Haverhill sewage leak still pouring into Merrimack River, governor issues ‘whole-of-government response’
Beaches in Ipswich, Newburyport, Essex and Salisbury remain closed to swimming
Massachusetts is coordinating a statewide response as a sewage overflow in Haverhill continues to dump millions of gallons of wastewater into the Merrimack River, aiming to successfully bypass the break by Wednesday.
“I am optimistic that we will have one of the temporary pipes that will take our normal day flow completely and totally to the waste treatment plant sometime in the next 24 hours,” said Haverhill Mayor Melinda Bennett on Tuesday. “I think that will essentially save the Fourth of July from ruin.”
About 8 million gallons of wastewater have been pumped into the Merrimack River each day since the torrential rain Friday night caused two breaks in Haverhill’s 42-inch sewer pipe, local and state officials said.
The breaks occurred at the South Mill Street Pumping Station, letting most of the city’s wastewater overflow directly into the river downstream of downtown Haverhill instead of being taken to the wastewater treatment plant for several days.