When Boston's Muddy River was recently flooded with crude oil, rescuers jumped into action, news station GBH reported. One of their most urgent priorities was saving the ducks and geese that had been covered in oil.
"These ducks are not flying because what's happened is the oil has broken their natural waterproofing. And so not only are they covered in oil, but they're also saturated with water," said Zak Mertz, CEO of animal rescue organization New England Wildlife Center. "They probably are not thermoregulating well, meaning that — it's cold out tonight — without that air trapped against their body from the feathers, a night like this could be deadly to them."
Fortunately for these ducks and geese, Mertz's dedicated team had already rescued dozens of individuals. And even though others remained skittish, the rescuers were diligent, using kayaks and nets to herd even the most cautious birds to safety.
"They're going to get him in a bin, get him off the island, and then we'll get him into a warm, warm car where they'll be shuttled back to our hospital in just a little bit," Mertz explained after a successful rescue.
While the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection hasn't identified the source of the spill, it estimated that approximately 100 gallons of oil had entered the river. Teams installed barriers at several points along the river to absorb the oil and prevent it from flowing further downstream.
Morgan Arsenault, an environmental analyst with the DEP, told GBH that the oil is "somewhere under the ground right now. And we are currently trying to figure out where it is." Her guess was that a corroded home heating oil tank was the culprit. But since it may have been miles away from the river itself, she explained, it would take a good deal of sleuthing to find and fix.
Lisa Kumpf, the river restoration program manager for the Charles River Watershed Association, told GBH that while this was an isolated incident, it's hardly the first issue in the area.
"The Muddy River is actually the most polluted above-ground tributary or stream that flows into the Charles River," she explained. "The health of this river is absolutely a problem. This is a major recreational resource for so many people in Boston and Brookline, and what we need to do is take this watershed-wide view." Kumpf mentioned possible strategies such as updating stormwater infrastructure and further investigating sources of pollution in the six-square-mile watershed.
But in the short term, Mertz said, the wildlife center would ensure that all the avian inhabitants of the river were well cared for, estimating that it would take about three weeks to return them safely home.
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All the time 💯 "My guess is we'll probably be out here for a few more days as we work our way through, from the most critical to the ones that are just mildly oiled," he said.
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