Where You Live

Massachusetts (Region 1)

Contacts for Massachusetts

Contact Category:
Source Water Protection Program
Sole Source Aquifer Program

Source Water Protection Program

• Kathy Romero
  Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Program
  1 Winter St, 6th Floor
  Boston, Massachusetts 02108
  Phone: 617-292-5529  
  Email: kathleen.romero@state.ma.us
  
• Catherine Hamilton (Sarafinas)
  Wellhead protection program
  Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Program
  1 Winter St, 6th Floor
  Boston, Massachusetts 02108
  Phone: 617-556-1070  
  Email: catherine.sarafinas@state.ma.us
  

• Douglas Heath
  US EPA Region 1, Drinkng Water Quality and Protection Unit
  One Congress Street
  CDW
  Boston, MA 02114-2023
  Phone: 617-918-1585  
  Email: heath.douglas@epa.gov
  Expertise: SSA

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Links for Massachusetts

• Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection: Ground Water and Wellhead Protection

   State Drinking Water Protection Web Sites

• Massachusetts: State and Local Drinking Water Information - Provides information about state drinking water offices, local drinking water suppliers, and trends among drinking water systems.

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Publications for Massachusetts

Protect Your Family. Test Your Well's Water Quality Today. A Guide to Water Quality Testing for Private Wells (New Hampshire specific and Massachusetts specific versions) ( PDF 2 pp , 30 K )

Brewster Water Quality Report ( PDF 5 pp , 11 K ) Chatham Fuel Storage Systems Regulation ( PDF 7 pp , 15 K ) Chatham Sewage Discharge Permit Regulation ( PDF 4 pp , 10 K ) Chatham Nitrogen Loading Regulation ( PDF 7 pp , 16 K ) Chatham Privately Owned Wastewater Treatment Plants ( PDF 5 pp , 12 K ) Chatham Real Estate Transfer Regulation ( PDF 4 pp , 11 K ) Dennis Water Resource District Regulations ( PDF 4 pp , 9 K ) Falmouth Water Resource Protection District ( PDF 3 pp , 7 K ) Falmouth Transfer of Development Rights ( PDF 3 pp , 8 K ) Falmouth Special Permit Requirements in Recharge Zones ( PDF 3 pp , 9 K ) Hadley Aquifer Protection District ( PDF 5 pp , 13 K ) Littleton Toxic and Hazardous Materials Town Bylaw ( PDF 3 pp , 9 K ) Littleton Agriculture in Aquifer and Water Resource Districts ( PDF 2 pp , 7 K ) Littleton Public Water System Monitoring ( PDF 2 pp , 7 K )

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Case Studies for Massachusetts

Title: Florida: Tallahassee

Subtitle: Wellhead Protection Partnership Increases Scope of Protection

Case Study Type: Assessment and Protection

Description: Tallahassee operates 29 wells tapping a karst aquifer, part of the Floridan Aquifer System. The city supplies its customers with over 25 million gallons of water per day. There is relatively little heavy industry; instead, the area's major businesses include automotive facilities, dry cleaners, and a variety of light industries. The quality of the ground water is good, and generally disinfection and fluoridation are the only treatments applied prior to distribution. However, the city's water quality monitoring program detected TCE (tetrachloroethylene) contamination in seven wells in the older part of the city. Although the practices that caused the problem are illegal now, TCE has infiltrated the aquifer over the years.





Title: Massachusetts: Barnes Aquifer

Subtitle: Regional Solutions Protect Large Sole Source Aquifer

Case Study Type: Assessment and Protection

Description: sole source aquifer, groundwater, 50 K population, sands and gravel, regional protection effort The Barnes Aquifer is over 12 miles long, and is either the sole or primary water source for four municipalities within the Connecticut Valley of western Massachusetts. These communities and other units of government are working together to find regional solutions to actual and potential contamination. The aquifer's recharge area is under heavy development pressure from large-scale residential subdivisions and industrial parks. In the past 20 years, various wells in the Barnes aquifer have been contaminated with traces of ethylene dibromide (EDB) and trichloroethylene (TCE). Potential sources of contamination to the aquifer are underground storage tanks, businesses which use hazardous wastes, linear sources (sewer, power, roads), defoliants to clear rights-of-way for power lines, road salting, agricultural chemicals, private septic systems, and the improper storage or disposal of solvents used to clean equipment. The Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee (BAPAC) was formed to develop and implement a regional aquifer protection strategy. The strategy has three main components: education and outreach, land use planning, and water quality assessment.





Title: Massachusetts: Department of Environmental Protection

Subtitle: Interns Use GIS to Generate Water Supply Maps

Case Study Type: Assessment

Description: To assess the more than 1,600 public water supplies in Massachusetts, the state Drinking Water Program enlisted the help of two interns. The interns met with water suppliers and generated comprehensive water supply maps for use in state source water assessments. Additionally, interns assisted in report-writing and other tasks, and facilitated the speedy completion of high-quality assessments for Massachusetts. The interns' work was funded with support from EPA and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC).