The article describes a typical water quality monitoring data gathering session for the volunteers in Black Rock Harbor aboard the Proctor, a lobster boat owned by the Bridgeport Regional Aquaculture Science and Technology Education Center (known locally as the Aquaculture School), a marine vocational high school in Black Rock. Three students, their teacher (Holly Turner-Moore) and a boat captain (Austin O’Brien) from the school are joined by Rick Landau from the Ash Creek Conservation Association (ACCA) for this outing.
This is just one of over 20 crews going out on summer mornings to check the water. Over twenty-two organizations surveying 39 bays and harbors across Long Island Sound wake before dawn to participate in Unified Water Study (UWS), a project of the environmental group Save the Sound.
Since 2017, Save the Sound has been coordinating teams of volunteers and researchers from the Bronx River to Stonington Harbor to survey the water. The UWS synchronizes and systematizes water quality data across hundreds of miles. Before this study was coordinated local groups were basically on their own.
ACCA joined UWS as the local organization for our area in 2019 and partnered with the Aquaculture School for Tier I studies in Black Rock Harbor. ACCA later advanced to Tier II studies in Black Rock Harbor in 2021 and expanded into Bridgeport Harbor for Tier I studies in 2022 using community volunteers, instead of students for logistical reasons.
On September 1, 2022, our UWS leaders Kevin Blagys and Rick Landau discovered an important sewage leak in Bridgeport Harbor. Save the Sound quickly alerted the Bridgeport Water Pollution Control Authority of the results. They immediately sent out a CSO repair team to investigate. They discovered the pipe was an abandoned Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO), and that a portion of the blocked wall washed away which allowed some flow back into the line. The pipe was repaired. This outlet will be discharging only stormwater during rain events moving forward.
Save the Sound has commended Ash Creek Conservation Association for calling this to their attention, and the Bridgeport Water Pollution Control Authority for its responsiveness. This is a great example of how problems get reported, investigated, and resolved when we all work together to protect the public, our harbors and Long Island Sound!
Please take a moment to read this article about a day in the life of the Aquaculture school students protecting Black Rock Harbor through their water quality monitoring efforts.
