Woburn Seeking To Build Fish Ladder At Horn Pond
Christopher Huffaker – Feb 10
WOBURN, MA — Woburn is planning to build a fish ladder connecting Horn Pond to the Mystic River watershed for river herrings and American eels, according to a request for proposals posted by the city.
Woburn is planning to build a way for river herring and American eels to migrate to and from Horn Pond.
The project is funded by the Industri-Plex settlement, which includes $3.9 million for three wetland, river and fishway projects in Woburn and Winchester.
The city posted a request for proposals Monday seeking an engineering firm to design a fish ladder via Horn Pond Brook. The brook is a tributary of the Mystic River via the Aberjona River and the Mystic Lakes.
“The city plans to construct a means for river herring (alewife and blueback herring) and American eel to migrate to and from Horn Pond via Horn Pond Brook,” according to the document. “The design will include passive viewing areas with interpretive signage to educate the public on fish migration and spawning.”
The fishway would provide 100 acres of spawning area to the nearly 800,000 herring that migrated up the Mystic River in 2019, the city said.
“Efforts have been underway to restore populations of river herring throughout the Mystic River watershed and herring have been documented at the base of Horn Pond and it is believed that some fish migrate now up a steep section of the existing rock spillway,” the request for proposal continues.
The 245-acre Industri-Plex Superfund site is the former home of glue-making and chemical manufacturers back into the 19th century. Wetlands, the Aberjona river and floodplains were contaminated with arsenic, chromium and lead. In 2013, the Trustees, a collection of state and federal environmental agencies, settled with responsible parties for $4.2 million. Trustee councils recover damages so that natural resources can be restored at no taxpayer cost.
More information on the restoration plan is available here.
Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.
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