In The News
WCAI: Returning Cranberry Bogs to Nature: The Green Exit Strategy
On a sunny day in October, an excavator is digging into a layer of sand and cranberry plants along the Child’s River, near the border of Falmouth and Mashpee. Tree stumps are scattered about, and channels of water are diverted around up-turned dirt piles.
WBUR: Cape Cod Water Quality In Decline, Report Says
The water quality on Cape Cod’s ponds and bays is bad and getting worse, according to the second annual State of the Waters report from the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (AAPC), a regional environmental advocacy and education organization. While the report says that public drinking water is “excellent” overall, the percentage of surface water with “unacceptable” quality increased from last year.
WCAI Special Reporting: Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms Imperil Region’s Ponds
See the following links for WCAI’s special coverage of Cape Cod’s Cyanobacteria outbreak.
Part One:
‘I Felt Like I Was Poisoned’; Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms Imperil Region’s Ponds
In early August, carpenter Michael Forgione told his mother that he was heading out to go crabbing in the brackish waters of Chilmark Pond on Martha’s Vineyard. Carol Forgione, a 72-year-old nurse practitioner, wished him a good catch…
Part Two:
Health Officials Struggle to Confront Toxic Algae Blooms
On a rainy Monday morning in Mashpee, ecologist Kevin Johnson balances on one foot while trying to pull on a pair of waders. “I’ll wade out … around knee- to waist-deep and take my sample there,” he said…
Part Three:
What Will it Take to Rid the Region’s Ponds of Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms?
Biologist Karen Malkus’s laboratory in the Barnstable Town Offices features a marble vanity with a mirror framed by light bulbs. “It used to be … the ladies’ room, which is now converted into the lab,” she said recently…
Additional Coverage
Reporter’s Notebook: Toxic Algae Blooms and What to Do About Them
As CAI reported this week, algal blooms in local ponds can be dangerous to humans and animals. They are also a sign of a bigger problem; pollution from human sources like septic systems and more recently, the effects of climate change…
‘How Do I Know if My Local Pond Has a Cyanobacteria Bloom?’ And 11 More Frequently Asked Questions
What does a cyanobacteria bloom look like? Are there other signs that my pond has a toxic bloom? Is there anything I can do to determine whether there’s cyanobacteria in my local pond or just an overabundance of more beneficial types of planktonic algae? I think the algae I see matches the description of cyanobacteria. Who do I call? …
Cape Cod Times: APCC: Water quality worsening in Cape’s ponds, lakes
CHATHAM — People have grown to expect that hot summer weather drives pond algae blooms. But with temperatures cooling into autumn, it was a little jarring last week to hear that Chatham had closed Goose Pond to people and pets after a cyanobacterial bloom was detected.
The Mashpee Enterprise: APCC: Conditions Worsen For Cape Cod’s Saltwater Embayments, Freshwater Ponds
Nutrient pollution has long degraded Cape Cod’s bays and estuaries, but data analyzed by the Association to Preserve Cape Cod suggests the Cape’s freshwater ponds also might be nearing a state of crisis.
In the second annual “State of the Waters” report released on Monday, October 26, the APCC, an environmental nonprofit group, determined that 38 of 48 saltwater embayments had “unacceptable” water quality—an increase from last year’s numbers.
WCAI: ‘I Felt Like I Was Poisoned’; Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms Imperil Region’s Ponds
In early August, carpenter Michael Forgione told his mother that he was heading out to go crabbing in the brackish waters of Chilmark Pond on Martha’s Vineyard. Carol Forgione, a 72-year-old nurse practitioner, wished him a good catch. “This is the pond,” she said on a recent visit. “This is the entrance that he went into. And then the public entrance is just down the road.”
Cape Cod Times: Proposed Cape Cod machine-gun range under fire from residents
Trees growing on up to 220 acres would be clear-cut for the $9.7 million project. Eight firing lanes would allow soldiers to train on a variety of weapons systems, including M249 automatic weapons and M240B machine guns. Copper bullets would be used.
Cape Cod Times: Environmental groups blast National Guard’s firing range plan
JOINT BASE CAPE COD — Residents and environmental groups are calling on the Massachusetts National Guard to abandon its proposal for an eight-lane machine gun range at Camp Edwards, or to at least slow down the process so the public can get more information and offer further input. The comment period on the Guard’s environmental assessment of the proposed machine gun range and its draft finding of no significant impact ended Sept. 8.
Wicked Local: APCC questions gun range at Joint Base
The Association to Preserve Cape Cod has submitted written comments to the Massachusetts Army National Guard calling for a reevaluation of the plan to construct a machine gun range on the area of Joint Base Cape Cod designated as the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve.
Cape Cod Times: Barnstable, Willowbend Country Club face potential lawsuits
BOSTON — The Conservation Law Foundation is once again looking to the federal courts to protect Cape Cod waters from toxic nitrogen pollution. The environmental advocacy organization says it intends to sue the town of Barnstable and Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee for violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging and adding pollutants into Lewis Bay and Popponesset Bay.
Looking for older news?
We created an “In The News” archive page with APCC news mentions prior to 2019.