Sudbury Board of Health closes Camp Sewataro beach over cyanobacteria spike

SUDBURY -- August 13, 2024, Sudbury Board of Health logs a summer of warm-weather public health failures. Health Director Vivian told the board Tuesday that Camp Sewataro's swim beach has been closed since July 26 after cyanobacteria tested above 370,000 cells per milliliter, more than five times the 70,000 state threshold, and that a separate advisory remains posted along Hop Brook tied to a bloom in Marlborough's Hager Pond. The Cold Brook Crossing wastewater treatment plant has been out of compliance with its DEP groundwater discharge permit since it switched on in June 2023; the town's Building Department has suspended the final nine certificates of occupancy, freezing at least one pending home sale. Member Susan Sama called the pace of DEP enforcement "frustrating." Framingham also released raw sewage into the Sudbury River on July 31, triggering a 48-hour advisory. The board voted 3-0 to reappoint the Metro West tobacco control program manager to a three-year term.