Officials are looking into an incident late last month on land off Meadow Street in which a backhoe nicked sewer pipes, sending raw sewage onto wetlands near the Westfield River.
Mark G. MastroianniAGAWAM – The Hampden District Attorney’s office is looking into the breaching of two sewer pipes that spewed raw sewage onto wetlands near the Westfield River.
Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said Friday that his office has taken over the investigation, which was referred to it by the Agawam Police Department. An assistant district attorney has been assigned to the matter, according to Mastroianni.
“So far there are no charges so there are no names that can be released,” Mastroianni said.
The incident took place late last month on land known locally as “The Meadows” at 140-179 Meadow St. at or near a turf farm, according to his office.
Carmino Grimaldi, the manager of Tuckahoe Turf Farms Inc. at 179 Meadow St., said the break did not take place on the farm’s land, but on wooded land to the west of it. Some of the sewage flowed onto property the farm leases in the area, he said.
Mayor Richard A. Cohen has declined to say how much repairs have cost the city or identify who breached the pipes, referring all questions to the district attorney’s office.
Catherine Skiba, regional spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Protection, which worked closely with the Department of Public Works on repairs, would not identify the contractor who breached the pipe. She cited the ongoing investigation as the reason.
A contractor doing work at the site hit a 10-inch and a 20-inch sewer pipe, according to Department of Public Works Superintendent Christopher Christopher J. Golba. His department got involved when it was notified there was a backhoe unattended and submerged in wetlands.
The pipes run from a pump station on Main Street to the Springfield Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility on Bondi’s Island.
The city has made repairs with the idea of seeking reimbursement from the contractor.