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HomeMy Public PortalAboutWWMSC MINUTES 2005-06-09 WMSC ASTEWATER ANAGEMENT TEERING OMMITTEE Minutes of June 9, 2005 A meeting of the Wastewater Management Steering Committee was called to order at 10:00 a.m. in Meeting Room Members Present: A, Orleans Town Hall. Augusta McKusick (Board of Health); Robert Rich (Board of Water Commissioners); John Hinckley (Board of Selectmen); Judith Bruce (Conservation Commission); Charlie Ashby (Finance Committee); Sims McGrath (Planning Board); George Meservey (Planning Director). Also Present:Selectmen:Town Administrator: Jon Fuller, David Dunford, Margie Fulcher and Mark Carron; Assistant Town Administrator:Health Agent:Tri-Town Plant: John Kelly; Myra Suchenicz; Bob Canning; Jay Citizen's Advisory CommitteeDirector of Finance: Burgess; : Paul O’Connor and André Yager; David Withrow. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION: Judith Bruce,John Hinckley On a motion by seconded by , the Committee voted to approve the minutes of May 19, 2005. VOTE: 3-0-0 The motion passed unanimously . OLD BUSINESS Committee Reports Board of Selectmen - Hinckley stated the Board of Selectmen have had discussions about wastewater issues, and support the Wastewater Management Steering Committee’s efforts. Board of Health - McKusick reported the following: Mike Giggey from Wright-Pierce will be meeting with the Board of Selectmen on August 3, 2005 regarding  the Tri-Town Study. The Requests for Proposals for the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan are due back in the Town  Administrator’s office at the Orleans Town Hall on June 10, 2005 @ 4:00 p.m. and will be available to the Wastewater Management Steering Committee members for their review early next week. The July 23, 2005 Wastewater Management Steering Committee meeting will be used to review the  proposals for the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan. The July 5 & 6, 2005 Wastewater Management Steering Committee meetings will be used for interviewing  consultants. There was a meeting at the Statehouse on June 8, 2005 regarding checkerboarding for septic systems. It was  a positive meeting and the idea is to give towns options to build the plants they need. Planning Department –Meservey stated the Planning Board is dealing with issues regarding the relationship of village center planning vs. The Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan. A speaker from the APCC will talk to the Planning Board regarding visioning and what residents want to see in the downtown area. Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 1 Citizen's Advisory Committee – Andre Yager stated the Citizen's Advisory Committee is in the process of working on a timeline for presentation to the Wastewater Management Steering Committee. OLD BUSINESS Presentation by Michael Giggey (Wright-Pierce) on the Tri-Town Study Giggey stated this project has been presented in a series of letters to make it easier to understand each topic. Giggey stated this meeting will review the letter from Wright-Pierce dated June 6, 2005, entitled “Findings and Recommendations”. Giggey stated the community has a valuable asset in the form of a regional septage treatment facility. The Town is embarking on comprehensive wastewater management planning. There is growth across the Cape and in the District towns and the lower Cape towns with increasing septage. Eventually there will be liquid sludge from satellite cluster and some centralized wastewater treatment plants. Types of uses for the Tri-Town Plant Property 1. Septage 2. Wastewater 3. DPW Facilities Giggey stated that while working on this project, they mentally separated the wastewater treatment function from wastewater disposal. Giggey stated there are transport costs in wastewater. Findings and recommendations Conditions of Existing Facilities Giggey stated the Tri-Town is well run and routinely meets the DEP Groundwater Discharge Permit requirements. The plant has been subject to close control costs, so the fees charged are competitive. Giggey stated that most of the tankage and equipment was put in place in the 1980’s and after 16 years is starting to show some wear. The plant was upgraded in the 1990’s, the second phase started up in 1997. The facilities were in pretty good shape in the 1990’s, so the focus should be on the older facilities. There are three areas of concern: 1. Septage Receiving – where the raw materials are taken in and those are mostly gritting and screening issues from high wear and tough service. 2. Septage dewatering – liquid material is turned into a sludge cake, this also involves tough service. 3. Rotating biological contactors Quantities of Liquid Sludge & Septage Giggey explained the definition of septage as the liquid sludge that is pumped from everyone’s septic system. The plant has been near capacity by bringing in non-district towns. That has a negative environmental impact in terms of nutrients brought into Orleans, but it is financially positive for the district towns. The quantities of liquid sludge for the district are currently at 5.7 million gallons per year, and it is projected to go to 10-11 million gallons per year. The capacity of the plant is 12-14 million gallons per Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 2 year. With full buildout, it looks like the plant has got enough capacity to continue to serve the three district towns. With buildout, you may have to turn away loads from other towns, or look into expanding the plant. The plant is permitted for 45,000 gallons per day. It is possible that the plant could be turning customers away in the summer because the plant is at its capacity, but in the middle of the winter, there is not enough to hit the capacity. With calculated management of the loads, you can get more out of the plant. Effluent Disposal Giggey stated parcels 1 and 1A were designated at town meetings for prospective public works functions. There are some upland areas at the Tri-Town site that could be used for effluent disposal. There is a precedent (in Provincetown) to use Mass Highway land for effluent disposal. Mounding When the groundwater rises up underneath the soil, it is called mounding. It is a State requirement (and good practice) that the mound doesn’t get any closer than four feet from the bottom of the bed. The higher the loading rate, the higher the mound, you have to balance those things. The Wright- Pierce sub-consultant (GZA) did a quick numerical model and determined that at this location, with these beds we would see a mound less than ten feet. Fortunately, the depth to groundwater is 40-50 feet. There would still be tens of feet of separation and we only need four. That conclusion was verified by USGS in the regional modeling. United States Geological Service Giggey stated that USGS predicts that the plume that is just barely getting to Namskaket Marsh now, will eventually (in 100 years) seek Cape Cod Bay in a wide area. The Massachusetts Estuaries Project is looking at the impact of more effluent groundwater on Namskaket Creek. Rich asked, “what is the average nitrate discharge expected?” Giggey responded that the plant is constrained to be less than 50 ppm milligrams per liter and the plant has been in the 20’s and low 30’s. Giggey stated that the early word from the Estuaries project is that the watersheds in town that are likely to be most sensitive to nitrogen are probably Pleasant Bay watersheds, Town Cove and the Nauset system are in the middle, and the least sensitive might be the Cape Cod Bay. The plume from the Tri-Town Plant does not impact the Town Cove. Four step process 1. Surface area– You need to have enough surface area if you are going to get 5 gallons per day per square feet. 2. Mounding – You need to make sure that the groundwater underneath the application area does not mound up. 3. Direction of Flow – You need to make sure that you don’t cause the plume to go to the wrong estuary, or to public or private water supply wells. 4. What happens when plume gets there – What are the impacts? Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 3 Wastewater treatment Giggey talked about options for a wastewater treatment site. Giggey stated that a wastewater treatment plant treats the liquid and generates the sludge that has to be handled as well. With some minor modifications the Tri-Town Plant could take the septage that comes in trucks, as well as the sludge generated from the wastewater treatment plant. The cost of the wastewater treatment plant could be somewhat less than putting it somewhere else. Public Works Function Giggey showed various plans with options for the public works function and compost shed. Giggey stated that town wide the annual average for wastewater volumes are about 900,000 gallons per day. Giggey noted that a major concern is the peak day water use of 3,000,000 gallons in the summer. The Town Cove Watershed in total now generates about 190,000 gallons of wastewater annual average. Giggey said he looked at 100% commercial and 20% non-commercial portion of that and came up with 120,000 gallons. Giggey stated that 120,000 gallons per day is his estimate of the annual average of wastewater generation rates in the “downtown” (commercial and some residential). Reasons for Upgrading the Tri-Town Facility 1. Extend life of the septage treatment facility- Much of the facility is almost 20 years old and needs to have money spent on it to extend its life (for 20 years) at an estimated cost of approximately $1.8 million. Wright-Pierce has worked with the Tri-Town staff to come up with a list of priorities, so this could be phased in over time. 2. Effluent Discharge is currently constrained to be no higher than 50 mg per liter– Groundwater Discharge Permits that are being issued now are for 10 mg per liter (which is now the standard). It is possible that the town might need to expand the facility to meet a more stringent nitrogen level? By taking some existing filters and converting them into denitrification filters, it might be possible to do it for $250,000. This is an item that may come, but it may not be nearly as expensive as dealing with the dewatering or some of the other items. 3. Capacity – In some cases septage quantities increase faster than expected, and the Board of Managers may want to bring in Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet as partners. This might be an opportunity to benefit the whole region. There is more money required to upgrade the plant to extend its life for 20 years, then it is to add a ⅓ capacity and deal with a more stringent nitrogen level. Jay Burgess stated that business is turned away weekly in the summer due to the 45,000 gallons per day limit. 4. Build a wastewater treatment plant – The cost of building a wastewater treatment plant would be approximately $7-9 million. Odor Control Giggey indicated that odors can be controlled with careful management at the plant. Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 4 Permitting requirements 1 Renewal of the DEP Groundwater Discharge Permit which expires in 2007 –Brian Howes with the information from the Massachusetts Estuaries Project will have determined whether the 50 mg per liter allowable discharge that occurs today will still be sufficiently protective of Namskaket Creek. It may be determined that the allowable amount may need to be reduced. 2. Site Assignment- When you locate a waste treatment facility or a landfill in Massachusetts, there is a major notification process that needs to be undertaken to set the land aside for this purpose. Information is put into the registered documents as notification that this land is set aside forever for waste purposes. If it is a landfill, it is a permitting process through the Board of Health, if it is a waste treatment facility, like septage or wastewater it’s MGL Chapter 83, Section 6 done by DEP. If you are going to put a wastewater facility here or increase the flow of the septage plant, you are definitely going to have to go through the Site Assignment process again. 3. Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) – Facilities like this that involve effluent disposal will need to go through the requirements of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. That is one of the tasks that is laid out in the Scope of Work in the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan Recommendations Tri-Town Staff - There is an excellent record keeping system in place at the Tri-Town Plant for the past 10 years. This record keeping is necessary for the evaluation that has been done by Wright-Pierce and also for billing purposes. It is necessary to annually summarize where the materials came from, and look at it from the point of view of gallons per year per capita. There will be more people and they will be pumping more often. Barnstable County – The County needs to manage information Cape wide on population and other septic facilities. Board of Managers – There are two ways to move ahead. There can be a multi-year phased in approach to make the improvements (some of which need to be started immediately, and some can wait until information is obtained on how stringent the groundwater discharge permit is going to be, and whether there might be a need for an expansion), Plan A – Use the tipping fees from three towns; Plan B – Bring in other towns, try to get some long term contracts with Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown and possibly others, and approach it as a business venture where people can buy in, and be assured of capacity. There can be incentives, including seasonal pricing to space out the impacts of loads. Town of Orleans - Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan - The important message from this study is that if there is a need for wastewater facilities, treatment of disposal, you really should look at the Tri-Town Site, as well as other sites based on their pros and cons. It is important to monitor the availability of adjacent land, including Mass Highway land. Both the Town and the Board of Managers need to get together and make sure that close attention is paid to the Estuaries Study. A lot is based on good soil sample information. The Board of Managers should be aware that the Permit may be more stringent when it comes out in 2007. It is possible that it could be reduced to 10 mg per liter or maybe even 5 mg per liter. Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 5 It must be a very high priority that odor control be maintained. The budget should never be cut for this item. If something should happen that causes odors, it could impact the town’s abilities to locate a satellite treatment plant somewhere else. Comments and Questions: John Kelly asked Giggey to make a presentation to the Tri-Town Board. Kelly commented that the District has no authority to borrow money to do any construction. Any debt service that would have to be issued would require a vote of all three towns, and this further complicates the planning process. Kelly stated we have been very successful to this point using operating revenues to pay for replacement of equipment that we can afford to do without having to borrow any money. Kelly indicated there has been difficulty in the past trying to get other towns involved. In the summertime, the three district towns have priority, in the wintertime the plant has a 5 cent sale to try and bring in additional flow. There is an agreement with Ocean Edge in Brewster to bring in a large flow in the wintertime. Kelly stated he would need to get advice from Town Counsel on how far the plant can go in contracting out. Kelly stated the property has been divided up under the new Inter-Municipal Agreement so that the Town of Orleans has sole control over Parcel 1 and Parcel 1A, and the District only has control over the facility. The land remains th Orleans property and the Agreement is for 10 years, but after 8 years the Town can provide notice and in the 10 year it would cease to be a District, or the Town of Orleans can decide it wants to extend the Agreement by two year intervals. The entire site totals 26 acres and is owned by the Town of Orleans. Kelly state the Inter-Municipal Agreement does not provide for borrowing. According to the Agreement, capital expenses are to be paid by the three member towns equally; operating expenses are paid proportionately to the amount of septage brought to the plant by each member town. Kelly expressed his skepticism at the District having the ability to borrow money and then the towns would be liable for the debt. Kelly said currently the three towns have full control over how much is borrowed, the length of time it is borrowed for, and the terms. This has worked out well, and the so far the only money that has been borrowed has been for the original construction and costs related to the upgrade. Margie Fulcher urged caution in going forward with this project and stated there are preconceived notions in the town about sewers. Giggey commented on the wealth of information that the Town of Orleans has already compiled getting ready for this process, and noted that other towns are not as prepared as Orleans. Mark Carron expressed concern over the lack of information from the other District towns and noted that they seem to be expecting Orleans to solve the problems that come up. The other towns also seem to want a 20-year extension of time to make decisions. Jay Burgess stated his agreement with Giggey and commented that his focus is on finding out what the plant needs to go on as it as for 20 more years. Bob Canning noted that there have been few calls to the Health Department regarding odors or noise from the Tri- Town Plant, and suggested that this should be noted by Wright-Pierce in the final recommendations. Canning noted that care needs to be taken to correct any misconceptions from the residents about the groundwater in this area. Giggey stated that Namskaket Marsh receives about 10,000 lbs per year from Orleans in total, 3,000 of which comes from the Tri-Town Plant (½of that comes from other towns). There is an extensive watershed that extends into Brewster, so if there is 10,000 lbs in total (7,000 from septic systems and 3,000 from the Tri-Town Plant), there is probably 15,000 or 20,000 lbs per year from Brewster. Giggey asked if Brian Howes says there is a problem with Namskaket Creek, whose problem is it, the Tri-Town District, the Town of Orleans or the Town of Brewster? Meservey suggested that DEP needs to hand down a mandate that the other town share in the responsibility for the Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 6 protection of these watersheds, otherwise it will be very difficult to get some towns to move ahead and do their fair share. O'Connor stated that the Town will be getting some direction from the Estuary Project shortly that is not going to say put more nitrogen in, it’s going to say take nitrogen out. O’Connor expressed concern about bringing in nitrogen from other towns. O’Connor said that nine years ago when the Orleans Comprehensive Plan was being prepared, Tri Town was identified as the site for future sewerage facilities in the Town, but there are other places to build this type of facility. O’Connor expressed concerns about sewerage from other towns polluting our coastal waters, and later the Town will have to spend money to remove nitrogen that we are now buying. McKusick stated she does not totally agree with all that O’Connor stated and that there are some misinterpretations which can be addressed at a later time. McKusick thanked Mike Giggey for an excellent report. The meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen C. Sharpless Recording Secretary Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – June 9, 2005 Page 7