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Needham Bank, Natick

Natick has a plan for communicating about South Natick dam’s future

February 26, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Natick’s town administration has begun making the rounds at boards and commissions to float a communications plan (embedded below) regarding what to do about the aging and iconic South Natick Dam on the Charles River.  By the end of the year, the town hopes to present a recommendation to the Select Board that could range from repairing the dam to removing it, the latter option one that could save the town money at least short term and thrill environmental groups.

As a “high hazard” dam, the town-owned structure could do some serious damage if unexpectedly breached. Recent state reports have shown the dam to be in “fair” condition.

“In some recent inspections it was determined that some deficiencies are coming to light with the dam structure itself. Nothing is imminent. There’s no harm or danger to public safety. But if we don’t address them they can in the long term become big issues,” said Deputy Town Administrator Jamie Errickson at the Feb. 24 Select Board meeting (about 2.5 hours into the meeting).

A Town Administrator-appointed advisory committee will be assembled in March. The process it undertakes will require input not just from environmental experts and town officials, but from residents who appreciate the beauty of the spot and those whose properties and homes could be affected by a decision to keep or remove the dam and spillway (aka waterfall). This means keeping town governments and residents in communities upstream and downstream in the loop, since what Natick decides could greatly impact those in Dover, Sherborn, and Wellesley at the very least.

south natick dam log
Water gushes over spillway at South Natick Dam on Charles River

 

Natick had been considering a $1.8 repair plan about a year ago, but put that on hold upon consideration of possibly removing the dam entirely. The structure has been in place since the 1930s at a time when dams were vital to supporting mills in the area.

The town early last year received positive news in that sediment samples from upstream and downstream of the dam proved non-concerning. Following that, according to the Natick town website, “The town received a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to further evaluate the feasibility of breaching the dam and restoring the associated river channel. The Town has contracted with a consultant to complete this work and findings from this analysis should be available in July 2020.” Presumably, these findings will be revealed during the communications process, as they were not public as of the fall when we last checked and currently still do not appear to be available on the town website.

The town plans to step up public outreach in the spring, ranging from flyers to a webinar. Public input will be collected over the summer, and the advisory committee will then meet more regularly in an effort to get its recommendations to the Select Board in the October-November timeframe.

Don’t feel like you need to move up your 2021 or 2022 wedding to get pics at the dam, though. Even once the town makes a decision about the dam’s fate, it will still take a while to either fix the facility or dismantle it.

south natick wedding

(Disclaimer: We live in the vicinity of the dam, so are watching this situation closely.)


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Filed Under: Environment, Government

Linden Square, Wellesley
London Harness, Natick Report

Natick E. coli water supply incident turned out to be false positive

January 27, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Natick officials say the boil water order issued on Jan  13 after E. coli bacteria was detected in the town’s water supply turned out to be the product of false positive results.

Natick’s Department of Public Works issued an alert to residents that they should boil water, per order of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, for at least a minute before consuming it in light of E. coli bacteria being discovered in drinking water samples collected on Jan. 12. The boil water order was lifted on Jan. 15, and its suddenness led to speculation in the community that a false positive might have been behind the initial order.

The boil order water also affected about 80 addresses in Wellesley that get their water from Natick supplies.

New Acting Town Administrator Robert Rooney got his first real public action by reading a caaaarefully-worded explanation of what happened during the Select Board meeting on Wednesday night. I’ve done my best to transcribe it below, but note that the town plans to post the statement on its website.

The underlying message in the statement, which included an accounting of what led to the boil water order and the subsequent investigation, was that the town wasn’t to blame for this, but that a lab error was at the root of the faulty report. Rooney even dropped in a reference to “out of an abundance of caution,” a favorite phrase among officials speaking of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.

First, the sequence of events. In a nutshell, water samples were collected by an in-house licensed person on Jan. 12 and delivered to a handling transport operation in Hudson, Mass., and transported to a [Department of Environmental Protection] approved lab in Rhode Island that same night. Natick has used this lab for approximately 13 years.

The next day 9 of 12 samples showed evidence of a positive E. coli bacteria. Normally, with positive test results confirmatory resampling is mandated immediately. However, due to the high level of positive results and out of an abundance of caution, the state DEP ordered a boil water order immediately.

After 2 repeated sampling series approximately 24 hours apart all the sampled testing came back clean and the boil water order was lifted by DEP the evening of Friday, Jan. 15.

Immediately upon receiving the positive results, the water infrastructure was inspected by public works personnel—those who know the system. They checked for any breach by animals or people, and none were reported. Further inspection was conducted by drone of areas difficult to access such as the top vents and hatches on the two water towers. Residual chlorine levels, which are affected by organics in the water, were evaluated and found to still be in the normal range. As a precaution, 2 well sites that were showing positive results for E. coli were taken offline and the chlorine level was increased by a small amount.

Subsequent investigation efforts were then employed by the town. An independent engineering firm was directed to conduct an assessment of the water system and potential sources of contamination. Water testing protocols were evaluated and determined to be in full compliance with the federal drinking water standards with the sufficient licensed personnel required.

Natick’s water sampling plan has been approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. Conversation was had with the DEP regional chief as to their experience across the state with other communities, and they indicated that they typically get between 4 and 6 what I call ‘false positive results’ per year with E. coli water sampling. The Health Department, meanwhile, reported no water-related illnesses in Natick.

A subsequent sampling series was sent to the [Massachusetts Water Resources Authority] for testing on both total chloroform and E. coli. All 12 samples came back clear.

An after-action review was conducted with all the partners to capture the areas where process improvements can be made, mainly in the automated information dissemination.

In conclusion, both town staff and the independent engineering consultant concluded that this event was in all likelihood caused not by contamination of the water system, but by the inadvertent cross-contamination of the lab samples.

To put some perspective on this, Natick’s water system is rigorously monitored and tested with over 1,500 water quality tests performed in a DEP-certified lab annually. This equates, when you consider how long it’s been since there’s been an error in this testing, a time period equates to a magnitude of almost 20,000 water quality samples performed at this private lab. The point being is that Natick’s false positive 2 weeks ago does not negate a tremendous record of clean and dependable water service in Natick.

For future improvements, our protocols in both testing and emergency notification have been reviewed and refinements made to ensure the safety of residents, especially with regard to automated notification. Going forward we’ll continue to use the MWRA testing lab for the next couple of weeks as we formalize an agreement with a different testing facility.

Following Rooney’s statement, Director of Public Works Jeremy Marsette added that the weekly round of testing gathered on Tuesday this week came back clean. “Add another round of clean samples to the results,” he said.

Select Board member Michael Hickey said he got “many, many questions” from the public about the reported E. coli results, and expressed relief that no animal, or particularly human, tampering was discovered. People were looking for reassurance, “and it sounds like we provided that,” he said.

natick public works building


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Filed Under: Environment

Page Waterman, Wellesley

Natick’s boil water order lifted, no E. coli in new samples

January 15, 2021 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

We can go back to the regular dishes, enough with the disposable stuff…Natick has announced that the state’s Department of Environmental Protection has lifted the boil water order issued on Jan. 13 after E. coli bacteria was detected in the town water supply.

disposable dishes and utensils

 

This is a notice from the Natick Department of Public Works Water/Sewer Division:

The Boil Water Order issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has been lifted for all areas in the Town of Natick. After conducting two consecutive rounds of sampling throughout the drinking water system, the lab tests showed no E. Coli bacteria in any repeat samples. As such, per the State’s review, the water is safe for consumption without further treatment or flushing in your homes and businesses.Our investigation continues as tothe cause of the positive lab results.

Again, we are informing you that the water within the drinking water system and your homes and businesses is safe for consumption according to all MassDEP drinking water standards. The Town of Natick’s website has been updated to reflect this change in our drinking water status.

Sincerely,

Anthony Comeau

Natick DPW Water/Sewer Division Supervisor

508-647-6557

Jeremy Marsette, PE

Director of Public Works

Filed Under: Environment, Health

Time to say goodbye to your Natick Christmas tree

January 4, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Here’s an epiphany for you: there’s absolutely no disposing of Christmas trees and other holiday greenery in parks and conservation areas in Natick. It might seem like tossing nature into nature, but it’s actually illegal and bad for the environment. It’s also aesthetically displeasing. You know it’s going to take that tree about ten years to break down into the soil, right?

Natick Christmas tree disposal
This Natick Christmas tree awaits pick-up by the DPW.

How to say good-bye, fine firs

Fortunately, the Natick Department of Public Works makes it super-easy to dispose of your tree properly, with the curbside collection program.  Curbside collection of Christmas trees is scheduled for the first two full weeks in January on your regular trash collection day (the weeks of January 4th and January 11th). Trees should be bare, free from ornaments, and with no bags. Follow those simple rules, and the DPW will make your tree disappear.

Fire it up

At our house we observe a highly personalized Christmas tree ceremony each year. First, we take the tree away from the only field it’s ever known, and we set it up in our heated house. Next, we lavish the tree with ornate trappings. After a few weeks we declare that we “need our living room back.” We then strip the tree of its ornate trappings and evict it from our home. Months later, we set the Christmas tree on fire. A merry tradition, indeed.

You can do the same starting this month. Just make sure you get an open air burning permit. Stop in to the Natick Fire Department headquarters at 22 E. Central Street to fill out the easy paperwork. The burn season runs Jan. 15 through May 1, and you must obtain permission from the NFD each day that you wish to burn. Weather conditions are taken into consideration when determining if burning will be allowed each day.

Natick open air burning
This backyard burn was entirely on the up-and-up, done with the blessing of the state and local authorities.

Filed Under: Environment, Holidays

Natick’s chunk of the Charles River gets an ‘A’ grade

December 21, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Natick’s portion of the Charles River, dubbed the Upper Middle Watershed, is the cleanest part of the 80-mile waterway that stretches from Hopkinton to Boston Harbor. Both this section (which also includes Dover, Sherborn, Wellesley and more)  and the adjacent Lower Middle Watershed (Newton, Weston, Waltham, and more) scored “A” grades.

This according to a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grading system designed in coordination with the Charles River Watershed Association. The new system reports on the entire river and takes into account more pollutants as well as two tributaries (the Stop River in Medfield and the Muddy River in Boston). The data is from 2019.

2019_ReportCard_byReach

EPA grading started in the mid-1990s has concentrated on the Lower Charles River Basin between Watertown and Boston, and focused on E. coli data from limited sampling.  Reporting now includes Cyanobacteria (toxic blue-green algae) blooms and combined sewer overflows (CSOs), which are both public health hazards, and richer sampling.

The Natick stretch owes its cleanliness in large part to the friendly environment bordering the river, including preserved forests and wetlands. With climate change’s many ramifications, however, tracking the impact on the river requires constant monitoring.

In other words, it’s looking good on large stretches of the Charles, but there’s more work to be done in getting and keeping it clean.

UpperMiddleWatershed


More: Kayaking the Charles River into South Natick

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Filed Under: Environment

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