Environmental News

Recent Initiative – Mashpee Environmental Coalition:

Saturday, August 17, 2024 – 9am to 1pm, Upper Cape Household Hazardous Waste Collection, Textile Recycling, and Secure Shredding Event, Mashpee High School, 500 Old Barnstable Road, Mashpee – Co-sponsored by Barnstable County, Mashpee DPW, and Mashpee Environmental Coalition, this is a FREE event for all Upper Cape residents. Non-Upper Cape residents are invited to participate, but a fee will be charged for their hazardous materials.  Due to the solid waste crisis in Massachusetts, it is now illegal for textiles to be discarded in the trash. This combined event will provide a convenient way for residents to keep harmful household hazardous materials out of our waters while, at the same time, keeping textiles out of our landfills. In addition, a secure shredding company will be onsite.  Information regarding the county’s Household Hazardous Waste program may be found here.  Additional information may be found via our Flyer and by viewing the Full List of Textiles that may be bagged and dropped off at this event.

Additional Upcoming and Recent Events:

Wednesday, August 7, 2024 – Starting at 6:30pm, Citizens for the Protection of Waquoit Bay’s Annual Meeting, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, 131 Waquoit Highway, Waquoit – Featured speaker, Mashpee Select Board Member Michaela Colombo, will share information on the status of the Waquoit Bay Intermunicipal Agreement between Mashpee, Falmouth and Sandwich, and Mashpee’s recent efforts to address its water quality challenges. All are welcome to attend.

Thursday, August 8, 2024 – 6pm to 8pm, Cape Cod Ponds Network, Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 896 Main Street (Rt 6A), Brewster – Co-sponsored by the Cape Cod Commission and Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC), this in-person meeting of the Cape Cod Ponds Network will feature a presentation by Steve Hurley, aquatic biologist for MassWildlife. Registration is required at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScmCeKZxJwtzgSotu73SrVh6wth5Wbx0X8G7kLXJzISZ3w4RA/viewform

Thursday, August 22, 2024 – 4pm to 5:30pm, Freshwater Pond Science 101 – via Zoom – The Falmouth Pond Coalition invites all to attend this free, online Webinar. Details about program topics, speakers and the Zoom link may be found at: https://www.falmouthpondcoalition.org/. While registration is not required, if you plan to attend, please email [email protected] and let them know.

Weekly Guided Nature Tours – Each month, typically on Saturday mornings at 9am or 10am, the Mashpee Conservation Department sponsors guided walking tours, which are free of charge and weather dependent.  Details regarding these walks are posted along the left-hand margin at the department’s main website at www.mashpeema.gov/conservation.  Walks have included Childs River, Lowell Holly Reservation, Mashpee River Woodlands, Pickerel Cove, Santuit Pond Preserve and many more.  This is a great way to explore Mashpee’s wonderful array of conservation lands.

Information Items:

Now Available: Session Videos and Resources from the 2024 Cape Cod Coastal Conference – The June 18, 2024, full-day WBNERR conference entitled “Collaborating for Solutions: Practical Sessions to Achieve Watershed Plans” focused on ways that our Cape Cod communities can take action to restore water quality, reduce nutrients in our watersheds, and apply for funds to assist in implementing Watershed Plans. The full Conference Agenda, Session Videos, and a link to Grant Opportunities and Deadlines are available at https://waquoitbayreserve.org/2024-cape-coastal-conference/.

Phase 2 of Mashpee’s Sewer Project Approved.  Mashpee voters approved funding for Phase 2 of Mashpee’s sewer project — first by a two-thirds vote at the May 6, 2024 Town Meeting, and then by a vote of 1,979 to 476 (per the Town Clerk’s website) at the Local Election on May 11, 2024. Detailed information regarding Phase 2, including maps of impacted areas, may be found at: https://www.mashpeema.gov/sewer-commission/pages/5-sewer-project-phase.

A Special “Shout Out” to the Waquoit Bay Reserve for their incredible full-day workshop in November 2023 on how to manage healthy ponds by using oxygenation – and no chemicals.  This technique has proven successful in lakes and ponds across the US, as well as right here on Cape Cod with Sarah’s Pond in Orleans – thanks to an initiative undertaken by the Orleans Pond Coalition.  The full-day program, including agenda, presenter information, and PowerPoints may be found at the link below.  For anyone interested in learning more about a fully natural way to help manage our freshwater ponds, this approach is well worth exploring:  https://waquoitbayreserve.org/pond-oxygenation-workshop-learning-through-case-studies/

Satellites to Assist with Water Quality Monitoring on Cape Cod – The Cape Cod Commission recently received a grant to enhance freshwater quality monitoring with satellite imagery.  As posted on their website, partnering with other organizations “. . . the Cape Cod Commission will lead an effort to expand satellite-derived water quality data collection and analysis and enhance existing pond monitoring efforts, funded by a $298,527 Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Priority Research Grant.”  The full announcement and program description may be found at: https://www.capecod.gov/2023/11/01/cape-cod-commission-receives-grant-to-enhance-water-quality-monitoring-with-satellite-imagery/

Recycling Reminder:  As of November 2022, it is now illegal to discard any clothing or other textile items in the trash, even if stained, ripped, threadbare, or filled with holes.  The full list of items that must now be recycled may be accessed at the link provided, courtesy of Bay State Textiles.  MEC is currently planning textile drives twice each year — one in April as an Earth Day event, and one in August alongside the Hazardous Waste Dropoff.  Exact dates and times each year will be posted above under “Upcoming Events”.  More information may be found at: List of Clothing and Textiles that must now be Recycled

Like Ospreys?  Thanks to the Friends of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge and Comcast, you can now watch – and listen to – the osprey nest of Rachel and Carson and their two new babies located at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.  To access this live feed, click on the link below, then “Osprey Cam” at: https://www.friendsofmashpeenationalwildliferefuge.org/

Important Fertilizer Reminder:  Mashpee regulates the application of fertilizer as follows:

•    No application of nitrogen is permitted between October 30 and April 14 — or at any time within 100′ of specified waterways
•    No application of phosphorus is permitted between December 1 and March 1 — or at any time within 20′ of specified waterways

Even during acceptable dates, no application is permitted before or during a heavy rainfall or when the ground is saturated.  These regulations are detailed in the Nitrogen Control Bylaw, amended 2017, available at www.mashpeema.gov, under Town Clerk.  However, please note that Mashpee Town Manager, Rodney C. Collins, issued a Special Water Quality Alert to all property owners asking them to discontinue the use of fertilizers on lawns and landscaped areas.  This alert is available at https://www.mashpeema.gov/home/news/special-water-quality-alert-july-2021.  Thank you for helping to keep Mashpee’s waterways clean!