Connecting Students to Alewife Cove

At the Alewife Cove Conservancy, we believe that hands-on learning is the key to fostering a lifelong appreciation for our local environment. To that end, we’ve made exciting contributions to local schools in both New London and Waterford, helping students connect with the natural beauty and ecological importance of Alewife Cove—both in the classroom and on the water.

Alewife Cove Gets Earth Day Boost

By Lee Howard

Day Business Editor

The Day, New London, CT — Just a few days before Earth Day on Tuesday, the Alewife Cove restoration project got some good news.   Sediment samples show the waterway, once teeming with fish and shellfish but now heavily silted, has generally low levels of heavy metals and other contaminants, which could mean its revival as a fishing and recreation mecca is an achievable goal. 

"We come out looking real good. ... We were tickled pink with the results," said Ed Lamoureux, chairman of the Alewife Cove Conservancy, the New London-based group that has been leading the charge in the cove's restoration efforts. "The studies are the key. Everyone is committed to getting this done." 

Longtime residents near Alewife Cove, including Lamoureux, recall a time more than 20 years ago when the area was enjoyed by kayakers, swimmers and fishermen and the lower cove was a place to harvest oysters, blue crabs and clams. Now, there are no shellfish to be found, and the alewife that once spawned by the thousands in the spring and gave the waterway its name, have pretty much disappeared. 

Kayakers, even at high tide, regularly get stuck in the sand that prevents fish from swimming upstream. "I used to come out here with an aluminum boat," Lamoureux recalled Tuesday, wearing an Earth Day Tshirt while showing off the lower part of the cove at low tide. "It would be loaded with unbelievable blue shell crabs. I can dream about going right there and just scooping them and having bushel baskets full." 

"Now you see no blue shell crabs in here. No alewife fish, no winter flounder," Lamoureux said. 

The sediment study aims to jump-start the process of bringing back the fish that once flourished and where alewife had lived for hundreds of years. The cove had slowly been filling in over the years, but it was the double whammy of Hurricane Irene in 2011 followed by the more severe Superstorm Sandy damage in 2012 that put it into a major tailspin. 

Results of a $50,000 sediment study by Arcadis Environmental, the first of many steps in restoring the cove, were released last week, showing that heavy metals and plastic pollution from the so-called "forever chemical" PFAS have not infiltrated the area in large quantities. This means that dredging the cove will be possible without incurring large expenses, since the few areas that do show contamination are just over the threshold and can be treated, said Chris Allan, environmental director for the conservancy.

Black muck

The cove and Fenger Brook that feeds it divides Waterford and New London as well as Ocean Beach and Waterford Beach. In a previous restoration project in 1987, sand clogging up the cove was redeposited at Ocean Beach Park, Allan said, and he expected this could be where the material ends up this time as well. 

"A lot of it is predicated on what you can get a permit for," Allan said, adding the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will be consulted for approvals. 

He and Lamoureux said the nasty-smelling sapropel or so-called "black mayonnaise" caused by stagnant water in the upper part of the cove is another issue that must be dealt with. They believe the most likely scenario will be relocating the mucky material to the lower cove's marshlands in an effort to combat sea level rise while adding lime and oyster shells to reduce its acidity. 

But cove restoration is still years away, as the conservancy awaits results from other studies, including a major one by Arcadis that will develop several options for restoring Alewife Cove. What ends up happening, in the end, may depend on projected costs as well as how much funding can be raised, cove leaders said. 

"Cost is probably the biggest obstacle," Allan said. 

The Alewife Cove Conservancy, formed as a nonprofit in 2016, has the goal of protecting, preserving and enhancing the cove. It hosts an annual fundraiser at Ocean Beach in November and each year offers annual scholarships to an environmental studies student in New London and Waterford high schools. It also hosts school students from around the region who are studying marshes and marine life, including those from New England Science & Sailing, which has a location at Ocean Beach. 

Cove restoration studies are being funded by several sources, and the sediment sampling was paid for by the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut and the New York Community Trust (formerly the Long Island Sound Stewardship Fund). But the effort to bring back Alewife Cove coincides with the beginning of a presidential administration that has consistently downplayed the effects of climate change and is canceling funding for several environmental programs while reducing the number of oversight positions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The canceling of some federal funding funneled through the EPA has cove proponents nervous, they said, as a nearly $400,000 grant to come up with long-term solutions came from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund, which in turn gets its funding from the U.S. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. But they were hopeful the funding will come through. 

"We definitely have concerns," said Joe Lanzafame, director of the New London utilities department, who Lamoureux said has been a key person in helping secure grants for the cove project. 

Lanzafame in turn praised Lamoureux and others from the Alewife Cove Conservancy, saying Tuesday "Those guys are really a phenomenal group of people," and that work to restore the waterway is "long overdue." 

Lanzafame said the city is hoping to see the proper water flow brought back to the area while ensuring that the cost is kept at a minimum. 

"We're hoping this project brings life back to that area," he said in a phone interview. "It's a gem."

l.howard@theday.com