60,000 gallons of wastewater mistakenly dumped into Merrimack River; popular Massachusetts beaches closed

Plum Island beaches in Newburyport, Massachusetts are closed after 60,000 gallons of wastewater were accidentally dumped into the Merrimack River on Thursday.

The city of Haverhill said it's alerting nearby communities and residents along the river that a contractor doing sewer separation work on Thursday morning "mistakenly discharged wastewater to the storm drainage system" on Garden Street over a four-hour period.

"As a precaution, residents and recreational users in Haverhill and downstream Merrimack River communities are advised to avoid contact with river water in the vicinity of the discharge and downstream areas for 48 hours," the city said. 

Plum Island Beach closed

The Newburyport Health Department has closed all public access to Plum Island Beach. The closure is expected to last through at least Monday, depending on water quality tests.

Making contact with unsafe water can result in nausea and vomiting, respiratory symptoms, eye irritation and earaches. 

Massachusetts beach closures

There were about three dozen beach closures in Massachusetts on Friday. Most were due to unsafe levels of bacteria in the water, which is not unusual after heavy rain.

The other beaches closed Friday, according to the Interactive Beach Water Quality Dashboard, are:

Damon Pond Beach, Ashby (Other)
Hopkinton Reservoir - Main Beach, Ashland (Bacterial Exceedance)
Patuisset, Bourne (Bacterial Exceedance)
Cliff Pond, Brewster (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Flax Pond, Brewster (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Oyster Pond, Chatham (Bacterial Exceedance)
Hidden Bay, Dartmouth (Bacterial Exceedance)
Moses Smith Creek, Dartmouth (Bacterial Exceedance)
Manhattan Avenue, Fairhaven (Bacterial Exceedance)
Good Harbor Creek, Gloucester (Bacterial Exceedance)
Kings, Lynn (Bacterial Exceedance)
Plum Island, Newburyport (Sewer system overflow event)
Crystal Lake, Newton (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Frye Pond Beach, North Andover (Bacterial Exceedance)
Little Sandy, Pembroke (Bacterial Exceedance)
Kendall Lane, Provincetown (Bacterial Exceedance)
S.P.E.N.A. Beach, Rochester (Bacterial Exceedance)
Front Beach, Rockport, (SSO event)
Whitehall Pond Beach, Rutland (Other)
Children's Island, Salem (Bacterial Exceedance)
Ocean Avenue, Salem (Bacterial Exceedance)
Kings, Swampscott (Other)
Beamans Pond, Templeton (Bacterial Exceedance)
Briarwood, Wareham (Bacterial Exceedance)
Crow Hill Pond Beach, Westminster, (Bacterial Exceedance)
Margaret Lindley Park, Williamstown (Bacterial Exceedance)
Shannon Beach, Winchester (Bacterial Exceedance)