Water Quality in Lower Mill Pond The level of contamination today is now considered suitable for some recreational use, though questions remain.
WHY IT MATTERS Understanding past practices and current pollution problems will help set realistic goals for future use and identify opportunities for improvement. FINDINGS Though pollution of the pond was extensive in the past, there is no conclusive data regarding existing contaminants, their quantity, or their toxicity. Nor is there any immediate plan to gather this data. For the foreseeable future, recreational use of the pond will continue to include fishing (catch and release) and boating. The best-known current threat is polluted stormwater discharges from the surrounding neighborhoods. IMPLICATIONS Reducing the harmful effects of stormwater that flows into the pond is the issue of highest priority in order to meet federal regulatory requirements and to improve the recreational and ecological values of Lower Mill Pond. THINGS TO KNOW
A History of Contamination
Longtime Easthampton residents share stories of a pond so polluted that it changed colors from day to day, could catch fire from a tossed cigarette, and emitted enough chemical odors to be dubbed “Perfume Pond.” During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, industrial wastes were dumped into Lower Mill Pond. Because of the pond’s proximity to the mills and an absence of environmental regulations, textile, button and battery manufacturers dumped dyes, kerosene, and petroleum-based products. Specific pollutants and quantities are unknown.
Clean Water Act: Past and Present
In 1972, the Clean Water Act was passed and a new era of environmental awareness began. Though much of the industrial activity in the mills around Lower Mill Pond had already ceased for economic reasons, there were now laws in place against the type of abuses that had occurred in the past. Specifically, the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting process administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to regulate point-source discharges to surface waters. This has made point-source discharges of waste largely a thing of the past, and now the EPA is also targeting nonpoint-source discharges. Municipal storm sewer systems are increasingly the focus of the NPDES permitting process in an effort to further improve water quality in U.S. waterways. Easthampton is regulated under a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit.
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Available Water Quality Data MA Department of Environmental Protection The “Connecticut River Watershed 2003 Water Quality Assessment Report” labels Lower Mill Pond as “Category 2- Attaining Some Uses (Secondary Contact Recreation and Aesthetics),” with other uses not assessed. Also described in this document is a 2002 DEP study that showed levels of mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, selenium, and other pollutants in fish to be below toxicity thresholds. Fish consumption, however, is officially “not assessed.” Aquatic life is “impaired” due to the invasive water chestnut (Trapa natans). Outfall Testing by Easthampton DPW City Engineer Jim Gracia conducted city-wide dry-flow outfall tests in 2002 and identified a number of illicit sanitary sewer connections contributing nitrogen pollution to the stormwater system. Such connections are common in older industrial cities, and the Department of Public Works has been source-tracking and eliminating them. Nashawannuck Pond The Nashawannuck Pond Watershed Restoration Project report cited the “Diagnostic/Feasibility Study for the Management of Nashawannuck Pond” (prepared in 1988 by Baystate Environmental Consultants, Inc.) which identified nitrogen and phosphorous loading in Nashawannuck Pond. This is a likely indicator of conditions in Lower Mill Pond, given that the ponds’ sub-watersheds are similar and they are connected at the Cottage Street dam.
A Neighborhood Strategy for Improving the Lower Mill Pond Watershed
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