Lake Lashaway drawdown to begin Sept. 7

Selectmen order boats, docks be removed from water

By Ruth M. Lyon

Turley Publications Reporter

EAST BROOKFIELD – The board of selectmen is advising residents that the drawdown of Lake Lashaway, previously announced as taking place on Sept. 12, will instead begin on Tuesday, Sept. 7; the lake will be lowered to 8 to 10 inches below its normal level. Boats, docks and other lakeside appurtenances that might be affected by the drawdown must be removed by then, selectman Larry Gordon announced Monday.

“I’d been informed earlier that the drawdown, a part of the preparation of work on the East Brookfield riverbed, would take place on Sept. 12, and that’s what I’ve been telling everyone. Now I’m told that the date is definitely Sept. 7, and I want everyone to know about this earlier date. Please spread the word,” Gordon said. “AECom, the engineering firm spearheading the project, has informed us that Sept. 7 is a definite deadline for removal, no exceptions, he concluded.

Noting that the normal date for the annual drawdown of the popular waterway is in November, he said that it would not be likely that boats would be returned to the lake this year, as the river clean-up project would be ongoing through the season. Additionally, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is currently planning rebuilding the dam at Route 9, and working at repairing the spillway and weir at that location.

The clean-up of the East Brookfield River has been planned over a period of years. The project involves diverting water from approximately 100 yards of the river’s length to Lake Lashaway, removing about one foot of the riverbed, allowing the riverbed to dry, then lining it with an impervious membrane to contain the heavy metal which has for generations lined the riverbed. That deposit, Gordon related, is the result of the use of mercury in the manufacture of felt hats at the property now known as the Saucony Mill site. The Saucony company is paying the related costs, he said, although the contamination existed long before that business attained the property, the site of various industries since the 19^th century.

Further explaining the situation, Gordon said that the Five Mile River, above Lake Lashaway, will be retained by the Lashaway Dam, allowing the drawdown; thus the lake will serve as a holding receptacle for the diverted river water, which, below the dam, is named the East Brookfield River.

Meanwhile, engineering studies for the Massachusetts DOT bridge, spillway and weir project are still underway, the selectmen said. Last month, the state contacted town officials, announcing plans for rebuilding the bridge, and offered to undertake the repair or reconstruction of the adjacent portion of the weir and spillway, with engineering and traffic detail the only cost to the town. Although a town meeting vote is necessary to authorize spending the town’s share, an estimated $60-70,000, engineering studies are in process by GZA Company.

The town meeting date, to be posted by the end of this week, will probably be Sept. 20, selectmen said, though delays in state finance information may require that the meeting be adjourned, then re-convened at a later date for some money articles.