Duxbury does not have a town-wide sewage system. When the state closed the beds, it cost the town thousands of dollars in lost harvests, he said. But since December, a new sewage system has pumped wastewater from the three homes to an upland site, safely away from the Bluefish River. Wastewater from a commercial site in town, which was also causing pollution problems, is now pumped to another upland site. Most of the rest of the town still uses on-site septic systems.
Officials expect the shellfish beds to be given a clean bill of health by the state within a year.
Local officials were extremely driven to complete the project, according to Grady, who said they spoke to local civic groups and held public hearings where engineers thoroughly reviewed all the alternatives. That's the way you have to do these things if you do them right. You don't just dump these things on town meeting floor. The campaign paid off. The town had attempted to undertake the project several years earlier, but its application was turned down.