On Monday August 17, 2009 a fishkill was identified in the channelized portion of Mill Creek in Chelsea. Roger Frymire alerted MyRWA to his concerns about the possibility of chlorinated pool water being released into Mill Creek from a pool being drained. At approximately 5:00 PM on that day, Roger Frymire and Patrick Herron, Water Quality Monitoring Director, walked Mill Creek and identified a fishkill of approximately 1000 bait fish. They were able to identify a pipe emptying into Mill Creek that smelled faintly of chlorine with some associated bleaching of vegetation.
Roger Frymire alerted officials at DEP, EPA, and the city of Chelsea. Since the alert, the report of chlorine has been independently verified by officials from Chelsea. An analysis of water samples performed by MWRA suggests that the chlorine is associated with pool water. Officials are following up to determine the source of this contamination. The release of chlorine into Mill Creek and resulting fishkill have now been documented for three years. These events have occurred during the same ‘end of summer’ period each year.