The former Millie Turner Dam was a privately owned dam on the Nissitissit River in Pepperell, MA that was about 250 feet long and 10 feet high and rated by the MA Office of Dam Safety to be in "Poor" condition with a "High" hazard potential. The Nissitissit River is home to a variety of threatened and endangered species, as well as a coldwater fishery, with approximately 20 miles of high quality habitat upstream of the dam. The dam was removed in September 2015 to decommission aging instream infrastructure while restoring fish passage, improving water quality, restoring instream and riparian habitat connectivity, and enhancing riverine functions (e.g., sediment and organic matter transport). The project involved an instream approach to sediment management that encouraged the natural formation of the upstream channel and downstream redistribution of clean sediment over time following dam removal activities. To characterize the quantity and quality of impounded sediment prior to the removal of the dam, bathymetric mapping, sediment depth probing, and sediment contaminant analyses were conducted and a sediment management plan was developed. Combining this data with post-removal channel survey data and observations has led to valuable information about sediment transport and channel response in the restored Nissitissit River. The project was led by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) and supported by the dam owner, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Trout Unlimited, the Nashua River Watershed Association, and the Nashoba Conservation Trust. Gomez and Sullivan Engineers provided feasibility study, design, permitting, bidding, and construction support services.

Jill Griffiths, PE is a water resources engineer and ecologist with Gomez and Sullivan Engineers in Henniker, NH. She is a certified floodplain manager (CFM) with B.S. degrees in both civil engineering and biology. Her background is in hydrology and hydraulics with a focus on ecologically sustainable stream restoration. She has a wide range of experience with projects to restore riverine environments, such as dam removals, fish passage and habitat restorations, and culvert replacements. She is experienced with stream geomorphic assessments, flood inundation and fluvial erosion hazard zone mapping, and river corridor planning. She also has a strong background in environmental studies such as sediment analyses, habitat assessments, vegetation surveys, and water quality monitoring. Through this work, she has been involved with all aspects of water resources projects including management, data collection, modeling, alternatives analyses, reporting, public outreach, design, permitting, bid and construction phase services, and post-construction monitoring.