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Monday, January 30, 2023
Quick Article Index . . .
WRWA
expresses concern over DEP draft amendments to Title V regulations
Health board suggests some changes to proposed
state septic regulations
Officials seeking funding for Rt. 6 sewer,
water lines
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WRWA expresses concern
over DEP draft amendments to Title V regulations EverythingWestport.com Thursday,
January 26, 2023 By Roberta
Carvalho, Westport River Watershed Alliance's Science
Director. Late in 2022, the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) issued draft amendments to the Title 5
regulations, The Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) has
been studying the proposed new regulations carefully, working with the town
and participating in the review process. First, WRWA applauds DEP for its effort to address
nitrogen pollution from septics on the Cape and in
other “Nitrogen Sensitive Areas” (NSAs). This is critical on the Cape where
algae problems seriously impair many bodies of water. Beyond the Cape, it is
critical to reduce nitrogen levels in ponds, rivers and coastal waters where
levels are higher than what’s acceptable for clean, healthy waters. The Title 5 regulations pertain to septic systems,
and the draft rules offer two options for meeting the nitrogen reduction
goals. Option 1 requires all property owners in the
designated NSAs to upgrade their septic systems (at a cost of $10,000 to
$20,000 each) within a five-year period to incorporate the
“best available nitrogen reducing technology.” We believe Option 1 is totally infeasible for Westport. It would be excessively
costly to property owners, impossible for the Board of Health to administer,
and impractical given limited availability of
installers and the technology. We also have concerns about the vagueness of
the language in the draft regulations regarding “best available
nitrogen-reducing technology.” Option 2 allows a town or towns to apply to DEP
for a “Watershed Permit.” The permit would provide a 20-year time frame to
create and implement an alternative plan to reduce
nitrogen levels, and clearly allows for a more flexible and diverse set of
actions to occur over a more manageable time period. If adopted, the new regulations will immediately
go into effect on Cape Cod, DEP’s top concern. Other areas where nitrogen
levels exceed DEP requirements may be designated Nitrogen Sensitive Areas at
some point in the future and subject to the proposed regulations. Westport
will likely be among those considered. The Town of Westport and WRWA have worked hard in
recent decades to reduce nitrogen loads in both branches of the Westport
River. In the West Branch, the targeted threshold nitrogen concentrations
determined by the standards in Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) have already
been met, and in the East Branch they are very close to being met. We have
urged DEP to incorporate an exemption procedure to allow flexibility for
communities that are meeting the EPA requirements. MassDEP will require
communities that choose Option 2 to achieve results as if all septic systems
had been upgraded. We are asking DEP to allow flexibility and take Westport’s
progress and current initiatives into account. What
is Westport doing? Westport’s current initiatives to attack nitrogen
pollution are considerable. They include: ·
The Board of
Health now requires nitrogen reducing septic systems for all new construction
since January 2022. ·
The Board of
Health requires the upgrade of all cesspools to Title 5 compliant status by
February 2026. ·
The Town
offers 1 percent loans to low- and moderate-income homebuyers to install
nitrogen reducing septic systems. ·
The sewer
plan for Route 6 and nearby neighborhoods in densely populated areas of North
Westport is advancing to the final design phase, and a project manager has
been hired. ·
An updated Targeted
Integrated Water Management Plan has been prepared for the East Branch to
bring it into EPA compliance. ·
The Westport
Land Conservation Trust and its partners have been very active in protecting
environmentally sensitive properties from development to reduce future
nitrogen loading. Concerns
and clarifications While we agree with DEP’s goals, we have a number
of concerns about details of their proposal and are working to get
resolution. Implementation details need clarification, and
some aspects of the draft regulations may not be pertinent for Westport. Our greatest concern, however, is financial: Who
is to pay for either the upgrades to all septic systems in town or, more
likely, the planning and the initiatives Westport might pursue under Option
2? WRWA is committed to working with town and state officials in the hopes
that these costs are not unfairly borne by a minority of individuals.
Accordingly, we are communicating with DEP about our concerns and we will
keep you informed. Article by:
Roberta Carvalho, Westport River Watershed Alliance's Science Director. Note: WRWA officials encourage residents to attend public information
sessions DEP is hosting to learn more, and comment to DEP by the end of the month. For more information,
see www.mass.gov/regulations/310-CMR-15000-septic-systems-title-5
Health board suggests
some changes to proposed state septic regulations EverythingWestport.com Thursday, January 26, 2023 By Robert
Barboza Special to EverythingWestport.com The state Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) recently proposed some new septic system regulations to help restore
the The Westport Board of Health is one of the many
local public health agencies that have been giving in-depth, detailed
feedback to the DEP about the extensive changes to current septic system
regulations (known collectively as Title 5) being proposed. At a Jan. 23 meeting of the Board of Health,
members formally voted to send a multi-page comment letter to the state
agency, citing areas of concern about some parts of the proposed regulations,
and the technical, administrative, and financial reasons why the changes
might pose compliance problems for towns like Westport. While supportive of the long-term goals of the
regional nitrogen-reducing campaign, the Westport board wanted to let the DEP
know it was opposed to some of the proposed regulations “as they are written”
in the DEP draft document, said Board of Health member Phil Weinberg, the
main author of the comment letter. “We are giving a lot of comment to the DEP” on how
a slightly less aggressive program might be a better option for the near
future, Weinberg suggested at the Jan. 23 meeting. At past board meetings, he has
characterized the proposed timelines for compliance as too short for small
communities like Westport to handle. “One time-sensitive option for town-wide
compliance with the new nitrogen-reduction system regulations would have the
Board of Health supervising the installation of over 1,000 new septic systems
per year,” Weinberg explained. “But
the board typically approves plans for less than 200 new installations per
year; local engineers, septic installers, and system component vendors would
simply be unable to meet the demand for timely compliance,” he suggested. Board Chair Tanja Ryden
noted the letter contained a lot of technical language detailing specific
concerns about various details of the proposed regulations. As a former
regional director for the DEP, the now-retired Weinberg “speaks their
language,” Ryden noted, and raised many valid
points about the proposed regulations that current DEP administrators should
consider revising. Ryden added that Westport has been very pro-active about addressing nitrogen
pollution within its borders in recent years, adopting local regulations that
required all new construction in its watershed areas to use nitrogen-reducing
septic technology. More than 80 such
systems have already been installed in Westport, and another 84
denitrification systems are in the process of being permitted or installed,
she pointed out. Regulations requiring high-polluting cesspools to
be upgraded to current Title 5 septic standards by 2026 are also in place,
with the health board launching a big outreach campaign to let residents know
about the compliance deadline. Board members are combing department files to
determine which properties need to be updated, drafting outreach letters,
approving low-interest financing options for property owners. “Even if the bulk of the new state regulations are
adopted, Westport is well positioned to apply for the less-strict watershed
permit option for town-wide compliance with the nitrogen reduction goals in
the DEP proposal.” - Board Chair Tanja Ryden That option will allow the town to follow “a
reasonable, flexible, long-term approach to reducing the nitrogen load in the
Westport River watershed, instead of being subject to the universal five-year
septic upgrade requirement that folks have been hearing about,” she and other
board members wrote in a recent joint letter released to area news media
outlets. The letter to the media explained the problem:
Excess nitrogen in estuaries and embayments causes
algae blooms, dead zones, and fish kills in waterways, and also increases
contamination of the groundwater feeding local wells. A major source of nitrogen is from septic
systems; the greatest offenders are the pre-1970 cesspools that don’t treat
the sewage leaching into the groundwater below. Other sources include agriculture and storm
water runoff carrying away lawn fertilizer. While the Westport River East Branch watershed is
currently above its state-set total maximum daily load (TMDL) for nitrogen,
the town has been taking steps for years to address the contamination sources
and has made good progress to date. If the Westport River watershed is designated as a
Nitrogen Sensitive Area by DEP, there are two options to reduce the nitrogen
load: Either the town develops a plan to reduce the nitrogen load by 75%
within 20 years from its designation (the “watershed permit” option); or
requires that all Title 5 septic systems in the watershed are upgraded within
five years of designation with the best available nitrogen-reducing
technology, the media letter explained. The board’s comment letter to the DEP raises
relevant concerns about over-reaching changes to Title 5, and suggests
Westport would prefer to continue implementing the targeted nitrogen
reduction strategies that they are already pursuing, and would continue under
the watershed permit option. The end result would be the same, with either option...
cleaner water, achieved in a reasonable, manageable way for all involved. Officials seeking funding for Rt. 6 sewer,
water lines EverythingWestport.com Thursday, January 26, 2023 By Robert
Barboza Special to EverythingWestport.com With
design work for a two-phase plan to extend water and sewer lines along Route
6 nearing completion, the town’s new Infrastructure Oversight Committee is
focusing on securing an estimated $7.5 million in funding for the first phase
of the project. Design
work for the first part of the project should be completed and ready for
bidding this fall. That first phase includes running an 18-inch sewer line
for 4,800 feet from the Narrows near the Fall River line to the area of
Washington Street. The gravity-fed line would connect to the existing sewer
line running from the city to White’s of
Westport. Plans call for a pumping
station to be installed around 280 State Road to service an additional 2,400
feet of “force main” sewer line stretching to the Dartmouth line in the
second phase of the $30 million project. The
municipal water line coming from Fall River and currently ending near the
post office on Route 6 would also be extended all the Much
of the discussion at the Nov. 2 meeting of the Infrastructure Oversight
Committee focused on the funding issues involved. One of the first orders of business at the
meeting was a positive vote on Town Administrator Jim Hartnett’s
recommendation that the Select Board hire Roger Fernandes of Fern Corp. of
Raynham to serve as project manager for the undertaking. It
was noted that the consultant could not only supervise the construction of
the municipal sewer and water lines, but also help the town secure the state
and federal grant funding needed to make the project a reality. The position would be paid from state
funding earmarked to help Westport undertake the project, Hartnett said. The
grant-writing services that a consultant could provide became a higher
priority after the committee learned that the town’s first major grant
application, for a state MassWorks development
grant of $5 million, has been denied. The
town has filed an appeal of the decision, and asked for a meeting with state
officials to try to determine exactly why the town’s application was denied
and if there are any different grant programs which could provide some
funding for the project. All
the preliminary planning and design work has been funded by grant money and
development earmarks in the state budget, Hartnett explained. An initial $50,000 state earmark kicked off
the effort, followed by a $380,000 Small Town Program state grant, and local
assignment of $371,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds by the town. Legislators
were able to get another $1 million earmark for Westport in this year’s state
budget to fund the rest of the design work, first and second phase plans and
contract specs, and public bidding documents.
The
oversight committee also got some free advice at the Nov. 2 meeting from
former Dartmouth Town Manager Michael Gagne about how that town financed some
of its past water and sewer projects. Gagne
explained how Dartmouth assessed betterments on property owners, set up a
water commission, and used Dept. of Housing & Community Development
grants to pay for connections to the municipal system by low- and
median-income households. A
number of commercial and residential property owners along Route 6 were also
at the meeting, looking for details on the proposed project and how it might
be funded. “We’re
looking as many places as we can to have federal money and state monies pay
for this (initial phase) sewer line, and not have it all come out of the
taxpayers’ pockets,” Planning Board delegate Robert Daylor
told the property owners present. At
the committee’s last meeting, Daylor noted that all
the engineering and design costs so far have been paid from grant funds and
state appropriations and “has not cost the (Westport) taxpayers a penny.” Committee
Chair Steven Ouellette, the Select Board’s representative to the oversight
committee, said the timetable for public bidding and construction of the
first phase of the project will depend on how soon the town can line up
enough funding to proceed. The
engineering plans and bid documents for both phases are expected to be
completed by January. “We’ve
got to be shovel-ready” to qualify for potential federal infrastructure aid,
expected to be distributed through the state, Ouellette noted. “We need to be ready” with completed plans
and bid specs, he added. -
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