The Division of Marine Fisheries has issued a temporary closure of all shellfishing beds located in the North & South Rivers of Marshfield & Scituate. The Shellfish beds will re-open upon approval from the Division of Marine Fisheries. Monitor the Marshfield Harbormaster’s website for updates.
From what we have been able to ascertain thus far, the closure is due to partially treated sewage from the Scituate Wastewater Treatment Plant being discharged into the Herring River which then discharges to the North River. According to the Scituate Police and the Scituate Wastewater Treatment Plant on call personnel the spill has been reported to the appropriate authorities.
We do not have the details yet on the extent of the discharge butunverified reporting is that there was a spill of primary treated sewage sometime between 6:30 pm Thursday April 28 and 7:30 am Friday April 30 due to a computer malfunction. We do not believe the spill is ongoing but we did want to alert people to what we know. Other than the shellfish bed closures we do not know of any other public health notice as a result of this discharge. We are trying to track down the details and will update you as soon as we know more but it most likely won’t be until Monday when town staff are available.