Landfill Plumes and other Contaminant Plumes on Cape Cod

Plumes Upper Cape Mid-Cape Plumes Lower Cape Plumes

Upper Cape Plumes

Mid-Cape Plumes

Lower Cape Plumes

The greatest threats to ground water quality on Cape Cod are thought to stem from plumes of pollutants emanating from the Superfund site at the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR).

The MMR covers parts of the towns of Bourne, Sandwich, Mashpee, and Falmouth. The plumes emanating from the MMR are of many different types but include organic solvents, jet fuel, ethylene di-bromide (EDB) as well as phosphates. In addition, we are concerned about groundwater degradation due to municipal wastewater treatment plants located across the Cape.

More information about the MMR may be found at the Massachusetts Military Reservation's Installation Restoration Program web site, at the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, and in a series of articles prepared by the Cape Cod Times.

In general, the concerns regarding municipal waste treatment facilities plumes are due to excessive nitrates. Very little of Cape Cod is connected to municipal sewage systems. However, there is a trend to municipal treatment of the most built-up areas, as the ability of the soil to accommodate the wastes of densely populated areas becomes more and more limited.