On a recent day, Mark Withington walked along precarious ice-encrusted trails in the Chiltonville woods to a clearing at the boundary of the land owned by Holtec International, the company that is decommissioning the former Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Manomet. Withington has a vision for the nearly 1,600 acres of mostly forested property around […]
Category: Environment & Health
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Saquish: So close, yet so far away for most
As a newcomer to Plymouth, I’ve been studying maps of the town as I try and get my bearings. I’ve long been fascinated with maps, and especially geographic oddities. For example, only two counties in the United States have discontiguous parts. Norfolk County, Massachusetts is one. Brookline and Cohasset are both part of Norfolk County, […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
‘The entire hospital is short-staffed’
A man showed up at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth’s emergency room one morning last month suffering from Covid and struggling to breathe. He remained in the ER for more than 12 hours while waiting for an intensive care unit bed. But at 1 a.m., the patient went into cardiac arrest, according to a report […]
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An overwhelmed Beth Israel Deaconess aims to ease the crunch with $116 million expansion
Struggling to provide care for a growing and aging population in Plymouth and surrounding towns, Beth Israel Lahey Health is investing more than $116 million to update and expand its facilities at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth. The work is aimed at increasing the hospital’s capacity for cancer care, surgical and emergency services. It includes a […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
With snow in the forecast, parking ban set for 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday
The good news for kids and people who plow driveways as a side gig: With a storm watch upgraded to storm warning, forecasters are calling for a fast-moving system to dump between four and eight inches of snow on the Plymouth area starting Saturday night. The inconvenient news for people who park their cars and […]
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Avian flu believed to have spread to North Plymouth, Long Beach
As feared, the town’s presumed outbreak of avian flu is no longer contained to Billington Sea. The H5N1 virus that is likely infecting birds in Plymouth has spread from the 269-acre freshwater pond to Spooner Pond near Cordage Park on Route 3A in North Plymouth, and to Long Beach, according to town officials. On Friday, […]
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Plymouth’s apparent avian flu outbreak said to be state’s ‘largest ever’
State officials are calling the apparent presence of avian flu in Plymouth the largest such “outbreak in wild birds that we have seen in Massachusetts since the virus arrived in winter 2021-2022.” Julia E. Hopkins, spokesperson for the Dept. of Fish & Game, said in an email late Wednesday that “state officials are coordinating with […]
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Thin ice hampers collection of birds likely killed by avian flu
On a recent afternoon, Dave Gallerani looked out from his deck at ducks and swans swimming on Billington Sea. But on closer inspection, the scene was far from idyllic. He pointed to two dead swans on a frozen section of the pond. They were among the many dead and dying birds Gallerani has seen since […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Officials warn of ‘additional outbreaks’ of bird flu in Plymouth
Plymouth officials are warning residents to assume that the avian flu is present in town, and that the outbreak extends beyond the Billington Sea area, where about 70 dead birds were removed by environmental workers on Jan. 19. In a CodeRED alert sent out via text message, voicemail, and email Thursday evening, the town said […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Avian flu could be to blame for dozens of bird deaths at Billington Sea
Plymouth officials are working with the state to determine whether dozens of dead birds found at Billington Sea were killed by avian flu. Karen Keane, the town’s director of public health, said about 70 dead geese, swans, and ducks were collected from the 269-acre pond Sunday morning. The operation involved the Massachusetts Department of Environmental […]