After years of delays, Nashawannuck Pond dredging about to start

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ANNA MILLER

Theresa O'Connor, right, of Easthampton and Sue Gilbertson from Durham, N.C., kayak and birdwatch on Nashawannuck Pond.

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ANNA MILLER

Doug Trudell of South Hadley fishes recently at Nashawannuck Pond with his grandson. He caught a 20-pound snapping turtle, while his grandson, Tyler Barron, 15, of South Hadley, caught a 2-pound bass.

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ANNA MILLER

Theresa O'Connor, left, of Easthampton, and Sue Gilbertson visiting from Durham, N.C., kayak and use their binoculars to birdwatch on Nashawannuck Pond in Easthampton.

EASTHAMPTON - Money has been secured and lost. The project scope changed and the price increased. Contracts bid - and bid again. Permits approved and re-approved.

But after delays and changes, the draining and dredging of 152-year-old Nashawannuck Pond is about to begin, a long-awaited project that will make the "jewel" of downtown, with its view of Mount Tom, more attractive to swimmers and kayakers alike.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager Robert Russo said the project is expected to get started this month.

The Corps awarded the $1.5 million project in late June to Lawrence-based Palmer Federal Constructors and is reviewing the company's final plans before giving it the go-ahead.

"We expect to give notice to proceed shortly," Russo said.

The total project will cost $2.3 million, including engineering and design costs and is expected to take approximately eight months, depending on rainfall.

During much of that time period, the pond will be empty - a muddy sight to behold.

Federal and state dollars as well as $600,000 in city-generated Community Preservation Act funds are paying for the work.

"It's been a long time," said Mayor Michael A. Tautznik, who has been a member of the Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee for more than 20 years. "We understand that good things take time to happen."

After staging vehicles and equipment on the shore near Brookside Cemetery, the contractor will install a temporary dam between Nashawannuck Pond and Rubber Thread Pond to keep the latter's water levels steady during the project, Russo said.

"That's the very first on-site project," he said.

Workers will then draw down the water levels using spillway and sluice gates located at the dam on Cottage Street that will allow the water to flow under the road, through the mill across the street and ultimately into the Manhan River, which feeds into the Connecticut River.

The draining of the pond is expected to take just under one month, Russo said.

The draining must happen at a controlled pace to protect fish, which will make their way downstream with the water to Lower Mill Pond and beyond, and to avoid flooding downstream bodies of water, Russo said.

The pond will sit empty for approximately two months to allow the pond bottom to dry out so that the contractor can drive heavy equipment on it.

Machinery will assist workers in digging up the sediment that has accumulated from the feeder brooks over the past 25 years, facilitating the growth of aquatic plant life and adversely affecting fish populations through reduced oxygen levels.

The sediment will be trucked one mile to a city-owned parcel off of Button Road that abuts the Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow foster community. The sediment will be treated with lime to control odor, officials have said.

The sediment will remain at that site, but officials have said some of it may be sold off for agricultural purposes as it is rich in nutrients.

Palmer Federal Constructors will divert the flow from the feeder brooks using piping or trenches so the pond will not begin to refill prematurely.

The contractor had a survey boat in the water recently mapping the floor of the pond using sonar equipment to ensure that no major changes have taken place at the bottom of the pond.

A recent history

The Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee began fundraising in 1988 for the project, but it was not until the turn of the century that the pursuit of state and federal dollars began to take off.

But the project's earliest major earmark was redeployed for emergency purposes.

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 diverted a $717,000 Army Corps federal grant approved two years before for the dredging project toward rebuilding efforts on the Gulf Coast.

U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, helped to re-secure that funding and more in late 2007 after successfully pursuing $1.3 million in federal dollars.

It was around that same time that the Army Corps reduced the scope of the dredging, from 70,000 cubic yards to 55,000 cubic yards.

Officials said that avoiding areas closest to the shoreline would give the project a better chance of receiving the necessary environmental permits.

Steering Committee member and environmental scientist Gary Golas said at the time that he was concerned removing less plant life from the pond floor could result in a faster plant repopulation of other parts of the pond.

Last year, the Corps notified city officials that the dredging method would have to change. The Corps said the pond must be dredged mechanically - by draining it and digging out the sediment - rather than by using a barge-mounted hydraulic method.

The notification came as a surprise to officials and set back the project months as the city filed a project change notice with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and was forced to re-apply for its various environmental permits.

Those permits were in place by November, but rather than bidding the project competitively, the Corps negotiated with a number of contractors through a joint program with the Small Business Administration. The lowest bid came in approximately $500,000 too high at $2.6 million.

The Corps bid the project several months later and Palmer Federal Constructors bid more than $100,000 under the estimated cost and were awarded the work.

Matt Pilon can be reached at mpilon@gazettenet.com.