MACHIAS, Maine — For the past 30 years, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has been pushing Machias to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant.
“We’ve had upgrades in the past,” Town Manager Chris Loughton said Friday. “But whenever we have a major rain event, it still overflows.” The water runs into the Machias River estuary. Area residents and fisheries experts have been extremely concerned about the overflow’s effect on the environment and, in particular, the clam population in Machias Bay.
A study in 2008-2009 by Jacqueline Corbett and William Otto of the University of Maine at Machias involved taking water samples at three locations downstream from the plant in May through December 2008.
The results showed very low levels of phosphates, nitrites and nitrates for all samplings. The recommended level of nutrients in estuaries and coastal ecosystems is below 0.01 milligrams per liter of phosphorus and below 0.1 mg/L of nitrogen. The study samples never exceeded these levels, but were below them for several sam-ples, including the salinity level.
Now, with a $6 million federal stimulus package, upgrades at the facility are planned and have been placed out to bid.
Loughton said the upgrades would include creating better capability for handling tidal issues. He said the water is pushed up into the system during higher tides, compromising its integrity.
With the upgrade to the plant under way, the town is ready to proceed with a two-phase sewer expansion project.
Loughton explained to the Machias Board of Selectmen this week that the expansion will take place on the east side of the dike over the Middle River.
He said Phase 1, which would extend the sewer from downtown to Varney’s Insurance Agency a short distance from the dike, would cost $985,000 and would include a pumping station. The funding for the project will be covered through grants.
“This will be at no cost to the Machias taxpayers,” he said.
Phase 2 of the project would continue the extension east to the East Machias town line and install a second pumping station.
That phase would cost about $1.3 million and funding is being sought through the DEP and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.
Selectmen were concerned that any extension will become complicated by the Maine Department of Transportation’s plans to rebuild the dike over the Middle River. There are two options for the reconstruction: remove the dike and the tidal gates and build a bridge or reconstruct the dike with the tidal gates intact.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” Selectman Norman Nelson said. “Everything depends on how that dike project is handled.” The Machias selectmen have sent a letter to DOT asking that the tidal gates, or flappers, remain in the dike.
Loughton said the town would have to wait until the DOT has made a decision about the dike before making any expansion plans.
Meanwhile, the board is considering policy decisions that would affect homeowners and businesses in the expansion area.
Loughton said the town’s current sewer ordinance requires hookup to the public system only when a private system fails. The board may opt to require hooking into the public system within a certain amount of time after it is available.
“Let’s face it, there is no sense going all the way to East Machias if no one is going to hook up,” Chairman Aubrey “Skip” Carter said.
He said that some homeowners could face a hefty expense. “Many of the homes over there have septic systems out back [of their houses],” he said. “To tie into our system, they will have to switch all their plumbing to go out the front.”
In other business this week, the selectmen:
— Awarded the contract to print 800 copies of the town report to Albison’s Printing of Augusta at $1,574. It was one of five companies bidding.
— Discussed suspending the tree planting project because an $8,000 grant received last fall calls for a 50 percent match. Some planting has been completed, and the 50 percent match for expenses has been received.
— Signed quitclaim deeds for two tax-acquired properties after a lien holder and a property owner paid all back taxes in full. Of the four properties in question, one was discovered abandoned and the second one is occupied. Both will be placed for sale.