PITTSFIELD – The Mill Pond Task Force, at its inaugural meeting Thursday night, decided it must immediately get the state Department of Environmental Protection involved in any plan for the area.

The task force is charged with presenting a plan to the Town Council for recreational and community use of the Mill Pond and the surrounding area, including a new park on Sebasticook Street. The plan will be based on a wide range of ideas offered by residents and compiled at a recent workshop.

But almost immediately Thursday, concerns were raised about the water quality in the pond, which is fed by the Sebasticook River, and how that would affect any recreational uses.

Tina Bernier, an environmental engineer, said the river is a Class C “nonattaining” river, the lowest classification for state waterways, and that cancer-causing chemical compounds and dioxins have been found in fish in the water.

Task force member Peter Vigue recalled that years ago, the river ran the color “of whatever dye was being used at Irving Tannery” upstream in Hartland, and in the 1950s and 1960s, the river smelled so foul that people wouldn’t go near it.

Vigue also noted that if there are contaminants in the pond, it could be a cloud with a silver lining. “It could limit what we can do, but it may also qualify us for some immediate remedial action, possibly an environmental cleanup. After all, the pond and the river are located over an esker that is the source of the town’s drinking water,” Vigue said.

The Mill Pond project is being carefully watched by the state, said Town Manager Kathryn Ruth, since it is part of the Sebasticook River Watershed Conservation and Recreation Project being overseen by the state Department of Conservation. The Sebasticook River, both the east and west branches, is a pilot project for the DOC, the towns along its banks, other state agencies and environmental groups.

The master plan for the west branch project stretches from Great Moose Lake in Hartland to Douglas Pond on the Palmyra-Pittsfield border and downstream to Clinton where the Sebasticook River meets the Kennebec River.

“We qualify for at least three different types of grants,” said state Rep. Bernard McGowan, who was selected as chairman of the task force. “We’re part of a big picture. This is one project the state is really looking at.”

The task force also decided to show the DEP a conceptual plan that incorporates many different ideas, including a walking path, boat launch, swimming area and recreational turnouts, even though the committee has not decided on the individual merits of the suggestions. This way, they can get a sense of what the DEP would permit.

“This plan asks all the questions. Can we even do these types of things?” said Don Woodruff, a member of the task force.

Jan Laux, another member, agreed. “There is no sense reinventing the wheel,” he said.

The group agreed to have McGowan and Ruth approach the DEP about a site visit and attendance at the next task force meeting.

During the session, there was some reminiscing about the pond’s history. Woodruff recalled that people used to drive Model T Fords out on the ice and take bets as to when the cars would sink.