Several North Shore beaches closed as millions of gallons of sewage flow into Merrimack River

HAVERHILL, Mass. — Beaches in several North Shore communities are closed just as the heat starts building in New England.

The beaches closed after a massive wastewater pipe broke over the weekend and has been dumping millions of gallons of sewage into the Merrimack River.

The break occurred in Haverhill, in a pipe that carries wastewater from the main pumping station to the treatment plant.

Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett said this is one of the city’s largest and most critical wastewater pipelines, serving thousands of homes and businesses.

Mayor Barrett said that due to Friday’s torrential rainstorm, there was a break in a 42-inch sewer force main.

Crews responded to investigate and make repairs and found a second break as well.

Barrett said that the second break indicates the damaged area is larger than originally believed.

As a result, eight million gallons of wastewater are pouring daily into the Merrimack River, but the sewer system remains operational at this time.

The exact cause of the breaks is under investigation.

Wastewater will continue to be discharged into the river until a bypass line is completed.

Barrett and the DPW said their main priority is getting that bypass line built to stop the discharge.

“Hopefully it’s not a complete failure of the whole pipe, and we can address what’s wrong. ” But we need to clear the pipe, fix the problem we have right now so we can take an assessment of what we have,” Barrett said.

So far, Barrett said 2,000 feet of bypass pipe has been delivered to the site, with more expected as construction progresses.

They hope to fix this by Wednesday.

The Department of Public Health Beach Water Quality dashboard shows beach closures at Salisbury Beach, Sandy Point Beach in Ipswich, and Plum Island in Newburyport following the break.

Barrett also assured that the city’s drinking water system is completely separate from this wastewater system and that drinking water remains safe.

Barrett said the public should avoid contact with the Merrimack River both in the vicinity and downstream of the discharge until repairs are completed.

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