What Stinks in Mattapoisett?

If you have spent any time this past week anywhere near Mattapoisett Harbor, you may have taken a deep breath in, expecting the fresh salty sea air to fill your nose, but instead found yourself in an olfactory funk.

“Peeeeuuuu! What is that smell?” We have all said it.

The smell lingered for days, especially down near Shipyard Park and even all the way to the Route 6 vicinity, smelling like an overflowing septic system. The Wanderer received enough inquiries from readers wondering what stank so horribly that we went to the one person in town who could tell us what is stinking up the air so badly – Jill Simmons, Mattapoisett harbormaster.

“There is a pretty good algae bloom going on and when it gets near the town docks, the stuff collects and begins to rot,” Simmons said. “It is methane gas you are smelling from decomposition of the seaweed and algae.”

Simmons said that during her first year on the job, a similar situation transpired and she was concerned that the sewer line had been compromised and was leaking into the harbor. She asked the Board of Health for some dye to flush down the system and found that it was not the sewer line creating the stench.

“Finding out that wasn’t the problem was good, but we had to look for what the real issue was,” said Simmons. “Didn’t take long … to nail it down.”

Simmons said that on August 23, the U.S. Coast Guard notified her that there was a reported oil spill off Mattapoisett. Simmons said it turned out that the call was made by a civilian aircraft.

“It was a [half-mile] wide and ten miles long,” said Simmons, and the same shade as the Bouchard oil spill of 2003. “It was eventually discounted and apparently more algae.”

The algae and seaweed continue to decompose in the heat, and the smell will eventually subside.

“Crazy things go on all the time,” said Simmons. She hopes this information helps to explain what the nasty smell is, “but unfortunately, it won’t make the smell go away,” she said.

By Jean Perry

 

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