In listening to consultant Kent Nichols Jr. of Weston & Sampson, Inc. review Marion’s 20-year Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan during the town’s final informational workshop on the CWMP held January 12, Select Board Chairman Randy Parker asked, “How are we going to do all this and increase our outfall permit?”
The permit piece, said Nichols, is inflow related. Nitrogen, he said, is the driver of Marion’s permitting application.
The town has submitted a new application for more capacity, pitching the need to mitigate nitrogen and thusly applied for an increased flow in the renewed permit. As of now, Marion falls into the less-than-1,000,000 gallons per day category. The town’s permit was set to expire at the beginning of December.
Marion’s National Pollution Discharge (NPDES) Small General Permit status and related financial strategy were discussed at the final workshop.
Parker clarified his concern that without an increased outflow permit, the capital projections discussed would grow every five 20 years and could eventually double. Nichols did not debate the point but thinks doubling that amount is stretching the point.
The comment period for Marion to challenge the state’s categorization of the town expires on January 25. Together with legal counsel, town officials are formulating comments to the southeast region of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I think we can make a pretty good argument to that effect,” said Nichols, noting that the comment period is open to the public as well.
The expiring permit was associated with the old flow capacity. Nichols said the conversation with EPA is ongoing, and the permit decision could take six months to unfold.
Meantime, the goal of the Weston and Sampson study is to come up with a 20-year plan. In reviewing Marion’s Collection System, Nichols identified the main concern as infiltration/inflow (I/I) mitigation.
The town has invested $150,000 over the last four years on research and guidance. The $200,000 being annually invested for treatment is something Nichols said Marion will continue to need to budget.
Nichols pointed out that nitrogen is a concern in 11 areas either coastal or along tributaries that lead to the harbor. He identified six of those areas as being eligible for sewer connections, albeit at a high cost and over a number of years.
Nichols also referenced the state’s new nitrogen regulation. Marion is not in the first wave of requirement (Cape Cod will be first), but the intent of the program is to upgrade every septic system affecting a nitrogen-sensitive area within the next five years.
Massachusetts municipalities can opt for a 20-year watershed-management approach, Nichols said. In finding other ways to mitigate nitrogen, towns theoretically can stop the clock on the five-year timeframe.
For Marion, a plan to extend sewer in those six nitrogen-sensitive areas would be key to such a mitigation plan. Nichols said there are other options to consider.
The six unsewered areas are: River Road/Wareham Road (Route 6), Aucoot Creek/Lower Mills Street, Planting Island, Lower Sippican and Wings Cove/Piney Point. Sewer extensions to those areas would cost $24,000,000, but Nichols said the costs can be spread out over time. Planting Island, said Nichols, could come into consideration for a regional system servicing all of its residences, but that is not the ideal.
“Those things, they may come into play. We may need to look at those, but our hope is maybe we have an overall solution that works for everybody right now,” said Nichols.
While acknowledging the fact $30,000 or $40,000 in septic upgrades is a staggering per-home cost, Nichols pointed to betterment costs 15 years ago ranging between $16,000 and $22,000. Those costs, he suggested, would be significantly higher today than the current price points on denitrification systems.
The 20-year plan will include a $12,600,000 program to upgrade sewer pumping stations, including Creek Road ($2,600,000), $6,000,000 invested in major renovations or outright replacements of four other stations and $2,000,000 for upgrades in other stations. The program also calls for $2,000,000 for force-main evaluations and improvements; it does not include the second Front Pumping Station force main.
Citing the financial challenge of funding Creek Road station by October, Nichols pointed to grant-funding opportunities. Munafo said the town is seeking the full amount of construction cost via the Hazard Mitigation Plan grant, a 90% grant. Marion will learn at the end of this month if it has made it to the second round of cuts, according to Munafo. The final word would come in early spring.
Where it concerns the town’s Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), Weston and Sampson produced five alternatives for Marion’s consideration.
Process-improvement options ranged from Optimization would cost $11,000,000 to $13,000,000 in capital, but the lingering option of regionalization with the Town of Wareham would cost Marion $76,000,000 in related capital projects, along with an annual $1,480,000. The 20-year worth of regionalization is projected at $98,000,000.
“One thing we don’t want to do is go back to just throwing all the sludge in the lagoon because at some point, you’re going to have another very expensive project on your hands,” warned Nichols.
Marion just completed a $13,000,000 clean-up project on its Wastewater Treatment Plant lagoon.
The facility itself needs $4,500,000 in process improvements, $6,300,000 in ancillary improvements and $2,000,000 in biosolids-related improvements. Costly chemicals to treat phosphorus add back to sludge, so Nichols recommends some of the future sludge is hauled away.
Nichols said the total $50,000,000 in capital improvements needs to be spread out over a number of years.
He considers the biggest question facing town officials to be how to do the sewer extensions and how that relates to the permitting process.
Between Heron Cove Estates (120 units), Matt Zuker’s 48-unit project at 78 Wareham Road and 82 units associated with River Road and Route 6, Marion is looking at 250 new sewer connections at 34,700 gallons of flow per day.
In addition to whatever revenue is realized via connection charges, Weston and Sampson estimated $250,000 in annual user charges.
The source of nitrogen in coastal harbors has been debated recently. Nichols believes septic systems are very high contributors.
Select Board members Norm Hills asked if Marion’s wastewater can become reusable. Nichols said in Florida and the southwest United States wastewater is used for irrigation. Doing so locally could lessen discharge, but the practice does not affect permitting, which is linked to the full capacity.
The next step for the Select Board is to schedule a public hearing on the CWMP Recommended Plan, finalize permit-related discussions with the EPA and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and begin implementation of CWMP regulations.
The final draft of the CWMP will be posted at marionma.gov, along with an executive summary.
Marion Select Board
By Mick Colageo