Our Story

Clean drinking water is the most vital resource for any community. In Wrentham, we rely on our local aquifer not just for the water in our homes, but also for the health of our beautiful lakes like Archer and Pearl, where we swim, fish, and make memories.

Today, the safety of our shared water is facing a significant threat, and we need your help to protect it.

A large-scale development, "The Residences at Wrentham Village," is proposed for a former industrial property on Kendrick Street. This site sits directly over our town's drinking water aquifer—a Zone II Wellhead Protection Area. Our goal is to advocate for responsible development, with the health of our community's water as the top priority.

The project is planned on a site with a long history of industrial contamination. Two toxic plumes in the groundwater beneath the property pose a direct and ongoing threat to the aquifer that serves us all.

The Challenge: Two Unremediated Pollution Plumes in Our Aquifer

1. The Kendrick Street Plume (TCE) A plume of toxic industrial chemicals, including the known carcinogen Trichloroethylene (TCE), originates from a former industrial site at 30 Kendrick Street. This contamination is not contained—it's unstable, has re-polluted previously remediated areas, and is migrating within our shared groundwater. The threat is not theoretical; a 2000 study already confirmed the presence of TCE in groundwater on the shores of Lake Archer at levels nearly four times the state's reportable limit.

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2. The Mobil Station Plume & Wastewater Discharge A second plume of gasoline contaminants extends onto the property from the Mobil Station on South Street. The developer's plan includes discharging approximately 88,100 gallons of treated wastewater per day into the ground near this plume. Pumping millions of gallons of effluent into this sensitive area could accelerate the movement of these toxic chemicals, pushing them further into our aquifer and toward our wells and lakes.

The Stakes: Our Water, Our Health

Our Drinking Water: The primary risk is to our town's drinking water supply. The two toxic plumes are located directly within the aquifer that we all depend on. We need this pollution cleaned up so we're not jeopardizing the health and safety of our drinking water.
Our Lakes and Recreation: Lake Archer and Lake Pearl are the jewels of our community, and their health is directly linked to the groundwater that feeds them. Contamination of the aquifer threatens the entire watershed, endangering the places where our children play and we enjoy nature.
Nutrient Loading & Algae Blooms: Lake Pearl and Lake Archer already suffer from consistent Harmful Algae Blooms, which are fueled by excess nutrients. A project of this scale will add a massive new load of nutrients to the groundwater. Even with modern treatment, the proposed system would still potentially release hundreds of pounds of nutrients into our watershed annually, threatening to make the algae problem much worse. We must insist the project is designed to meet predevelopment watershed loads, ensuring it does not further degrade our water quality.

Our Proactive Plan for a Safe Future

The Lake Archer Association is taking expert-led action on behalf of all Wrentham residents. We have engaged with the developer and retained an independent environmental professional to review the site reports.

To ensure the safety of our water, we must do more. We are building a legal and scientific defense fund to:

Retain Environmental Legal Counsel to represent the public interest before the Town and state (MassDEP).
Fund Independent Hydrologists to analyze the developer's data and model the true risks to our entire watershed.
Advocate for a Definitive Cleanup of the source contamination, which is the only way to permanently remove this threat to our water supply.

Join Us in Protecting Wrentham's Water

This is our moment to stand together for clean water. Your donation, of any amount, will go directly to this dedicated fund to secure the expert help we need to make our case. You are not just donating; you are investing in the long-term health and safety of our entire community.

Suggested Donation Levels:

$50 - Friend of Wrentham Water: Helps cover the cost of printing and distributing informational materials.
$150 - Watershed Watcher: Funds one hour of a professional environmental consultant's time to review technical documents.
$500 - Aquifer Advocate: Contributes directly to the legal retainer for our environmental attorney.
$1,000+ - Guardian of Our Water: Provides a critical foundation for our expert-led campaign to protect our shared resources.

Thank you for being a steward of Wrentham's water. Together, we can ensure a safe and healthy future for all.

Protect Wrentham's Water

A Fund for Our Drinking Water and Lakes