What's the address of the offending property so that the city can follow up?

Yes, please share address with local authorities. The family should be fined so they do not continue this practice. This is very disrespectful to the community and the environment. Thank you for sharing and to the gentleman addressing the issue with the family.

13-15 8th street.

Thank you for reporting your concern to City of Cambridge via Commonwealth Connect. We have reviewed the information you provided our staff and will be investigating this issue further. Thank you for the address

I'm curious about why the City took so long to respond? Will the City be addressing this issue with the family to ensure they understand the seriousness of the issue and not to repeat this behavior? Can the City install one of those metal placards (or a stenciled message) at the storm drain to remind/inform residents that dumping in the drain runs into the Charles River? I found it interesting that, about a week ago, the mother moved an SUV next to that storm drain and appeared to be preparing to wash the vehicle. Charcoal & ash residue remained in the gutter next to the drain a couple days ago, but that was before the intense rain yesterday (7/17/18), the same day the City waited to reply that it would be investigating.

Thank you for reporting this issue to us. We are pleased to report back to you that this issue is now resolved. We have reached out and educated the neighbors and #15 it looked like no one would do such a thing and their understanding of the drainage system is higher and are responsible citizens.

Thank you for reporting this issue to us. We are pleased to report back to you that this issue is now resolved. We have reached out and educated the neighbors and #15 it looked like no one would do such a thing and their understanding of the drainage system is higher and are responsible citizens.

Thank you for your suggestion to stencil the catch basin. The catch basin (on the Otis Street corner) does have a plaque that indicates "No Dumping Drain to the Charles River".

I ask that this issue be left open because the mother of the young man who dumped does indeed live at 13-15 Eighth Street and defended what her son did by saying "we do this all the time. . . mind your business," and by insisting he'd *only* dumped in the gutter (where the photo does show some of the debris landed, right next to the storm drain) -- as if dumping next to a storm drain negates responsibility for the pollutants ultimately getting carried into the storm drain by rainwater runoff (or usher along the way by washing a car). What is incomprehensible is why the opposition to properly placing the grill coals (once fully extinguished) into a trash bag.

Leaving this issue open will help neighbors who follow SeeClickFix be alert to the possibility of a repeat occurrence of this behavior at this site.

I just went to Google maps for this address and, using the Google tool that allows you to navigate the view around to side of the house on Otis Street, I found a July 2014 view of the storm drain which, when enlarged, I do see there is the metal plaque in the sidewalk that says "Don't Dump." What I was surprised to see also captured in the image is what appears to be a tidy pile of ashes and charcoal, about two feet from the storm drain. So, I can see that the mother was serious that the family has a regular practice of dumping in this manner. And I guess the gist of the argument she was making when she said the family has lived here a long time is that their practice preceded the laws against dumping into storm drains (when the Charles River was filthy), and should be tolerated under some notion of grandfathering.
Here's the Google page:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/15+8th+St,+Cambridge,+MA+02141/@42.3711515,-71.0864275,3a,15y,52.41h,64.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfazCWTaWlHC2Dez3LOv3hw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e370b0b304f3b5:0x8d3b9c909d3f4e30!8m2!3d42.3712614!4d-71.0863908

Thank you for reporting your concern to City of Cambridge via Commonwealth Connect. We have reviewed the information you provided our staff and will be investigating this issue further. This issue will be left open for further follow up.

Thank you for reporting this issue to us. We are pleased to report back to you that this issue is now resolved. No issue was observed. Tell us how we're doing by completing a short survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/CambServiceRequests