Community Corner

UPDATED: DEP Investigates Oil Sheen and Dead Fish on Charles River

UPDATE: July 2, 2013 at 1 p.m.

According DEP officials, the oil sheen that appeared in the Charles River last week appears to be from natural causes.

In an email to town officials on July 1 -- and posted by Selectman Osler Peterson on his personal blog http://medfield02052.wordpress.com/ -- MassDEP Section Chief Nicholas J. Child said that no man-made causes for the incident have been found and similar situations have occured in Bridgewater and Lakeville.

"As you know, MassDEP has been working with your local responders to investigate a fishkill in the Charles River and Stop Brook.  This started last Thursday afternoon.  We have had staff from our chemical emergency response program, watershed management, resource protection/drinking water, Dept. of Fish  Wildlife , Dept. of Public Health, and US EPA as well as our  mobile field lab checking various locations along the observed impact area.  All tests have come back negative.  We have checked a number of facilities with river discharge permits and found no problems.  Bottom line is that we have found no man made causes for this incident.  In addition, a similar event happened in Bridgewater and similar circumstances were seen in Lakeville.  This all points to a very unusual natural event."

Original story ran June 27, 2013 at 8 p.m.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was in Medfield on Thursday to investigate an oil sheen that is suspected to have killed a large number of fish.

On Thursday, June 27, around 4 p.m., a "hazmat incident" was reported on Farm Road/Charles River in Sherborn after an oil sheen had been discovered in Medfield and Millis, according to scanner reports.

Those reports said that Sherborn's Fire Department requested additional booms to contain the leak, the source of which is still under investigation by Mass DEP and the Environmental Police who responded. 

On his personal blog around 5 p.m., Selectman Osler "Pete" Peterson shared an email from Town Administrator Michael Sullivan which said, in part:

"We’ve just been notified of a fish kill on the Charles River. There are a large number of dead fish and a blue oily sheen on the Charles River. The worst area appears to be around Route 109. Medfield (Fire Dept) and Sherborn are putting out booms to try to contain it as much as possible. Dep is on the way to investigate. 
About an hour later, Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler told Peterson the problem could have started in Norfolk.

Medfield Police Chief Robert Meaney Jr. confirmed for Patch that, 

"The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the discoloration in the water. The source appears to be upstream from Medfield. The DEP is currently in Norfolk sampling the water. Medfield will continue to monitor the Town wells but there have not been any problems observed."

When Patch visited the Charles River at Death Bridge on Route 27 in Medfield -- where town and state officials were gathered to address the issue -- the oil sheen and dead fish were easily seen floating down the Charles. 

Meaney said the matter is still under investigation, and that town officials will 
continue to monitor town wells. He also said no well problems had been observed to date. 

See attached Patch photos for more information. The white dots on the Charles River are dead fish. The oil sheen is also obvious in many of the photos.   


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