The Copicut River, or Copecut River, is a 2.2 miles (3.5 km) stream in the U.S. state of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

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The river flows south from Copicut Reservoir (formerly the Copicut Swamp), in Dartmouth

Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Dartmouth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States established in 1664. The population was 30,665 at the 2000 census. It is the location of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth....

 and Fall River

Fall River, Massachusetts

Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...

, to Cornell Pond near Hixville in Dartmouth. From there the Shingle Island River drains into Noquochoke Lake, which the East Branch Westport River

Westport River

The Westport River lies between Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay in Westport, Massachusetts.-Description:The Westport River has two branches. The smaller West Branch is approximately long, rising from a confluence of brooks near the village of Adamsville, Rhode Island...

 drains in turn into the Rhode Island Sound

Rhode Island Sound

Rhode Island Sound is a strait of water, off the coast of the state of Rhode Island at mouth of Narragansett Bay. It forms the eastern extension of Long Island Sound and opens out the Atlantic Ocean between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard....

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The river is currently polluted with Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...

 contamination from Re-Solve, Inc., which operated chemical reclamation facility nearby from 1956-1980. In 1983 the Environmental Protection Agency

United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

 listed the area as a Superfund

Superfund

Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...

site, and in 1985 removed 15000 cubic yards (11,468.3 m³) of contaminated soils and sludges. Since 1988 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has advised against consuming fish from Cornell Pond or Copicut River.