Black River Water

Location: North Springfield, VT
Principal Investigator: Kelly Stettner, Director, Black River Action Team
 
A new biomass incinerator is being planned for the residential area of North Springfield in SE Vermont. The Black River Action Team (BRAT) will begin to sample benthic macroinvertebrates from Spoonerville Brook, a small stream located very close to the proposed waste-water leach-field of the biomass incinerator. This is purely a monitoring and comparison activity, but we must act NOW before the incinerator is built, or there will be no way to compare macroinvertebrate populations once waste-water is present.
 
Using kicknets and possibly seine-nets, volunteers will assist the BRAT in gathering, identifying, and recording the various macroinvertebrates present in Spoonerville Brook once per sampling season.
 
By collecting this data for a year or two before the plant is constructed, we hope to have solid baseline data to compare with post-construction samples in the event of any waste-water contamination from the incinerator. This is part of an ongoing water sampling program and the data will be supplemented with other parameters. 

To become involved in the Spoonerville Brook Water Quality Monitoring Project, please fill our our Find an Advisor Form.