Isle de Plastique


While paddling with the tide up the Merrimack River yesterday I landed on a small island to stretch my legs.   In doing so I noticed a fair bit of empty plastic containers, literally, at my feet and within a 25' radius of my landing spot...

In looking closer my eyes began to detect even smaller pieces of plastic...
...not much bigger than the adjacent yellow bottle cap.  The plastic wafer-like disks are actually high-tech "BiofilmChip M" plastic carriers...
...manufactured for use in wastewater treatment where, according to their manufacturer, "They are designed to provide a large protected surface area for the biofilm and optimal conditions for biological activity when suspended in water."  One cubic foot of these wafers provides 1200 square feet of surface area for biogrowth attachment.  Prior to March 6, 2011 the wafers were doing just that at a wastewater treatment facility located some 40 miles upriver on the Merrimack in Hooksett, NH... until the treatment plant was overwhelmed with a combination of wastewater, rainwater, and snow-melt.  The screens meant to contain the plastic wafers failed, and somewhere between 4 and 8 million of these wafers spilled into the river.   They are commonly referred to as "Hooksett Disks". The island where I stretched my legs was one of the last they'd encounter before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.  Folks will be finding these things for many years to come.

Last Sunday while paddling on the Concord River I came upon a low-tech relic from an earlier time...
I'm picturing a large farm horse that maybe approached the river bank for a drink of water and caught his foot on some exposed tree roots.  His thirst quenched he left, but his shoe stuck around and has been catching good luck ever since (I hope).  The shoe measures 6" wide by 7" long. 

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