Brooklin committee to discuss pig fecal bacteria in Herrick Bay

A $12k grant was used to address bacteria levels, but water quality samples continue to ‘fail,’ shellfish committee chair says

Herrick Bay in Brooklin, where 40 acres of mudflats remain closed to shellfish harvesting. Photo by John Epstein.

Oct. 28, 2026

By Lydia Hart

BROOKLIN – Brooklin’s shellfish committee will meet next week to discuss the lingering problem of fecal contaminants believed to have emanated from a local pig farm owned by the town’s select board chair.

In October 2025, The Rising Tide reported on the presence of pig fecal bacteria in Herrick Bay in Brooklin. A year later, the problem still persists, and the Brooklin Shellfish Committee now plans to discuss the situation during its next meeting on Nov. 4.

Pig problem

Brooklin's shellfish committee's effort to improve Herrick Bay's water quality led to the discovery of the fecal matter in 2024. The bacteria originated from local selectman David Reiley's 20-acre farm located on Watson Brook, which feeds into the bay, the shellfish committee said, since no other pigs are raised in the area. 

The contamination in Herrick Bay led to shellfishing closures in the areas closest to Reiley's farm. 

In 2025, Reiley said he was aware of the problem and had secured a $12,000 grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to address it properly. In addition to the grant, Reiley said he would relocate his 30 pigs to a different area on his property. 

Reiley told The Rising Tide that the majority of the grant money had been used to pay for remediation analysis from a Belfast-based firm, Northern Tilth, that specializes in organic waste technical solutions. 

Northern Tilth's analysis concluded that the pigs should be relocated to a part of Reiley's farm that was less likely to experience runoff into the bay, and that the pigs' pens should be paved with concrete to streamline manure cleanup. 

Water samples continue to ‘fail’

Chairman of Brooklin's Shellfish Committee, David Tarr, told The Rising Tide that water quality samples collected from Herricks Bay continue to “fail.” 

Tarr said that Brooklin's Shellfish Committee was supposed to meet with the NRCS in September 2026 to discuss the current situation, but the meeting never happened. 

Tarr said that if the pigs were relocated to a different location on Reileys property, it did not fix the problem. 

“We don't get a lot of rain; I think things just build up. Then we get a certain amount of rain and everything flushes out, literally,” Tarr said. “That’s when we pull a bad sample.”

According to Tarr, one possibility is a bay closure dependent on potential rainfall totals. If the level of pig fecal bacteria is able to be linked to rainfall exceeding a certain amount, shellfish harvesting regulations may be able to be built around rainfall totals. 

Currently, the inner 40 acres of Herrick Bay remain closed to shellfish harvesting. The outer 40 acres have been proven to contain clean water and are fully functional for shellfish operations. 

The Brooklin Shellfish Committee plans to discuss Herrick Bay and current bacteria levels at its next meeting, Nov. 4 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be located at the Brooklin Town Hall.