Great Barrington, Massachusetts has received state funds allocated from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help prevent water pollution.
Great Barrington was awarded nearly $289,000 to install instruments on Knob Hill Road to capture sediment and pollutants that contaminated Lake Mansfield.
Town Planner Chris Rembold says the lake is safe, but over the last 20 years lawn fertilizers and road salt have harmed wildlife.
“The other part of that is too much sediment can actually make the lake shallower, which makes it a great environment for growing more weeds, and the more weeds the tougher it is to have a nice fishing or swimming experience,” Rembold says.
The latest round of funding, totaling $1.53 million, includes eight local projects and one statewide project to protect watersheds.
The original story published on December 6th misidentified Chris Rembold as Great Barrington’s town manager. Rembold is the town planner.