The Copicut River, or Copecut River, is a
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 stream in the U.S. state of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.
The river flows south from Copicut Reservoir (formerly the Copicut Swamp), in
Dartmouth and
Fall River, to Cornell Pond near Hixville in Dartmouth. From there the
Shingle Island River drains into
Noquochoke Lake, which the
East Branch Westport River drains in turn into the
Rhode Island Sound
Rhode Island Sound is a sound off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. It begins east of Block Island Sound, continues to the east to Buzzards Bay, and opens south into the Atlantic Ocean between Block Is ...
.
The river is currently polluted with
polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination from
Re-Solve, Inc., which operated a chemical reclamation facility nearby from 1956 to 1980. In 1983 the
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations:
* Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia
* Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana)
* Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland)
* Environmenta ...
listed the area as a
Superfund
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
site, and in 1985 removed of contaminated soils and sludges. Since 1988 the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with various responsibilities related to public health within that state. It is headquartered in Boston and headed bCommissioner Robbie G ...
has advised against consuming fish from Cornell Pond or Copicut River.
References
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency9th Annual Cornell Pond Fishing Derby
Rivers of Bristol County, Massachusetts
{{BristolCountyMA-geo-stub