Established in 1985 as the Buzzards Bay Project, our mission is to protect and restore water quality and living resources in Buzzards Bay and its surrounding watershed through the implementation of the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.
In 2015, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (NEP), in partnership with the Buzzards Bay Action Committee, and five Buzzards Bay municipalities (the Towns of Dartmouth, Acushnet, Fairhaven, Mattapoisett and Wareham), established the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative. The goal of the Collaborative was to help municipalities manage stormwater pollution, primarily by mapping stormwater networks and monitoring stormwater discharges. These are among the most difficult, time consuming, and costly tasks towns face in their stormwater management programs.
In the fall of 2018, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA), a Massachusetts state college, joined the effort by establishing a program for their students to participate. Three more towns joined the Collaborative as well (the Towns of Bourne, Marion, and Westport). Through the college’s Co-op program, students in the Marine Science, Safety and Environmental Protection Department work for the program and earn required course credits for their degree.
This past summer, now in its third year at the college, five new Stormwater Collaborative students joined the program. Some of these students will continue in subsequent semesters, or new students will join in the fall and spring sessions. Co-op students in the Stormwater Collaborative are taught a variety of skills including the use of GPS equipment, geographic information system software, laboratory testing of water samples, use of field monitoring test equipment, and learning how to collect samples from stormwater networks, and inspect stormwater networks with remote cameras. The photos below illustrate some activities and tasks undertaken by the students. All photos credited to Maura Flaherty, MMA.
In 2019, MMA received a grant from Massachusetts DEP to outfit a trailer with equipment and supplies to undertake field investigations. The NEP guided the design and selection of equipment in the trailer.Students, under the guidance of municipal and program staff learn how to safely access stormwater networks to inspect them and collect water samples for testing. Left: loosening a catchbasin with a sledge. Middle: removing a manhole cover with a magnetic lift. Right: winching a fallen catchbasin cover.The students may use a smoke machine to determine network connectivity or to locate an obscured outfall pipe.After access is achieved, a hand operated clam shovel (left) may be used to clear debris from the catchbasin to observe pipe connections or to collect water samples from connected pipes. A water jet (middle) may be used to clear connecting pipes. Water samples are collected during dry weather and wet weather flows.While the stormwater system is accessible, the students conduct inspections and may deploy a video camera.Students also collect samples from pipe discharges, some of which are difficult to access.Training also includes learning to conduct water quality tests using field meters (middle) and benchtop kits (right). The students also bring samples to certified laboratories for analysis of contaminants, such as bacteria.The program also trains students on the use of field survey and GPS equipment, and the students record numerous field observations.The students are trained on basic ArcGIS software skills, like data entry and georeferencing engineering plans, to produce maps they can use in their field work.Through the Stormwater Collaborative, participating Massachusetts Maritime Academy students are learning many skills that they can use in their careers.
The Buzzards Bay NEP is continuing to support and collaborate with the Buzzards Bay Coalition and scientists of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, in studies of long-term salt marsh loss and climate resilience in Buzzards Bay. In June, the Buzzards Bay NEP provided field training on the use of elevation survey equipment (Leica Sprinter Barcode Leveler) to Coalition Interns about to embark on a new season of fieldwork in Buzzards Bay salt marshes. Also in June, the NEP and Buzzards Bay Coalition installed an NGS rod-type elevation benchmark at the Demarest Lloyd State Park (Barneys Joy) in Dartmouth. The salt marsh at Demarest Lloyd is one of 12 sites where historical trends of marsh loss is being documented by the NEP, and where detailed measurements of salt marsh elevation and vegetation will be monitored by the Buzzards Bay NEP for many years to come. In addition, two of the long-term sites are included in a study on the use of runnels as a potential management tool to mitigate interior marsh loss caused by standing water caused by ditching spoils. The Buzzards Bay NEP is providing GIS mapping and analytical support for both studies.
The photos and video below show the installation of a steel rod into the ground. Five-and-a-half four-foot stainless steel rods were needed at this site. A tube of concrete surrounds the top two feet of the rod and is covered with a lid, protecting the rod from frost heaves and disturbance at the surface. The position and elevation of the benchmark was subsequently documented with a GPS unit (bottom photo). Photos by Joe Costa.
On January 27, 2021, former New Bedford Mayor and current Southern Bristol County Register of Deeds, Dr. Frederick M. Kalisz, Jr. passed away due to complications with COVID-19, leaving behind his wife Pat, and his son, Ricky. While most newspaper articles focused on Fred’s career after he was elected mayor of the City of New Bedford in 1997, a few noted that Mayor Kalisz was also a Toxics Use Reduction Program Coordinator for the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program at the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management from 1993 to 1997. To me, and the staff of the Buzzards Bay NEP, Fred was a kind-hearted co-worker and friend, and his passing was a shock to all of us.
In 1993, the Buzzards Bay NEP received a U.S. EPA grant to help industries in the City of New Bedford comply with the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act of 1989 (TURA). While the state had been providing free technical assistance to help businesses comply with the Act, few manufacturers in New Bedford were seeking that assistance, or meeting the state reporting requirements. Our grant funded a program coordinator and an assistant to help city industries comply with the new state program.
When we advertised the position, we were uncertain of the type of background needed in a candidate, but leaning towards someone with an engineering background. After we interviewed Fred, he transformed our thinking; and we all agreed Fred was the ideal person for the job. As president of the New Bedford City Council, Fred was already immersed in the City’s still unresolved PCB Superfund clean-up strategy, and the city was in the midst of building a new wastewater facility under a consent decree with EPA. Fred was well respected by the business community and keenly aware of the economic problems facing the City. He was familiar with many of the companies in the City and knew some of them were not getting recognition for their toxic use reduction efforts.
During the next four years, Fred did a superb job advancing the TURA program in New Bedford. Fred conducted training workshops, produced a newsletter, brought technical staff from Boston into local factories, and helped companies comply with reporting requirements. His most important strategy was to bring recognition to successful toxic reductions by city manufacturers. Through his efforts, two area companies received the Governor’s award for outstanding achievement in toxic use reduction (Johnson & Johnson and Star Plating), and he helped Brittany Dye and Printing secure a $425,000 grant for energy and toxic use reduction.
In 1997, Fred resigned from the Buzzards Bay NEP to face a new challenge; he wanted to run for Mayor of New Bedford. He succeeded, and was Mayor from 1998 to 2006. As mayor, Fred continued to address environmental issues surrounding New Bedford, together with all the other challenges of the office. For me, however, one act during his tenure in office stood out for personal reasons. Both Fred and I grew up in New Bedford, and I told him how I attended the Sea Lab Oceanography School as a child, and that led to my career. When the new wastewater facility was built, and the old Sea Lab building on the property was torn down, I lamented the summer school no longer had a home in the City. Fred later told me he took my comment to heart, and that it helped inspire him to create a permanent home for Sea Lab. On July 11, 2005, in a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony, New Bedford Mayor Frederick M Kalisz, opened a new $8.4 million, 30,000 square-foot permanent facility to house Sea Lab and the Marine Science Education Center for the City’s public school system. We have kept the event posted on our website ever since.
During his tenure as mayor, Fred Kalisz built three new middle schools, and remained a strong advocate for youth educational programs and the City’s school system. It is very fitting then, that this month, his family and friends established the Frederick M. Kalisz Memorial College Scholarship fund as a way to honor and remember his work and dedication to the City.
Mayor Fred Kalisz, aboard the Ernestina, speaking at an March 2000 event to celebrate the designation of Buzzards Bay as a boat waste no discharge area. Photo by Joe Costa.
