By Dave Rogers
Staff writer
—
NEWBURYPORT — Nearly three months after millions of plastic wastewater treatment disks spilled from a Hooksett, N.H., sewage facility into the Merrimack River, they are still being spotted in abundance by Greater Newburyport residents.
And with Memorial Day weekend here, it is almost a guarantee that those flocking to the region to enjoy the unofficial start of summer will encounter the slightly unsettling and dirty disks as well. By some estimates, there are perhaps 700,000 still in the Merrimack River, along beaches and in the ocean.
An estimated 4.24 million disks, which capture and then consume human waste bacteria, escaped from the recently renovated wastewater treatment facility on March 6 when one of the tanks overflowed with water after a prolonged period of rain. In the days that followed, the disks made their way down the Merrimack, washing onto the shores of Newburyport, Plum Island, Amesbury, Seabrook, Salisbury and other Greater Newburyport communities.
Edward Coletta, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, said a handful of the disks were recently recovered on Nantucket Island.
Newburyport Harbormaster Paul Hogg said he notices the disks on a daily basis from right outside his office along the city waterfront, as they float downstream. Many of them have also been seen on Plum Island beaches and in the middle of the river near the mouth.
"Still definitely seeing them," Hogg said.
Multiple tests were conducted on the disks before the state determined they contained traces of human waste bacteria, about the amount found on the typical doorknob, or any other kind of ocean litter.
In response, professional and volunteer cleanup crews were quickly assembled to remove them.
Following a series of meetings with state and local officials in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the town of Hooksett hired Newburyport-based cleanup company Enpro to lead the cleanup operations. A Hooksett official in April estimated cleanup costs between $1.5 million and $2 million but added the figure could be much higher.
In April, Enpro spokesman Geoffrey Brown said his company had found 2.5 million of them and estimated 1.5 million of them were left. Asked yesterday for an update, Brown said Enpro has picked up about 3.5 million disks as crews comb an estimated 135 locations between York, Maine, and Cape Cod, along with the banks of the Merrimack River.
"We're making good progress," Brown said, crediting much of their success to those who called Enpro after seeing them.
Brown said calls have been coming from residents in Haverhill, West Newbury, Plum Island and other communities.
"We've been very fortunate that people are calling when they do see the disks," Brown said.
Realistically, however, people can expect to see the disks from time to time, as Brown admits Enpro will probably never be able to pick them all up. Many of the disks disappear and then reappear along the coastline or river after heavy periods of rain or low tides.
But Brown stressed that the disks are not a health issue and more of a litter issue, a sentiment also expressed by DEP regional director Dick Chalpin, during a regional briefing session held last month.
"At this point it's more of an aesthetic or plastic debris issue," Brown said.
Coletta confirmed the state has not been testing the disks for some time.
Brown said Enpro's contract with the town of Hooksett ends at the end of September, about the last time many communities organize a final beach cleanup day before the start of fall.
Brown encourages those who want to assist in the cleanup effort right away to pick up a disk cleanup kit at their local health department, fire department or state Department of Conservation and Recreation branch. The kits contain rubber gloves, plastic bags and hand sanitizer, he said.
Finally, Brown encouraged those who find disks to continue alerting Enpro.
"We are happy to get the phone calls because we are trying to track where disks are being collected by volunteers, so we definitely appreciate the phone calls," Brown said.
