Years ago, Andover allocated $20,000 for a study of high sodium levels in Fish Brook. The truth of how Fish Brook has never been reported to my knowledge.
I had blown the whistle on that long and loud in the late 1990’s. Here’s what happened-
I was working at AT&T in Boston and drove by the Mass Highway salt pile located at the intersection of Rt. 93 and Rt. 495 every day. When I noticed the trees dying and white salt stains across the property to the drain on the road I called the Andover Town offices. How could you miss the signs of trouble? The grass was dead in a salt delta all the way to the drains on Rt. 93, nothing could grow in that salinity. It was many, many years until the grass grew back.
At the time I contacted the town manager, the issue was not resolved. I then called the Andover Water Department and was advised it was on state property. I called environmental folk at the Town Andover… someone went out and did a water sample at the brook and sent me a fax saying there was no problem at all. I also called the EPA and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. No one to my knowledge to action.
I contacted Mass Highway, Kevin Sullivan’s office. I could not understand why there was no shed over the huge mountain of salt. Every time it rained the salt melted and ran off. I thought it was illegal not to cover it.
Later I reported the salt had killed the trees at the site…Mass Highway’s fix? They cut the dead trees down. It was a stand of conifers. Unbelievably the trees were on a higher grade than the salt pile. It would be several more years before Mass Highway finally covered the pile.
The final solution was to make that area a low salt zone…. insane. The problem was not caused by the legitimate winter storm salting of Rt. 93 & 495. It was caused by the dereliction of duties by local and state officials.
The polluting of Fish Brook is not due to an accident; it was due to incompetence. It could have been prevented by taking a resident’s concerns seriously. By understanding what I was presenting and taking positive action to correct BEFORE the water become polluted.
Below: Some of the satellite images I sent to the Town of Andover and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I seemed to mean nothing to them.
I’m running for Selectman in Andover, Tuesday 24-March-2026. I need your vote! I created this website to show all that I’m not like the other candidates- I’ve been fighting for honest values most of my life- I’d like to help steer Andover in the right direction- one that makes YOUR life here as a resident better. I know I’m not “normal”. If you want the past repeated vote for someone else. If you want a better Andover- I can and will do it with your vote. Thank you- Larry Bruce
The Fish Brook Story
To the editor: (submitted in The Townsman June 2007..a copy was emailed to Selectman Alex Vispoli)
It’s both interesting and upsetting to me that the town is again allocating funds for a study on the Fish Brook contamination problem, it was only two years ago that it was reported $20,000 was to be spent.
Each time I read a new story of this issue I relive my battle to prevent this disaster. I blew the whistle on this long and loud about 9 years ago. I was working in Boston at the time and drove by the Mass Highway salt pile every day. When I noticed the grass and trees dying and white salt trails across the property to the drain on Route 93 I called the Andover Town offices. A wide path of pure salt had formed at the pile and traversed the slope as it narrowed to flow into the catch drain on Route 93 North. There are a few arborvitaes in this path standing dead to this day. You can see them as you drive 93 North, they are near the highway drain. At one point all the grass was dead in this path and only bare soil was present as the ground was sterilized by the intense salinity. The earth was white with salt from the salt pile to the drain.
How could you miss the signs of trouble? The grass was dead to Rt. 93, nothing could grow in that salinity. As a large stand of pines were killed by the salt runoff I complained again. Instead of covering the pile or removing it, the dead conifers were cut down and the “problem solved”… for the time being. Along the way Mass Highway covered the pile with a tarp and finally build a concrete pad and shed. However, it took years and by that point the damage had been done. There must have been literally tons of pure salt dissolved by the rain which leached into the soil, and eventually our drinking water.
The town manager Buzz told me there was nothing he could do, it was a state salt pile. This may have been my first contact with our well paid administrator. I called ..(public works). I called Environmental/Conservation and Health at Andover who sent someone out that took water sample at the brook then sent me a fax saying there was no problem at all. I called the Massachusetts department of environmental protection. I also contacted Mass Highway, I could not understand why there was no shed over the huge mountain of salt. Even in Medway, where I lived as a child, they knew enough to cover the salt. Each time it rains or snows the salt melts and runs off. I thought is was illegal not to cover it. I spoke with Kevin Sullivan’s office, I had been fighting the cutting at the Putnam site the first time around and working with Tom Palmer and David Ropeik on the story, Sullivan’s office knew me well.
This problem is not due to just an accident, oversight, or poor planning. This environmental disaster is due to the failure of our town and state to take a resident’s concerns and complains seriously.
It’s interesting to me that our Town Manager has not brought forth this story along the way as folks search for the cause of contamination but instead spends our tax dollars to discover the known. It’s time to admit the failures.
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