The discs are used in the water waste system to give helpful bacteria a place to sit and help break down sewage. Unfortunately, there was no alarm system in place to alert anyone about the overflow and it was not until 4 days later that the situation was discovered. Had it not been for the discs, the overflow may not have been discovered at all.
NH Surfrider Foundation, Blue Ocean Society and local surf shops were the first to report the findings and organize clean ups. Crews have been collecting them by the hundreds. Last Saturday's emergency cleanup in Hampton, NH was no exception.
At first glance it seemed challenging to find a disc but then we would happen upon a mass of seaweed in between the rocks and find over 10 in a matter of seconds. We searched until the supermoon, high tide had us up against the wall. No doubt, as we scrambled to find a few more, the sea was getting ready to deposit a fresh batch.
Additional information can be found here:
Kruger wins IFAS contract in Hooksett, New Hampshire »
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services »
NH Surfrider Foundation »
Blue Ocean Society »
6 comments:
Oh wow. That's terrible! Amazing clean up effort though!
nasty
We will be seeing many more for years to
come.
We found over three thousand of them over Easter weekend up at Salisbury Beach. See post here ».
I have written a recent letter to Kruger (the company that manufactures the discs) with some follow-up questions that I am grappling with. I have not heard back yet but here is what I asked:
- Is there a safeguard that should have prevented the discs from being discharged in an overflow situation? (I struggle with this one the most because it seems like this is a scenario that would be anticipated and planned for).
- Does Kruger think that the Hooksett disaster could have been prevented in terms of the discs being released? If so, how?
- What does Kruger recommend as a safeguard against this sort of thing happening, in general?
- Have any system/process changes been made since the Hooksett overflow? In other words, were there lessons learned from that situation that changed the way this treatment plan is put into operation?
I will update this comment if I hear anything.
There is now a google map that allows people to track disc findings. Pretty interesting stuff. Post your findings to the map: Check out the map here.
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