NEWS RELEASE 2001-23
October 3, 2001

Air Force Completes Nutrient Inactivation Work on Ashumet Pond

MASSACHUSETTS MILITARY RESERVATION, CAPE COD: The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) is committed to reducing nutrient impacts to Ashumet Pond.  These impacts resulted from operation of the base wastewater treatment plant that closed in 1995.  This commitment was made as part of the overall cleanup actions for the Ashumet Valley groundwater plume.  As part of this commitment, Air Force contractors this month completed an alum treatment that bound and inactivated the nutrient phosphorus in Ashumet Pond.  The treatment removed phosphorus from the water and is expected to reduce the release of phosphorus from pond-bottom sediments in future years.  Reducing phosphorus within the pond ecosystem will help to improve the biological health of the pond by reducing algae growth resulting in improved water clarity and increased fish habitat during summer months.  

The alum treatment involved injecting a mixture of liquid alum (aluminum sulfate) and sodium aluminate into Ashumet Pond.  The chemicals were injected into the pond water through a spray boom extended 35 feet below a floating barge.  The mixture was applied in the deep basin area of the pond, which is 40 to 65 feet deep.  On Thursday, September 6, 2001, a test area (5 acres) was treated and no adverse impacts to fish or water quality were observed or measured during several days of monitoring.  Between September 10 and 12, the remaining 23 acres of the project area were treated.  The treatment was applied to 28 acres of the approximate 203 acres of the entire pond.  Spence Smith, the AFCEE project manager for this work said, “We monitored the pond during and after the treatment for a number of water quality parameters, such as dissolved oxygen, pH, and phosphorus concentrations.  The monitoring data we collected indicated that there were no adverse impacts to fish or other pond life.”  AFCEE will continue to monitor pond water quality as an on-going part of the overall phosphorus reduction program for Ashumet Pond.  Mr. Smith added, “The data collected from this effort and on-going monitoring conducted in cooperation with the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology will help us evaluate the long-term effectiveness of this treatment.” 

This project was coordinated with the conservation commissions and harbormasters from the Towns of Falmouth and Mashpee; the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement; and many local residents.  This project also was coordinated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.  Because the treatment was performed in the Mashpee portion of Ashumet Pond, the project was permitted through the Mashpee Conservation Commission with support from the Falmouth Conservation Commission.  Representatives of the Mashpee Conservation Commission were on-site throughout the entire project to help provide oversight and conduct project monitoring directly alongside AFCEE contractors who performed the treatment.  Robert Gill, the AFCEE Program Manager said, “We had a tremendous team effort and excellent cooperation when working with representatives from Mashpee and the state to complete this treatment project.”   Several homeowners around the pond helped AFCEE with the project by allowing the treatment barge and support boats to be moored at their docks.  Local homeowners, who had participated in public meetings and hearings related to this project, visited the public boat ramp to watch the treatment.   Mr. Gill added, “I greatly appreciate the support and help local residents have provided to AFCEE, particularly through involvement in the Ashumet Pond Nutrients Advisory Group.”

If you have questions about this project, please call Douglas C. Karson, Community Involvement Specialist, (508) 968-4678, ext. 2.

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