Ogunquit News
Clam flats closed after pump station malfunctions
By C. Ayn Douglass
OGUNQUIT - Dire predictions of the town's clam flats being closed for the season may have been quelled after a meeting Monday, Nov. 27, between state and local officials.In a shellfish season that just barely got underway on Nov. 10 with what former Clam Warden Martin Damren described as the "best conditions in years - the density is just unbelievable," the 60 resident license-holders and 10 nonresident license-holders were disappointed to find the clam flats shut down after a mechanical malfunction in the pumping stations managed by the Ogunquit Sewer District along the Ogunquit River failed and the backup systems also failed.
State officials reportedly received notification of the failure in a less-than-timely manner from Sewer District Manager Phil Pickering, leading them to reclassify the river as prohibited for clamming.
Water quality along the river is monitored monthly, and more strictly than even the beaches, as normal tidal action cleanses the beaches more quickly. Harm to the clam flats is more long lasting as the movement along the river is slower.
Town Manager Phil Clark said the meeting held at the Sewer District on Monday was "a fact-finding meeting and the state would do some more testing in the next several days to satisfy their concerns."
State officials with the Division of Marine Resources were not available by press time.
"This is a banner year for shellfish," Clark said, "and it's imperative to let recreational clam diggers take advantage of that."
See I for additional information as it becomes available.
