Wetland and Groundwater Restoration at Poplar Street & Wetland and Floodplain Restoration at Mollie Drive

Webpage URL: https://www.tewksbury-ma.gov/NRDA-Restoration

This project was funded through the Sutton Brook Trustee Council Natural Resource Damages Settlement funds administered by MassDEP.

Project Number

PW-25-05

Project Description

The Town of Tewksbury has contracted EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc., PBC of Warwick, Rhode Island to provide environmental and engineering services for the design of Wetland and Groundwater Restoration at Poplar Street and Wetland and Floodplain Restoration at Mollie Drive.  

Poplar Street Wetland and Groundwater Restoration Project

The Poplar Street Wetland and Groundwater Restoration Project (Poplar Street Project) is situated within an approximately 79-acre parcel (Figure 1). The property is the location of the now defunct Tewksbury South Street Wellfields, which have been abandoned for several decades. The original wells, pump houses and other infrastructure remain on the site. The Town of Tewksbury currently operates a water treatment plant which services the entire Town of Tewksbury and has no future plans to utilize the abandoned wells again.

Figure 1 - Poplar Street Site Location (Abt Associates 2021)

The site is accessed at the end of Poplar Street, which is gated at the entrance to the property. Approximately 700 feet into the site, the paved access road takes a 90-degree turn to the north, at which point it transitions to a dirt path maintained only for emergency access. Both branches of the road cut through and bisect areas of wooded shrub swamp. Further to the north and east, there is an extensive permanently flooded emergent wetland. Natural surface and groundwater flow across the site is from the direction of built-up residential areas to the south and west toward this large wetland complex to the north and east.

The entire site is located within the FEMA-designated 100-year floodplain. A single culvert is now the only connection between the south side and north side of Poplar Street. The 30-inch culvert is further constricted by an 18-inch sewer pipe that runs through the culvert. There are no surface hydrologic connections between the east and west sides of the wetland complex where it is bisected by the north leg of the road.

In addition to fill associated with the road prism, significant historic earth movement and placement of fill has occurred on the site. According to Town staff, in addition to receiving fill, portions of the site may have been a source of borrow and/or sand/gravel extraction in the past. A series of disconnected, linear berms of up to approximately 6 to 8 feet in height are now situated west of the dirt road, parallel to the edge of the emergent wetland. Significant time has passed since the establishment of these berms, as evidenced by the maturity of the trees that exist on them.

The Poplar Street Project offers significant opportunity to expand the size and quality of an existing wetland complex. The primary objectives of the restoration project at this site include: 1) removal of fill placed in historic wetlands and restoration of habitat functions and values associated with this resource area, including increased groundwater recharge; 2) increasing flood storage capacity via removal of fill from the 100-year floodplain; 3) ecological enhancement of upland habitat; 4) management of invasive species; and 5) improvement of a Town conservation property for increased passive recreation use.

The proposed restoration at Poplar Street entails four primary components: 1) restoration of buried wetlands; 2) restoration of historic site topography, including in upland areas; 3) reestablishing hydrologic connectivity between wetlands on the east and west sides of the dirt road, if practicable; and 4) development of passive recreation opportunities for walking/hiking, birding, and other activities.

Mollie Drive Wetland and Floodplain Restoration Project

The Mollie Drive Restoration Project is located on Town-owned conservation land on an approximately 5-acre parcel that stretches from behind the Knights of Columbus building, located on Main Street/Route 38, to just beyond the cul-de-sac at the end of Mollie Drive (Figure 2). The site is bordered to the north by the Shawsheen River, with a narrow strip of privately owned land lying between portions of the Town-owned parcel and the river along  the north edge of the property.

Figure 2 - Mollie Drive Site Location (Abt Associates 2021)

The project is limited to the northwest quadrant of the property. At this location, the Shawsheen River meanders through extensive emergent wetlands immediately to the north of the site; the Mollie Drive site itself consists of floodplain that transitions abruptly to wooded uplands. 

Debris and historic fill are evident at the site surface and scattered across the property (Figure 3). Much of this debris was characterized and mapped during an environmental assessment which the Trustees conducted in 2019 (Watermark 2019). Subsequent remediation work was conducted by the Town in 2020 and 2021 to remove contaminated soil from an area of the site adjacent to the River where a pile of railroad ties had been disposed of. Remaining debris consists largely of metal and concrete materials scattered around the site, along with piles of fill material, which have dramatically altered the topographic character of the site.

Figure 3 - Debris remaining on the site

Fill material appears to have been brought into the site from the west, deposited approximately half-way into the site, and pushed into several consolidated piles at the wetland edge toward the north. These piles are within the FEMA-designated 100-year floodplain and were also presumed to have filled in areas of bordering vegetated wetlands. Review of historic aerial imagery and mapping showed a structure formerly on the site. The building is estimated to have been approximately 30 feet by 40 feet.

The Mollie Drive site is immediately adjacent to the Shawsheen River and within the floodplain associated with the River. The primary objectives of the restoration project at this site include: 1) removal of fill placed in historic wetlands and restoration of habitat functions and values associated with this resource area; 2) increased flood storage capacity via removal of fill from the 100-year floodplain; 3) clearing of debris from a Town conservation property so that the land can be utilized for passive recreation without risk of injury and with improved aesthetics; and 4) restoration of the area where remediation work was conducted in 2020.

Restoration at Mollie Drive entails two primary components: 1) removal of fill piles and scattered debris; and 2) restoration of buried wetlands. Once these components have been completed, further development of a trail network, canoe/kayak launch, or other amenities to increase passive restoration on the site could be implemented by, or in conjunction with, the Town.

The primary benefit expected from a restoration project at this location is restoration of floodplain storage capacity that has been lost due to the placement of fill. Restoration of a small amount of wetlands (3,800 square feet) on the site will also provide additional benefits in terms of habitat, food provision, and water quality, although it will not provide significant additional habitat connectivity. Removal of materials from this site may encourage infiltration, promoting groundwater recharge and filtration of pollutants. Restoration at the site has social value, particularly for improving passive recreation access.

Project Location

The Poplar Street site is located on the 79-acre town-owned lot (Map 107 Lot 40) at the end of Poplar Street which is the location of the decommissioned Poplar Street Well Field.  The Mollie Drive site is located on the 5.1-acre town-owned lot (Map 97 Lot 1) at the end of Mollie Drive and to the rear of the Knights of Columbus along the south bank of the Shawsheen River.

Project Updates

September 24, 2025

A site walk and discussion was held on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.  The slides from the discussion portion of the meeting are posted to this page in the Project Documents section. 

September 2, 2025

A site walk and discussion is scheduled on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.  The site walk will be held at 4:00PM at the end of Poplar Street.  After the site walk, a discussion on the project will be held at the Tewksbury Senior Center (175 Chandler Street) at 5:30PM to 6:30PM.

Registration is encouraged but not required at www.tewksbury-ma.gov/restoration.

August 6, 2024

EA Engineering is scheduled to perform wetland delineation/ecological assessment of the sites on August 22 and 23, 2024 (weather dependent).

Anticipated Construction Dates

Construction activity is anticipated to occur in 2026.

Typical Work Hours

Monday to Friday from 7:00AM to 3:30PM.

Roadway Closure/Detour Information

No roadway closures or detours are anticipated as part of this work.

Contractor

EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC of Warwick, Rhode Island is the engineering consultant for this project.

Project Photos

Project photos will be displayed here when available.