SNHU: Walden Pond 2024 Environmental Assessment
In 2022, Hanscom made a proposal to expand their airport that is located in Bedford, Mass that is nearby Concord and Walden Reservation. Over the course of the following year, there has been a large movement called "Save Walden Pond" to try and stop the expansion from happening. As well as a former landfill now open for development, that runs adjacent to Walden Pond. I attached a diagram I created to help outline where the construction is being proposed.
What I set out to do, was determine how polluted Walden Pond and the reservation already is. I was sadly surprised to find out that there is already a decent amount of pollution that has occurred over the past hundred years. There are no native fish species left in the pond, and there are a lot of invasive plant species that surround the woods. The water itself was starting to get somewhat acidic as well as the soil measuring a PH of 5-6 and is canton soil type. I'm also in the middle of testing for dissolved oxygen, phosphate, nitrate/nitrite, and ammonia levels.