State Health Officials Back Norwood Board of Health in Drive to Curb Neponset River Industrial Pollution-August 11, 1966

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The State Department of Public Health has stepped in to support the Norwood Board of Health in its aggressive efforts to eliminate industrial waste causing severe pollution and foul odors in the Neponset River. Norwood Health Director Bartley J. King announced this morning that state health officials are currently arranging a high-level meeting with representatives of Bird & Son and Hollingsworth & Vose—two major industrial manufacturing firms operating plants in Norwood and East Walpole—to address the crisis. Director King recently petitioned state authorities for assistance under Chapter 541 of the Acts of 1902, as amended, warning that the river’s channel is being gradually choked by paper pulp deposits from industrial discharge, creating intolerable odor problems for local residents during one of the driest summers on record.

Director King emphasized that much of the manufacturing waste could be successfully diverted into the MDC sewer system or treated on-site before being released into public waters. Responding to the state intervention, John J. Murphy, a spokesperson for Bird & Son, stated that firm engineers are actively collaborating with the State Department of Health and the National Council on Stream Improvement. Similarly, Dr. Harold Knudson, director of research at Hollingsworth & Vose Co., affirmed the company’s cooperation, noting, “We have every intention of doing whatever is reasonably expected of us,” while pointing out that stagnant summer water flow has exacerbated natural river odors. Joseph Curran, Norwood’s delegate to the inter-town river study committee, praised health director King for bringing the issue to state attention, noting that the long-standing pollution challenge requires coordinated regional action.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger