2009-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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cranberry harvesting: (1) the Quashnet bogs (16 acres off Johns Pond) and (2) the Garner Farley Bogs (6.4 acres off the Childs River). Fairland Farms LLC was chosen from a pool of 3 RFP responses to lease the Garner Farley bogs for a term of 10 years. As of 2008, the Garner Farley bogs were in pretty decent shape in regards to overall vine health although some maintenance was necessary to revamp the operational infrastructure of the bog (irrigation, water withdrawal mechanisms, ditch clearing, etc). A percentage of the revenue generated from the sale of cranberries at Garner Farley will go directly into the commission's Acquisition of Lands & Maintenance Account to be used for continued improvements to Mashpee's existing conservation parcels and serve as a funding source for future land acquisitions. The Quashnet bogs were not leased out for cranberry cultivation for a couple of reasons: First, the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE- Mass Military Reservation) groundwater treatment remediation project is still on going in the Quashnet Bogs and there is a level of uncertainty regarding overall cleanliness of the groundwater and how that could affect cranberry harvest and sales moving forward. Secondly, the response to the Quashnet bog RFP was limited to just one grower, giving the commission no basis for comparison in terms of proposed bog management plans, price proposals and other terms of the RFP. This is not to say that there is no possibility for leasing the Quashnet bogs to a grower in the future; however, for the time being, they will remain un-harvested and under the complete control of the Conservation Commission. The groundwater remediation operation at the Quashnet Bogs (known as the FS-1 Fuel spill treatment plant) essentially involves the upwelling of contaminated groundwater from a fuel spill of EDB (Ethylene Dibromide-a jet fuel additive) that emanated as a plume from the Mass Military Reservation at Otis Air National Guard Base several years ago. Water is pumped from the ground and fed through a treatment plant then re-dispersed into the bog system as clean water via 3 discharge wells at different locations within the bog system. The FS-1 treatment operation will continue to be in place for the next several years until the source contaminant plume from the military base is flushed from the groundwater in the bog system to the point of non-detect EDB levels. The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) is in charge of the clean up operation and continues to monitor and assess results from several groundwater contaminant detection wells within the bog system. To this day, the bog continues to see a steady improvement in groundwater quality with the Fuel Spill 1 (FS-1) plume shrinking on a yearly basis. Quashnet River The primary concern at the Quashnet bogs remains the health and vitality of the Quashnet River which winds through the southern portion of the bogs from an outlet at the southern end of Johns Pond. Due to a berm failure in one of the southern portions of the Quashnet bog, a large amount of bog peat was blown out into the Quashnet River causing heavy siltation over existing gravelly substrate as well as a significant alteration of flow and subsequent water temperature. This blowout has caused significant changes to what was once ideal habitat for a particular strain of Sea Run Brook Trout among other anadromous fish species. In the coming year 2010, the commission will sit down with AFCEE to discuss remediation options for the improved flow, substrate and temperature conditions of the blow out portion of the Quashnet River that winds through the bogs. Improving the current river conditions in this area is paramount to safe passage and improved habitat conditions of the anadromous fish that depend on the river for passage to their spawning grounds in Johns Pond. 112