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

Mazzone died of complications from cancer, according to an announcement by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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.

"Judge Mazzone will forever be remembered by the people of Massachusetts for his landmark rulings that led to the cleanup of Boston Harbor," Sen. Edward Kennedy said. "For Vicki, me, my brother Bob, and Ethel, he was a beloved friend. Our hearts and prayers are with his wife Ellie and his entire family."

Mazzone, an Everett native, graduated from Harvard University in 1950. He served in the U.S. Army the following two years and fought in the Korean War. He received his law degree at DePaul University in Chicago in 1957.

Mazzone the joined the Middlesex District Attorney's office in 1961, then left to work for the U.S. Attorney's office in 1965. After 10 years in private practice, he became an associate justice on the Superior Court in Boston in 1975. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1978.

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.

Mazzone leaves his wife of 53 years, Eleanor, seven children and nine grandchildren.

A funeral is scheduled for Friday morning at St. Joseph's Church in Wakefield. Burial services are private.

Judge A.David Mazzone's Chamber Papers on the Boston Harbor Clean Up Case
http://www.lib.umb.edu/archives/mazzone.html

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