVISIONS. WHEN YOU ROLL FORWARD, THE IMMIGRANTS COMING IN, PARTICULATE FROM IRELAND WERE ISOLATED HERE. THEN IT BECAME A JAIL THAT WAS SOMETHING OUT OF A HORROR MOVIE. ANTHONY: SINCE THOSE DAYS, YOUR ISLAND HAS UNDERGONE A SERIES OF TRANSFORMATIONS, HELPING TO MAKE BOSTON HARBOR A PLACE OF HEALING AND RENEWAL. >> WE BUILT 3.9 MILES OF WALKING TRAILS, BIKE TRAILS, WE HAVE A FISHING. IT’S AN INCREDIBLY POPULAR PLACE. FAMILIES COME HERE AND SPEND A FISHING. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT RENAISSANCE ON THE ISLAND FROM SUCH A DARK HISTORY, NOW WITH PRIDE WE CAN SAY THIS IS DEER ISLAND TREATMENT PLANT. ANTHONY: DEER ISLAND HAS ALSO PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN FORECASTING COVID SURGES. WASTEWATER FROM THE PLANT IS ROUTINELY TESTED AND ANALYZED FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE VIRUS, WHICH CAN EVEN BE PINPOINTED TO CERTAIN AREAS OF THE STATE. AND IF YOU WANT TO VISIT DEER ISLAND’S 60 ACRES OF OPEN SPACE, YOU DON’T NEED A BOAT. IT’S ACTUALLY A PENINSULA, CREATED WHEN THE HURRICANE OF 1938 FILLED IN A CHANNEL