The short answer is “no,” Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said, when asked if the city would dump snow into Boston Harbor this winter. Instead, Boston will continue to rely on its network of “snow farms” to handle the large amounts of snow accumulating across the city.
This week’s blizzard has pushed Boston’s total snowfall for the season to more than 60 inches—the highest since the infamous “Snowmageddon” of 2015. With 17 inches falling from Monday’s storm alone and more snow expected, city crews have been hard at work. As of Tuesday evening, Boston had already removed 165 loads of snow, totaling 4,620 cubic yards.
In past winters, the city sometimes resorted to dumping snow in Boston Harbor. Back in 2015, Mayor Marty Walsh considered this option as a last resort. This practice was common until the late 1990s, but as efforts to clean up Boston Harbor intensified, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection banned snow dumping there in 1997—though emergency exceptions remain possible. Despite the heavy snowfall this season, the city has not needed to use this emergency measure.
Instead, Boston will make use of 14 designated snow farms located throughout the city to manage and melt the snow. These sites include West Roxbury High School, Widett Circle in South Boston, Bunker Hill Community College, Circuit Drive in Dorchester, the George Wright Golf Course in Hyde Park, and the Old Edison Plant in South Boston.
Additional snow farms are located at Franklin Park, Terminal Street in Charlestown, Bayside Expo in Dorchester, Rivermoor Street in West Roxbury, and other spots in Brighton, East Boston, and Hyde Park.
Prior to Monday’s blizzard, Boston had already received 40 inches of snow this season. During the storm, melting operations at the snow farms were temporarily paused but will soon resume to free up more space for ongoing snow removal efforts.
It’s worth noting that Mayor Walsh also relied on snow farms during the 2015 winter. One such site in the Seaport district held snow for nearly five months, with the last remnants not melting until July of that year.
With well-established snow farms and ongoing removal efforts, Boston is prepared to face this snowy winter without returning to the old practice of dumping snow in the harbor.
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/02/24/with-more-than-60-inches-of-snow-this-year-will-the-city-dump-its-snow-in-the-boston-harbor/