Onset beaches back open after pipe leaks sewage into bay

Onset’s beaches are back open following a sewage leak off the Onset Avenue bridge near South Water Street forced the town to shut down its shores early Saturday, May 23. 

According to Wareham Health Inspector Samantha Monast, swimming at Onset’s beaches would be “swim at your own risk” until she tests the water for swim safety on June 9. The Department of Natural Resources tested for shellfishing safety and determined beaches were safe on Sunday. 

Onset Beach, East Boulevard Beach and North Boulevard Beach are open again to swimming, according to an alert on the town’s website. 

According to Wareham Sewer Director Scott Kraihanzel, the leak released only a small amount of sewage. He said it was caused by sewage coming out of an air break on the pipe. 

Kraihanzel said that air breaks are purposeful and usually allow gas to come out of the pipe. The department suspects that the leak could have been caused by a power outage, prompting the pipe’s pumps, which were originally programmed to run at partial capacity, to run at 100%. 

On Saturday, there was enough pressure that sewage came out of the pipe when the pumps turned on.

“When the pumps pumped at the rate that they were pumping, it caused the sewage to come out of the air break,” Kraihanzel said. 

It was not clear how long the pipe was leaking before it was stopped, according to Kraihanzel.

“It was pretty quickly mitigated,” Kraihanzel said. “It was not a significant release — but any release is significant.”

Crews resolved the leak by plugging the pipe and, as a permanent solution, are looking to replace it with a more durable pipe without an air break. Kraihanzel said that this replacement would ensure that there’s no release point over the water that is “tough to deal with.”

“The team’s response was spot on,” Kraihanzel said. “They did a phenomenal job on a holiday weekend.”

Starting on the 9th, the town will conduct routine weekly testing of Onset’s water, Monast said. If the tests fail to meet water quality standards for E. coli and other contaminants, she said beaches would close to test the water again.

Should Onset’s water meet safety standards, residents can expect beaches to stay open.