WELLFLEET — The board of health approved a new set of septic system regulations at its Jan. 22 meeting. The rules are an essential part of the town’s Targeted Watershed Management Plan — an effort to meet the state’s demand that the town reduce nitrogen runoff to the harbor.
The watershed plan became a state requirement for Wellfleet when the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) declared the harbor a “natural resource nitrogen sensitive area” in September 2023. Excess nitrogen can lead to a reduction in water quality, harmful algal blooms, periods of low oxygen, and reductions in biodiversity, according to the state’s report on Wellfleet Harbor.
Wellfleet must reduce nitrogen flow into the harbor from its current level of 0.665 mg/L to 0.53 mg/L.
The town’s watershed plan will allow Wellfleet a more gradual path to the cleanup than the alternative — state-mandated action.
The town’s plan will take 20 years to implement and takes into account the development of a sewer system and new wastewater treatment facilities. Without the plan, the state would step in and compel all properties in the watershed to upgrade to individual innovative alternative systems, known as I/A systems, in just five years’ time — by September 2030.
A proposed version of the town’s full watershed plan is still being drafted and is scheduled to go before the select board on Feb. 4. From there, it will be submitted to the DEP.
In the meantime, the town’s new regulations require that homeowners upgrade their septic systems to incorporate “best available nitrogen-reducing technology” systems (also known as BANRT systems) under certain conditions. BANRT systems are those that release only 10 milligrams (or fewer) of nitrogen per liter. That is significantly less nitrogen than is released by state-standard Title 5 systems, whose outflow nitrogen levels average 26 to 42 mg/L, and cesspools, whose nitrogen outflow is 45 to 65 mg/L, according to the New England Water Environment Association.
The sale of a home, some forms of new construction, a change in use of the property, system failure, or the presence of a cesspool would all be reasons the board could require property owners to make the upgrade, though the board may also grant variances on properties because of inadequate space on the property, demonstrated financial hardship, or for other reasons, at its discretion.
The specifics of the conditions have been the subject of public debate and revisions by the board of health since a first draft was posted on the town’s website on Aug. 27, 2024. The revised rules passed by a vote of 4 to 1 at the Jan. 22 meeting, with member Ken Granlund dissenting.
During the meeting, the board opened the floor for public comments and heard mostly criticism of the rules, with Ryan Curley and Michael DeVasto, both members of Wellfleet’s select board, vocal in their opposition.
DeVasto said that while he agreed that the goal of reducing nitrogen in the water was imperative, he wanted a detailed timeline for the sewer district before seeing the new rules approved. Without that timeline, the rollout “is sure to be disorganized, difficult to implement, and extremely inequitable,” he said. Curley agreed.
Board of health chair Nick Picariello said that the board planned on tackling the replacement of cesspools in phases, even though those phases were not enshrined in the regulations themselves.
Picariello also said that the plan was designed to allow flexibility. “We can adjust to anything that comes down the road,” he said, to which DeVasto responded that introducing regulations that you plan to change would hurt early adopters.
Former select board member Kathleen Bacon disagreed with DeVasto and Curley. “I think the horse is out of the barn,” she said. “I wish this was something we had dealt with many years ago.”
Several people wanted clarification on how new construction would trigger an upgrade requirement. DeVasto said that an increase in “conditioned” space could include the addition of a new mudroom or insulating an attic. Wellfleet property owner Carmel Merrick said he thought new construction should be defined as the addition of bedrooms.
“We look at each case individually,” said board of health member Janet Drohan, adding that this was to ensure that upgrades are not onerous. She said that the definition in the rules was supplied by the assistant health and conservation agent, Gary Locke.
The Nitty-Gritty
The sale of a property would trigger a septic upgrade only if the property was not within the proposed sewer district, a map of which was published on the board of health website this month. The sewer district falls under the purview of the town’s select board, which will vote on the district on Feb. 4.
Ownership transfers, such as through a will or a trust, are exempt from the requirement to upgrade septic systems — a change that was made to the initial regulations based on concerns raised at earlier public meetings.
New construction, per the regulations, triggers an upgrade when it increases the habitable or “conditioned” space or the wastewater flow rate on the property, with an exception for repairing buildings built before April 1995. This rule can include both new buildings and some renovations that meet the criteria.
A change in use on a property will trigger an upgrade only if it increases the flow rate of the property.
Property owners with cesspools will have two years after receiving notice from the board of health to remove the cesspools and upgrade their septic systems. For properties within the town sewer district — once that is established — the triggers will compel owners to connect to the sewer rather than upgrade their systems.
The town health dept. is in the process of identifying properties with cesspools and plans to roll out notices in phases so as not to overwhelm the town’s administrative capacity and to ensure that enough engineers are available to complete the work, according to Health Agent Heith Martinez.
