POLLUTIO
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER
MASSACHUSETTS / CONNECTICUT
(SECOND SESSION)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ADMINISTRATION
Northeast Region
Boston Mass.
September 1967
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REPORT ON
POLLUTION OF INTERSTATE WATERS OP
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER
MASSACHUSETTS/CONNECTICUT
(Second Session)
U. S. Department of the Interior
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
Northeast Region
Boston, Massachusetts
September, 1967
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REPORT OK
POUiUTION OF INTERSTATE WATERS OF
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER
MASSACHUSETTS/CONNECTICUT
(Second Session)
I. INTRODUCTION
On the basis of reports, surveys, or studies, the Secretary of
Health, Education, and Welfare, having reason to believe that pollu-
tion of the Connecticut River and its tributaries caused by discharges
of untreated and inadequately treated sevage and industrial wastes in
Massachusetts was endangering the health or welfare of persons in
Connecticut, a state other than that in which the discharges originate,
called a conference in the matter of pollution of the interstate
waters of the Connecticut River and its tributaries (Massachusetts/
Connecticut). The conference was held December 2, 1963, in Hartford,
Connecticut.
The Secretary of the Interior* called this second session of the
conference on the Connecticut River to consider progress made in abat-
ing pollution since the first session.
II. SUMMARY OF THE FIRST CONFERENCE
Conferees representing the state water pollution control agencies
of Connecticut and Massachusetts, the New England Interstate Water
Pollution Control Commission, and the U. S. Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare attended the first session of the conference.
*Reorganization has transferred the water pollution control activities
from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health
Service, to the Department of the Interior, Federal Water Pollution
Control Administration.
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The conferees agreed to the following conclusions and recommenda-
tions:
1. suspended solids from sevage and industrial waste cover
the Connecticut River bottom interfering with fish
spawning and the development of aquatic life.
2. Sludge deposits have damaged the esthetic quality of the
river due to the visible evidences of pollution such as
sludge bubbling to the surface, cloudy and gray appearances
of the water in the vicinity of sewage and industrial waste
discharges, intermittent colors from industrial dye wastes,
small grease balls, intermittent oil films, etc.
3* Cognizance is taken of the cooperation and active programs
of both States and the Hew England Interstate Water Pollu-
tion Control Commission in abating pollution of the
Connecticut River.
^. Cognizance is further taken of the fact that the main stem
of the Connecticut River in the area concerned in both
States was classified in 1955.
5' Massachusetts and Connecticut have indicated that their
municipal pollution abatement programs call for municipal
waste treatment with adequate chlorination for all
municipal wastes during the recreational season, May 1
to September 15. The Massachusetts schedule is to have
pollution abatement programs completed as follows:
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-3-
in 196^, Montague; in 1965, Northfleld, Greenfield,
Holyoke, Ware, Warren; in 1966, Hatfield, Easthampton,
Chicopee, Terapleton, Royalston, Athol. Orange, Ervlng,
Monroe, Buckland. Shelburne, Hardvick, Brookfield,
Palmer, Monson, Wilbraham, Chester, Huntington, Russell,
Westfield. Connecticut indicated that remedial facilities
would not be completed for Warehouse Point until 1967.
A commensurate program for abatement of pollution caused
by municipal wastes will be established by Connecticut.
6. Wastes from industries and institutions in both Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut will be incorporated with
municipal treatment facilities or will be treated by
separate facilities so as to meet the classification
requirements of both States. Separate industrial waste
treatment facilities will be constructed and placed in
operation in accordance with the time schedule estab-
lished for municipalities.
T. The State conferees volunteered that yearly progress
reports would be prepared by Massachusetts and Connecticut
in cooperation with the interstate agency and the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The first
progress report will be due January 1, 1965.
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III. AREA
The Connecticut River is the major interstate stream of the New
England States. Rising in the northern tip of New Hampshire near the
Canadian border, it flows south for nearly *!-00 miles, joining the
Atlantic Ocean in L'ong Island Sound. It forms the boundary between
New Hampshire and Vermont and travels across Massachusetts and
Connecticut.
Canals have been constructed to permit navigation and to conduct
water to manufacturing plants for production of power and for use in
industrial processes. Other means of transportation have largely
replaced navigation, but the canals still serve as sources of power
and as water supplies for industries.
The major area considered at the first and second conference
sessions is the 62-mile reach from Hatfield, Massachusetts, to the
Rocky Hill-South Glastonbury Ferry, twelve miles below Hartford,
Connecticut. Thirty-eight miles of the reach are impounded by the
Holyoke and Enfield Dams, eight miles are free flowing, and sixteen
miles are subject to tidal fluctuation. Also covered are portions
of two major tributaries which receive sewage and industrial wastes
in Massachusetts and enter Connecticut near Springfield—the
Chlcopee River from Wilbraham to its mouth (12.5 miles) and the
Westfield River from Westfield to its mouth (11.5 miles).
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Viewed from a distance, the Connecticut is a beautiful river,
flowing leisurely past wooded banks and open meadows. Its quiet
impounded areas invite pleasure boating, swimming, and skiing, while
its free flowing reaches are a challenge to canoeists and fishermen.
However, when viewed at close range, it is not always so lovely.
Locally, the Connecticut River has the reputation of being a dirty,
polluted stream, not fit for human contact.
Along the three streams in Massachusetts, thirteen towns, one
village, and an Air Force Base discharge sewage having an estimated
population equivalent of 32^,000. One population equivalent may be
defined as the quantity of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) contributed
by one person in one day. Within the same area, nine paper mills,
one textile mill, two metal working plants, three synthetic chemical
plants, a rendering plant, and a brewery discharge wastes to the
streams. Together, the industries have an estimated biochemical
oxygen demand population equivalent of 120,000.
Along the main river in Connecticut are five jurisdictions
discharging wastes having an estimated population equivalent of
218,000. Only one industry discharges a significant quantity of
waste to the Connecticut River above the Hartford area--a paper
mill with an estimated population equivalent of about 18,000.
The total oxygen demand population equivalent discharged to
the reach under consideration is 5^2,000, of which industrial wastes
account for 138,000.
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As members of the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control
Commission, Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1955 classified the vater
quality of the Connecticut River in the tvo States. At the time the
t
classification was adopted, five of the tovns along the Massachusetts
reach of the river had-partial sewage treatment. In the eight years
between the adoption date and the first session of the Connecticut
conference, three additional towns, with a sewered population of
55,500, provided treatment, and two of the original plants were re-
built or replaced. Eight jurisdictions with a sewered population of
146,200 were still without treatment.
The Connecticut River was reclassified by the two States in June,
196T.
IV. WATER USES
This 62-*dle reach of the Connecticut River is used principally
for industrial water supply, recreation, power production, and waste
disposal.
A. Industrial Water Supply
The Connecticut River provides such an abundance of water for
industrial supply in this reach that the industries are said not to
bother with records of water use. Previous attempts to assemble such
data have been unsuccessful. However, the Pratt and Whitney Division,
United Aircraft Corporation, at East Hartford, alone uses 720 million
gallons of water per day for cooling.
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B. Pleasure Boating
Pleasure boating is increasing in popularity as a water sport
but has not developed on the Connecticut River as rapidly as it has
throughout the rest of the nation.
C. Fishing
Between Enfield Dam and Hartford the Connecticut River supports
good populations of a variety of game and coarse fishes, but for some
unexplained reason, there has been only limited angling for any type
of fish other than shad. A former chief of the Division of Fisheries,
Connecticut Board of Fisheries and Game, puzzled by the limited use
of this excellent fishery, hypothesized that: "It may be possible
that many sportsmen associate the river with gross pollution and un-
cleanliness and feel it unlikely to consider sport fishing in such an
environment—further, that fish from the river are unfit as food."
The most popular recreational use is shad fishing during the spring
run (late April through early June) of this anadromous fish. Fortu-
nately, adult shad, which are intolerant of poor water quality,
ascend the river when flows are high and are, thus, not subjected to
the most critical effects of pollution.
D. Swimming
Only one bathing beach was found in this 62-mile reach, although
swimming undoubtedly does take place throughout its length on an un-
organized basis.
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E. Skiing
Water skiing has not become popular as rapidly along the Connecticut
River as it has on other waters, but there has been a start, and its
popularity will undoubtedly increase.
F. Commercial -Fishing
Commercial shad fishing is permitted in the Connecticut River in
Connecticut but not in Massachusetts. During the ten-year period from
1953 through 1962, commercial fishermen netted an average of 98,200 shad
yearly.
G. navigation
Navigation on the Connecticut is limited to the tidal reach of the
river below Hartford. Several oil barges make the trip from Long Island
Sound to Hartford each day, and some of the coal used for thermal power
production in Hartford is transported by water.
H. Hydropower
It is said that the entire flow of the Connecticut River during
low flow periods is used two to three times over for power production.
The principal hydropower use is at Holyoke and Windsor Locks. During
periods of low flow, the entire flow of the Connecticut River, with the
exception of about 200 cfs of leakage, Is retained by the Holyoke Dam
on Saturdays and Sundays, seriously affecting waste disposal in the
Enfield impoundment.
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V. POLLUTION ABATEMENT NEEDS
Major pollution sources, municipal, industrial, and governmental,
are shown in Table 1. Also given in Table 1 are: the type of waste—
i
combined or separate sewers for municipalities, or type of product for
industries; the population equivalent of BOD discharged? the treatment
existing at the time of the first conference (December, 1963); the
present status of compliance by the polluter with the Secretary's
recommendations following the first conference; the existing treatment
(September, 1967); and the treatment required under the Water Quality
Standards adopted by the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The
Massachusetts standards were approved by the Secretary of the Interior
under provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The time
schedule is contained in Table 2.
Of the thirty-eight polluters listed in Table 1 (thirty-two in
Massachusetts), only five are in compliance vith the Secretary's rec-
ommendations following the first conference. All five are in Massa-
chusetts. Seventeen polluters still have no waste control facilities
at all. Additional or new facilities are needed by all of the polluters
listed in Table 1.
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TABLE 1
MATER POLLUTION CONTROL NEEDS
CONNECTICUT HIVER AND TRIBUTARIES
iiatfield, :.asS3chusetts, to .-irt'ord, Connecticut
SOURCE
MASSACHUSETTS
Hatlield
Amherst
Northampton
Easthampton
Mt. to*
South Had ley
Texon, Inc.
Holyoke
Broun P*per Co.(2)
Chemical Paper Hfg. Co.U>
Franklin Paper Co.
Valley Paper Co.
Whiting & Co.
West Springfield
Premoid Corp.
Stratbanre Paper Cp.
Southworth Co.
Springfield
Shawinigan Resins Corp.
Thai Dyelog Co.
Hononto Chemical Co.
Agawam
Longmeadow
Cblcopee
Uestover Mr force Bate
Springfield tendering Co.
Hampden-Harvard Breweries
U. 5. Rubber Co.
West fie 14
Foster Machine Co.
• Stevens Paper Hills, Inc.
Columbia Mfg. Cer., Inc.14'
E. Longncadov
COMCCTICUT
RECEIVING STREAM
Hill River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut Elver
Connecticut &
Chlcopee Rivers
Westfield River
Westfield River
Uestfield River
Connecticut River
Chicopee River
Chicopee River
Chicopee River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Chicopee, River
Chicopee River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Chicopee River
Vestf ield River
Westfield liver
Little River
Lite It River
Pecouaic Rtver
TYPE Or WASTE
Combined
Separate
Separate
Separate
Separate
Combined
Paper
Combined
Paper
Paper
Paper
Paper
Paper
C cabined
Paper
Paper
Paper
Combined
Chemical
Wool Dyeing
Chemical
Separate
Separate
C cabined
Separate
Rendering
Brewery
Synthetic Rubber
Combined
Machining
Paper
Metal Plating
Separate
lOiUUTIM
LiUIYAL-I.T
DI3CH.UCi.-U
1,300
7,000
t',700
~,600
200
A, 100
.'..'"
.'.l.OOC
1?,000
(3)
1,00"
1 t,<-r
s , •- '~
3 , ""A0
i7,?a">
?(Ar;n
r^jiOC
too
]'=,nOO
?±,f™
11,3^"
in.w
10.30T
1,/.'X1
c 5 e'VN
r, ^
(•,•;»
J.'j-X'
"•,¥•<•
1 5,00^
- __
'n,noo
"•» 1r,f\
1ST CONFERENCE
2ND CONFERENCE
EXISTING COMPLIANCE EXISTING
TREATMENT W/ SECRETARY'S TREATMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
None
Primary & Cl
Primary & Cl
Primary & Cl
None
Primary
None
None
None
U)
None
Save-Alls
None
None
None
Save-Alls
Save-Alls
Primary
None
None
Phenol Recovery
Primary
Primary
None
Primary
Flotation
None
None
None
None
None
None
Secondary o. Cl
(Inadequate)
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
W
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Nr
Nc
Nt
No
No
No
No
Yes
None
Primary & Cl
Primary & Cl
Primary & Cl
None
Primary
None
Partly None,
Partly Primary
None
(3)
None
Save-Alls
None
Partly None,
Partly Priuary
None
Save-Alls
Save-Alls
Primary
None
None
Phenol Recovery
Primary
Primary
None
Primary
Flotation
None
None
None
None
Save-Alts
. None
Secondary fc Cl
(Inadequate)
REQUIRED
TREATMENT
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & CL
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & Cl
Equiv. Second.
Secondary & Cl
Equiv. Second.
(3)
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second*
Secondary & Cl
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Secondary & Cl
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & Cl
Secondary & Cl
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Equiv, Second*
Secondary & Cl
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Equiv. Second.
Secondary & Cl
Enfield
?tMe.p.M>nville
E. Windsor
Connecticut River
Separate-Combined
Primary
;. i*yj i emulation equivalent.
2. Took over American Writing Paper Corporation.
3. Went out of business in 1966.
4. Formerly the Westfield Manufacturing Company.
5. Includes municipal waste from Bloomfield, Mewington. West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor and industrial wastes.
Primary
Secondary & Cl
Warehouse Point
Windsor Locks
C.H. Dexter & Sons, Inc.
Hart ford
E. Hartford
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Separate
Separate
Paper
Combined
Separate
r.V" None
7,~-y- Primary
l',.-or. None
}77.
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TABLE 2
COMPLIANCE DATES CONTAINED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS
DATES
SOURCE
Hatfield
Amherst
Northampton
Easthampton
Mt. Tom
South Hadley
Texon, Inc.
Holyoke— Project #1
—Project #2
Broun Paper Co.
Franklin Paper Co.
Valley Paper Co.
Whiting & Co.
West Springfield— Project #1
—Project #2
Premoid Corp.
Strathmore Paper Co.
Southvorth Co*
Springfield— Main Plant
— Indian Orchard Plant
Shawinigan Resins Corp.
Thai Dyeing Co.
Monsanto Chemical Co.
Agavam
Longmeadov
Preliminary
Report &
Plans
Completed
1/72
1/72
Completed
Completed
1/72
H/69
Completed
Completed
7/69
7/69
7/69
7/69
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
1/72
9/69
11/69
11/69
11/69
1/72
1/72
Appropria-
tion of
Funds
9/67
3/72
3/72
6/67
6/67
3/72
9/67
5/69
3/72
12/69
3/72
3/72
Acquisi -
tion of
Site
10/67
Own
Own
V72
Own
V72
V72
Complete
Final
Plans
V68
1/73
1/73
V68
V68
1/73
12/70
5/68
3/70
3/70
3/70
3/70
3/70
12/67
1/73
12/67
12/67
12/67
1/73
3/71
12/70
12/70
12/70
1/73
1/73
Start of
Construc-
tion
6/68
3/73
3/73
6/68
6/68
3/73
3/71
7/68
5/70
5/70
5/70
5/70
5/70
3/68
3/73
3/68
3/68
3/68
3/73
5/71
3/71
3/71
3/71
3/73
3/73
Completion
of Con-
struction
6/69
3M
3M
9/69
9/69
3M
3/72
7/69
5/71
5/71
5/71
5/71
5/71
12/68
12/74
12/68
12/68
12/68
12/71*
5/72
3/72
3/72
3/72
6M
6/7k
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Table 2 (Continued)
MTES
SOURCE
Chlcopee— Project #1
—Project #2
—Project #3
Vestover Air Force Base
Springfield Rendering Co.
Hampden -Harvard Breweries
U. S. Rubber Co.
Westfield
Foster Machine Co.
Stevens Paper Mills, Inc.
Columbia Mfg. Co., Inc.
East Longmeadov
Preliminary
Report &
Plans
7/68
1/69
1/69
1/69
9/67
9/67
9/67
1/72
Appropria-
tion of
Funds
9/67
3/72
Acquisi-
tion of
Site
10/69
V72
Complete
Final
Plans
1/68
7/69
9/69
9/69
9/69
5/68
5/68 .
5/68
5/68
1/73
Start of
Construc-
tion
6/67
3/68
9/69
.M / f (*\
3/68
11/69
n/69
11/69
7/68
lf^Q
7/68
7/68
3/73
Completion
of Con-
struction
1/69
1/69
12/70
_ //•*-,
1/69
12/70
12/70
12/70
7/70
7/70
7/70
7/70
6/7*
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