BEAT locates raw sewage flowing into Housatonic
On Wednesday, May 27th, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and the City of Pittsfield found and fixed a major source of sewage contamination in the southwest branch of the Housatonic River.
During a regularly scheduled sampling event, BEAT staff discovered a foul smelling liquid discharging from a pipe running above the river. Both the smell and the beige-gray fungus indicated sewage.
BEAT staff collected samples of the discharge and the lab at Berkshire Community College (BCC) analyzed them. Simultaneously, officials with the City of Pittsfield were notified.
By the next day, BCC confirmed the discharge was raw sewage the City of Pittsfield mobilized an emergency contract to have the sewer line fixed. Within days the pipe was propped, encased, and plugged, effectively stopping the sewage from leaking to the river.
This success story was made possible by the continued collaboration between BEAT, BCC, and the City of Pittsfield. To find out more about BEAT’s water quality work visit https://www.thebeatnews.org/BeatTeam/beats-met-work/ and consider purchasing an environmental license plate to support this type of work at https://www.whaleplate.org/.
This project is funded in part by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust and the Department of Environmental Protection.
