WELLFLEET — At a workshop organized by the select board on Feb. 11, the way toward finalizing Wellfleet’s targeted watershed management plan became less murky.
The board invited representatives from Mashpee and Orleans to describe their towns’ recent experiences with wastewater systems planning and development. Discussion followed as board members and former Mashpee Select Board chairman Andrew Gottlieb considered whether and how to account for those lessons in Wellfleet’s watershed plan.
The select board expects the plan to be ready for its review and approval on Feb. 25, according to chair John Wolf.
The resulting conversation covered alternative and complementary approaches to reducing nitrogen in household wastewater and strategies for ensuring a fair and affordable transition to sewer connections for property owners, including those who have already undertaken home improvements or septic upgrades.
“It was a very good meeting, because it clarified a lot of questions that are holding people back in fear,” select board member Sheila Lyons told the Independent afterward. “It’s not as bad as you think it is, and there is a need for adaptive management.”
Select board member Michael DeVasto, who had objected to the timeline of the board of health’s new septic regulations, asked Jared Meader, the Mashpee wastewater superintendent, whether any regulations were put in place before Mashpee’s new sewer district was approved.
“Part of the problem we have here is that the board of health passed pretty aggressive septic regulations, and we don’t actually have a proposed sewer district,” DeVasto said. “Over the time it takes us to finalize our proposed district, how many people are going to wind up having to abandon that system and hook up to the sewer?”
Meader said that Mashpee’s health board had, in fact, enacted upgrade regulations before finalizing a sewer district. He said the rules would be adapted as sewer construction continued.
Meader gave the example of someone who wanted to purchase land two years before the town’s phase-two construction for sewers was to start.
“They have to put in an I/A system anyway, since they’re right next to the Mashpee River,” he said. (I/A stands for “innovative/alternative.”) But the town has permitted the owner to use the home’s upgraded system through its lifespan and get a reprieve on connecting to the sewer, as long as monitoring continues, he explained.
For homeowners who have already invested in an upgraded system here, “something has to be done,” in cases where “the sewer may not be going by for 10 years or more,” Heith Martinez, Wellfleet’s health and conservation agent, told the Independent.
According to the revised board of health regulations, published on the Wellfleet town website on Jan. 22, when a “triggering event” such as new construction occurs, “the existing on-site septic system shall be abandoned, and the property shall be connected to a public sewer if and when such a connection becomes available.”
In cases where a property undergoes a “triggering event” and is still years from connecting to a sewer, Martinez said, the board of health would need to review each case to determine the need for an interim septic system upgrade. In doing so, Martinez said, the board would weigh multiple public health and financial factors.
“What’s the age of the system?” Martinez said. “What type of system is it? How close are the neighbors? What have the well-water tests been in the surrounding area? How far along are we with an actual sewer connection? All of those things will have to be considered.”
DeVasto had previously said that, under the revised septic regulations, home additions such as basement remodeling or accessory dwelling units (ADUs) — even those that would not add bedrooms to a property — would trigger sewer upgrade requirements for homes within the sewer district.
Lyons told the Independent that this interpretation of the rules wasn’t quite right. “The exaggeration was that, if you put a porch on, or if you’re upgrading your bathroom, you’re going to have to do it,” she said, referring to the septic upgrade.
Regarding ADUs, Martinez said that he was reviewing new state regulations — which call for septic regulations on ADUs no stricter than those in state environmental law — with town counsel and with the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection to make sure the board of health’s rules are aligned.
Martinez said that, for some pre-existing septic systems, there is a less expensive alternative to an I/A system upgrade. “For a standard Title 5 system that has a leach field, it’s possible to add a drop-in component that would be the de-nitrification system for that property,” he said. Installing that component could cost half as much as upgrading to an A/I system, Martinez said, which can cost as much as $60,000.
Lyons said the Feb. 11 workshop had clarified for her that the board of health would be prioritizing remedial measures for “failed systems,” including cesspools. Martinez agreed with that assessment. “Failed systems are priority number one,” he said. “As far as remedial measures go, the board of health is going to listen. That’s what they do, and they do a great job of it.”
DeVasto said on Feb. 18 that if the board of health could exercise discretion in requiring an interim septic upgrade in the sewer district, that eased his concerns. But he said he still wanted to see a sewer district plan in place. “Going full bore with I/As as the primary means of nitrogen reduction without a phased implementation is a risky proposition,” he said.
Under the proposed plan and current timeline, Martinez estimated that sewer construction would take between 7 and 12 years.
Straight to the Sewer
The Mashpee and Orleans presentations suggested that those towns intend to meet their targets for nitrogen reduction without depending on innovative/alternative system upgrades as much as Wellfleet’s plan does. Besides building sewers, those towns also plan severaseptic systems.
Meader said that Mashpee planned to install a cluster septic system near Mashpee-Wakeby Pond, a once heavily polluted watershed, to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus leaching there.
Cluster systems are most practical for residential units in a contained area, and some projects in Wellfleet, such as the Lawrence Hill development, plan to adopt one. But Wellfleet’s geography means there are not many opportunities for those.
Compared to other towns, “we’re pretty spread out,” said select board chair Wolf at the workshop, adding that Wellfleet’s greater number of single-family properties also made cluster systems less practical for widespread adoption. “It strikes me from where I sit that some I/A systems are unavoidable no matter what we do,” he said.
The Orleans and Mashpee representatives both said that I/A system maintenance was cumbersome for town employees. Installing an enhanced de-nitrification system, Meader said, requires a Grade 4 wastewater license — the state’s highest-level certification for operators of drinking water systems. “There’s not that many of those out there,” he added.
“There’s no love for these systems,” Lyons said. “They’re not magic bullets.”
From her point of view, Lyons added, that’s a reason to get the sewers underway. “That is why you need those regulations passed,” she said. “If you can get your work started, you would put I/As as part of your system, but it’s the last phase you’re going to look at.”
