03/05/1999

Pequabuck cleanup suggested at workshop

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By JACKIE MAJERUS

The Bristol Press

BRISTOL -- The Pequabuck River is a valuable asset the area should cultivate and promote, said community planning, development and conservation leaders.

"The Pequabuck River is waterfront property and it should be treated as such," said City Councilman Chet Reed, who is also a founder of the Pequabuck River Watershed Association.

With all the money people spend in Connecticut on outdoor and nature activities, Reed said, the city should be able to find a way to cash in on it with the local river.

Reed spoke during the first in a series of workshops on the river held Thursday by the Pequabuck River Organization, a coalition of groups from Bristol, Plainville and Plymouth interested in protecting and improving the river.

Alan Weiner, Bristol's city planner, said local people turned their backs on the Pequabuck for years.

The river "was simply viewed as a dumping ground," Weiner said. "It wasn't viewed as a resource. It was industry's back yard."

While burying the polluted river during redevelopment may have been the best thing at the time, Weiner said the city could now look at uncovering the river, which is now healthy enough to support trout and other fish.

"It's certainly an option," Weiner said. "It's an expensive option. It shouldn't be dismissed ... out of hand."

Years ago, Weiner said, Providence, R.I. had "two of the most polluted rivers you'd ever seen." Like Bristol, that city buried the rivers, Weiner said.

But in recent years, those rivers were cleaned up and uncovered. Weiner said they became a gathering place in Providence.

"They're part of the renaissance of downtown Providence," Weiner said. He said the town's accomplishment is an example of a town setting goals and accomplishing them.

The Pequabuck River is, Weiner said, "the primary underutilized natural resource in this city."

Weiner said Bristol "has a very colorful and interesting industrial past, much of it tied to the river."

Tom Hennessy, curator of the Lock Museum in Plymouth, said the water wheel there is a rarity that could be showcased.

"It is America's only existing manufacturing water wheel," Hennessy said.

Measuring 20 feet in diameter and sporting 54 buckets, the wheel has all the original castings, Hennessy said. He said it could be part of a tour along the river.

The local community must continue to improve the Pequabuck River and its potential, said John Leone, director of the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce.

"You need to look at the larger picture," Leone said.

In many cases, he said, there isn't easy access to the river for those who want to use it for fishing or other activities.

Mary Moulton of the Pequabuck River Watershed Association agreed that access can be a problem.

"The banks of the river in a lot of cases are inhospitable," Moulton said. "They're too dangerous."

Some said the permitting process -- land use, inland wetlands and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can all be involved -- can slow projects involving the river.

But Reed said no one needs a permit to yank an old tire out of the water or place a phone call reporting someone dumping oil in a storm drain.

The river and its banks, "are in pretty good shape," Reed said.

From an economic standpoint, according to Reed, it makes sense to take care of the river.

"It's a lot cheaper to maintain a river and prevent it from getting polluted," Reed said, than to clean it up.

Since the city of Bristol is in the midst of creating a new master plan of development, Leone said, the timing could be right to identify places where the river could be showcased.

Local schools "can play a very important role" in protecting the Pequabuck by teaching children about ecology and why it is important to keep the river clean, Leone said.

The next workshop will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Indian Rock Nature Preserve. It will focus on environmental restoration. A third workshop will be held Tuesday, March 9 at 4 p.m. at Memorial Boulevard School on educational opportunity. The fourth in the series will be Thursday, March 11 at 4 p.m. at the Bristol Boys and Girls Club, focusing on the river as a recreational resource. The last workshop will be Thursday, March 18 at Manross Library in Forestville at 4 p.m., focusing on historic preservation.