Mashapaug Pond is the largest freshwater pond in the city; unfortunately that “fresh” water is considered highly toxic. I will not even give directions to this charming little spot, with its towering oaks and pines and picnic tables, until some future date when the water is no longer dangerous. This particular site — a community boating center in 2000 — is now eerily quiet . . . very Chernobyl. The primary problem for the pond is the nutrient-fueled blooms of cyanobacteria that pose a health threat to both humans and animals. But help is on the way: The surrounding sources of pollution will soon be required to clean up and manage their properties to address the stormwater flowing into the pond. From Alex Kuffner in the ProJo:
Some 70 businesses in Cranston and Providence will be required to clear out catch basins, sweep parking lots and clean up leaf litter as part of a state-mandated plan to control stormwater runoff in a bid to prevent toxic algae blooms in the Mashapaug Pond watershed.
Those measures are among the actions that businesses around Mashapaug, Spectacle and Tongue ponds will have to take after the state Department of Environmental Management approved, as expected, a petition that aims to stamp out nutrient-fueled blooms of cyanobacteria that pose a health threat to humans and animals.
These measures do not seem onerous and come with a promise of guidance from the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) who have approved the petition filed by Attorney General Peter Neronha and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF).
The businesses that are being targeted were all built before the implementation of state stormwater regulations in 1993, meaning they’re not currently required to prevent runoff from entering the ponds.
. . . The new stormwater permit being drawn up by the DEM will affect industrial, institutional and commercial properties in the watershed with at least one acre of impervious surface, such as concrete or asphalt.
The Mashapaug watershed includes nearby Spectacle Pond and Tongue Pond in Cranston. All three drain into the lakes and ponds in Roger Williams Park and eventually Narragansett Bay. More at Wiki including the history of Gorham Manufacturing. And go here for a map because most city residents have no idea where this is.
Big thanks to AG Neronha and the CLF for making this happen (the authority for this enforcement comes through the 1972 Clean Water Act). Darrell Brown of CLF called it a “major win for residents” adding:
“For the first time in decades, these water bodies will have a chance to recover and once again be safe places for boating, swimming and fishing,” he said in a statement. “We hope that one day, instead of being a toxic hazard, Mashapaug Pond will become a great community asset.”
************************************
The pond’s name comes from two Algonquin words: ‘massa’ and ‘pug,’ meaning ‘large standing water.’ (Rhode Island Knows Now at Rhode Tour.)