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“I think that will, essentially, save the Fourth of July from ruin,” Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett said.
Crane Beach in Ipswich David Stone/Essex Heritage
Massachusetts officials are coordinating an emergency response after a wastewater main failure in Haverhill sent millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Merrimack River.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Maura Healey said state agencies are working alongside Haverhill officials and contractors to install a temporary bypass pipe that would restore wastewater flow to the city’s treatment plant and end the ongoing discharge.
“We’re going to move with urgency to do the work, to lift this water advisory as quickly as possible during this holiday week,” Healey said. “Once the immediate situation is under control, we’ll make sure that there’s a full investigation into why this pipe failed.”
A thunderstorm Friday caused a 42-inch wastewater main connected to Haverhill’s South Mill Street Pump Station to fail, Healey said.
Since then, about 8 million gallons of untreated wastewater have been flowing into the river each day, according to Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon.
As a result, beaches downriver in Ipswich, Newburyport, Essex, and Salisbury are closed to swimmers.
“I am optimistic that we will have one of the temporary pipes that will take our normal days flow completely and totally to the waste treatment plant sometime in the next 24 hours,” Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett said at the press conference. “I think that will, essentially, save the Fourth of July from ruin.”
Healey said she is hoping the bypass pipe is operational by Wednesday. The Merrimack’s strong current should quickly flush contaminated water out to sea, she said, which could allow officials to uplift the swimming advisory before the Fourth of July weekend.
“We hope with the speed and the amount of water that flows through Merrimack that it flows quickly out to sea, leaving our downstream neighbors safe to enjoy the river and especially safe to enjoy the beaches,” Barrett said.
Healey emphasized that the beaches remain closed only for swimming and are opened for other recreational activities.
“I have heard some people concerned about celebrations along the Merrimack River. Continue with all of that,” Healey said. “We’ve got weddings this weekend. We’ve got all sorts of events going on. Nothing in terms of public safety is impacted by any of that. Again, you can boat. You can use the beaches. We just advise you to stay out of the water.”
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is continuing to test water quality and will keep monitoring conditions until they are safe. The state is also watching for debris from the discharge, though none has been found, according to Healey.
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has also temporarily closed shellfish growing areas in Gloucester, Newburyport, Essex, Ipswich, Newbury, Rockport, Rowley, and Salisbury.
“The closing of the shellfish beds is done as a matter of precaution with this kind of an event,” Healey said. “They’re testing right now, and as soon as we get the clear, we’ll open those shellfish beds right back up.”
Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea said at the press conference that officials are “assessing impact” on the shellfish beds with testing.
“Once the problem is fixed with the leakage and the river clears out, then there’s hope that we can then begin to look at testing that will yield results that we can open up the shellfish areas,” he said.
O’Shea noted that the spill is not expected to impact wildlife.
The wastewater crisis has drawn attention from lawmakers representing communities downstream.
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, of Gloucester, who is also the chair of the regional task force on the Merrimack River, joined Sen. Joan Lovely and state Reps. Kristin Kassner, Tram Nguyen, Dawn Shand, and Dru Tarr in sending Healey a letter Tuesday urging additional state assistance.
The lawmakers wrote that the ongoing discharge is having “disastrous consequences” for the environment, local economy, communities along the river, beachgoers, and commercial and recreational fisheries.
“In addition, the degradation in water quality caused by these discharges poses a serious threat to public health that must continue to be properly addressed,” the letter reads.
The lawmakers asked the Healey administration to have state agencies assume responsibility for water quality testing and its associated costs, consider economic relief for commercial fishing and shellfishing businesses, and provide daily briefings to affected communities and continue assisting Haverhill with both the current emergency and long-term infrastructure improvements.
“These contractors know the importance of this,” Barrett said. “They know that this has a detrimental effect, especially to our neighborhoods downstream or downriver, and we are working with all diligence to get this done.”
Healey said the incident highlights how increasingly frequent extreme weather is placing additional strain on aging infrastructure. Barrett said both the failed pipe and the treatment plant date to the 1970s.
Healey renewed her calls for federal infrastructure funding and said she expects the Legislature to soon send her the Mass Ready Act to her desk.
“I also am grateful to the House and the Senate for their support and work on my Mass Ready Act,” she said. “That’s a law that will provide needed funding to aging infrastructure like this, and I’m hoping to have that on my desk this week or next to sign.”
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