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Proposal Targets Coastal Sewage Outflows

January 26, 2010 - It has been one of the hidden costs of Maine's rockbound coast: homes and businesses with little or no soil for standard septic systems.

The result is more than 1,300 miniature sewage treatment systems, each with a pipe that sends the wastewater into a river or coastal waters.

Now, Maine lawmakers hope to eliminate many of the so-called overboard discharge systems with a combination of tighter rules and additional financial assistance. Supporters say the effort would better protect water quality and let the state reopen shellfish beds that are routinely closed around the waste outfalls.

"If there is an overboard discharge, even if it's functioning correctly, by law the state has to declare a closed zone around that (discharge)," said Sebastian Belle, director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, which represents businesses that grow mussels, oysters and other seafood. "Our biggest asset, from a business point of view, is the water quality we have in this state."

Some property owners, however, are warning lawmakers that it is sometimes impossible or too expensive to get rid of the waste any other way.

Overboard discharges are licensed and monitored by the state, and typically involve a series of tanks that filter and disinfect the waste before discharging it.

Many were installed years ago. Theoretically, some could now be replaced if places could be found to install septic systems, or if they could be hooked up to municipal sewer systems, state officials said.

"There are about 1,350 remaining (overboard discharges). About 40 percent of all of those have options," said Andrew Fisk, director of the Bureau of Land & Water Quality in the Department of Environmental Protection.

A state fund helps property owners replace overboard discharge systems at an average cost of $11,000. But that fund now has just $230,000, and state officials estimate the overall cost to be $9 million, Fisk said.

The bill before the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee would add a low-interest loan program in hopes of speeding up the effort.

It would reserve the grants for primary residences. Owners of vacation homes would be required to install alternatives at their own expense.

If the bill passes, any property owners who have practical alternatives will have to replace their overboard discharge systems whenever they make significant expansions or renovations. They already must do it before selling a property, and state officials reassess the possibility of alternatives every five years.

A separate section of the bill would require marinas to keep their sewage disposal equipment accessible and affordable, to discourage boaters from emptying their tanks in coastal waters.

Rep. David Webster, D-Freeport, is among the lawmakers supporting the bill. Clam diggers in Casco Bay regularly have to avoid closed areas, sometimes because of the overboard discharges.

"With the support of the state, we may be able to open some of these flats again," Webster said during a recent legislative hearing.

Rep. Thomas Watson, D-Bath, has told lawmakers that solving the problem isn't always that simple.

Watson lives on a ridge above the Kennebec River, and he and his next-door neighbor share an overboard discharge system that treats and disinfects the water with chlorine before discharging it into the river. There are no sewers nearby and no soil for a septic system, he said.

"The technology has not caught up with us yet. We're stuck with what we have," he said. "It can't force us to do something we can't do."

Bob Smith, owner of the Sebasco Harbor Resort, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to consider whether the benefits of removing a discharge system outweigh the costs.

It would cost him $500,000 to install an alternative disposal system for the inn if he decided to sell it, and it wouldn't allow any clam flats to be reopened, he wrote.

Smith, who is on vacation and could not be reached, is expected to meet with the committee this month when it debates the bill. That session has yet to be scheduled.

Fisk, of the DEP, said the bill recognizes that some property owners don't have a practical alternative. Those systems would be allowed to remain, he said.

"We think there's going to something like 500 or 600 of these that are going to be there for a long time," he said. "They are sitting on granite."

By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 24, 2010


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford, Mid Coast, Downeast


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