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Wetland Filling as a Public Health
Measure
During the 1800s, wetlands were
considered to be “waste lands” that led
only to the spread of disease. People were not aware
of all the benefits wetlands provide such as purifying
water and controlling flooding. As urban centers expanded
into the surrounding countryside, many thousands of
acres of wetlands throughout Connecticut were either
filled or drained to convert them into lands on which
buildings can be constructed. Remarkably, until 1977
it was considered acceptable to dispose of waste in
wetlands or water bodies as long as they were not
“navigable waterways”.
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A cartoon from
the late 1800s depicting a malaria victim. |
One of the diseases controlled by wetland filling
was malaria. Until the late 1890s, it was believed
that malaria was caused by poisonous vapors coming
from ponds and swamps. In 1897, it was discovered
that malaria was carried and spread by mosquitoes,
which breed in water and therefore are more plentiful
near wetlands. The fear of malaria was a real one
for residents of Connecticut in the late 1800s and
early 1900s. Following the Civil War, returning soldiers
brought the disease to the northern states and it
spread throughout the mosquito populations here. Mosquito
control in Connecticut became a primary public health
concern and the filling of wetlands (most often with
refuse, construction and manufacturing waste) became
even more desirable.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment
Station noted that the elimination of mosquito breeding
places was the single most important factor in combating
the disease. A law passed in 1915 gave the director
of the Agricultural Station the power to “drain,
fill or otherwise eliminate any such breeding places”.
The filling of wetlands was also
being recommended for other reasons. In the same year
(1915) Dr. Joslin, the Health Officer for Hamden,
recommended the establishment of public dumping places,
since many people were dumping their garbage and refuse
in their yards and creating a public nuisance (Haley
& Aldrich, p. 28). Dr. Joslin issued a statement
that same year, saying, “there are many low
spots where people might like to have refuse dumped
for fill (Haley & Aldrich, p. 28)”.
A 1916 City of New Haven Health
Report prepared by Yale University stated that the
Anopheles mosquito, which bred in fresh water marshes
and streams, was “a constant menace to health,
since these mosquitoes may be carriers of the parasite
malaria…” It was reported that marshes
located along the Mill River in Hamden were causing
“a gross mosquito nuisance” and that “the
fresh water areas were breeding enough mosquitoes
to create a very considerable malaria problem”.
Pine Swamp (located north of the
Newhall area), considered a “malarial-breeding
ground”, was drained in 1916 by the New Haven
Water Company and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
A second large swamp that covered the site of the
current Hamden Middle School was also drained by the
New Haven Water Company (Haley & Aldrich, p.29).
A third wetland at the corner of St. Mary and Morse
Streets was filled that same year (Haley & Aldrich,
p. 29). Following the filling or draining of these
wetlands and many others in the region, the number
of malaria cases dropped. From 1914-1916, there were
an average of 26 reported cases per year in New Haven
and Hamden; in 1926, there were none.
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