Acushnet River Faces Challenges Years After Superfund Designation

The Acushnet River of 60 years ago would be unrecognizable to many young people today, who look south towards New Bedford Harbor or to the north while searching for birds along the riverbanks from the Slocum Street/Wood Street Bridge connecting New Bedford and Acushnet.

The Acushnet River Before Industrialization

In the early days, Native Americans fished the Acushnet, its name derived from the Wampanoag word cushnea, which when translated into English means "as far as the waters."

When European colonists settled in the area, laying claim to land later known as Dartmouth, Fairhaven, and New Bedford, they developed water-powered textile mills and sawmills for making lumber.

Get our free mobile app

Industrial Pollution and Environmental Collapse

The 20th century ushered in an era of industrial growth along the Acushnet River. Manufacturers dumped tons of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and carcinogens, such as PCBs, into the river and New Bedford Harbor.

By the mid-1960s, environmental awareness began to take hold. Congress approved the Water Quality Act of 1965. By then, the river and the harbor were nearly destroyed by toxic waste and poisonous sediment.

The area was a toxic dumpsite with floating trash and debris and rodents everywhere.

Superfund Designation and Cleanup Efforts

In the early 1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency designated the area a top-priority Superfund site, and a $1 billion remediation and clean-up began.

While significant progress has been made in cleaning up the Acushnet River estuary, some sediments remain at the river bottom, and an overabundance of nitrogen continues to be a primary concern. Fishing and shellfishing are still prohibited in the Acushnet River and New Bedford Harbor.

The Mitchell Administration is anxious for the clean-up to be complete.

Signs of Hope Along the Acushnet

There is great reason for optimism about the future of the Acushnet River. Restoration projects at locations such as The Sawmill have led to a resurgence of fish populations.

Groups such as the Buzzards Bay Coalition routinely monitor water quality and oversee restoration projects on land and along the river. The City of New Bedford is planning to develop a riverwalk along the banks of the Acushnet, and the City is discussing the future of the harbor it shares with Fairhaven.

This is the closest the Acushnet River has come in many years to resembling the river the Wampanoag used for fishing and boating so long ago.