Plymouth

Shellfishing is a major recreational and commercial industry in southeastern Massachusetts. Among the many threats to its continued viability is contaminated stormwater runoff. In the Plymouth Harbor watershed, traditional stormwater collection and discharge systems were directing contaminated runoff directly onto the shellfish beds from both point and nonpoint sources (e.g., parking lots, roofs, playing fields, etc.). As a result, fecal coliform bacteria, total suspended solids, petroleum hydrocarbons (oil and grease), and metals posed significant threat to the Plymouth Harbor shellfish communities.The Town of Plymouth proposed to address the issue of contaminated stormwater runoff by source controls at selected locations throughout the watershed. The Town indicated a strong preference for the use of low impact development (LID) approaches that incorporate on-site infiltration and passive treatment methods. The Town's goal was to selected a consultant who could apply LID approaches in ways that would improve water quality in Plymouth Harbor to the point that native shellfish habitats were no longer threatened.