ORONO, Maine — As town leaders in Orono and Veazie prepare for meetings about the sometimes controversial water supply, the longtime Orono-Veazie Water District superintendent has decided to retire.
Superintendent Dennis Cross said this week that he will leave at the end of the year and it has nothing to do with a vocal group of concerned residents calling for infrastructure changes to improve the water supply.
“It’s something that the board and I have actually bounced around for the last few years,” Cross said. “It’s just time for me to move on to new adventures.”
He managed the local water company that owned the district before it was formed on Dec. 10, 1976, and he was hired as superintendent.
“I have been in the public eye for quite some time. This is not the first time,” Cross said. “When is a good time? There are some things I would like to be free to do, that my wife and I would like to be free to do.
“I’ve enjoyed serving the Orono community. I enjoyed the work I’ve done,” he said.
The group of concerned residents started asking in December 2013 for the district to improve the water supply after hearing from a group of student nurses about high levels of disinfection byproducts called trihalomethanes, a suspected carcinogen, detected at the University of Maine’s Memorial Union, one of the district’s testing sites.
Trihalomethanes, or THMs, are a group of four chemical compounds, including chloroform, that form when chlorine used to kill bacteria reacts with naturally occurring organic matter, such as decaying leaves, algae and human or animal waste.
Last December, the district was under a consent order for exceeding the THM limit in 2012 issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has set a limit of 80 parts per billion for THMs in public drinking water supplies.
The water district took a dozen steps to reduce levels last year and the federal consent order was lifted in February.
The work was not enough for the concerned residents who started an online petition and held a silent pajama protest at the Oct. 15 Orono-Veazie Water District meeting by bringing their sleepwear-clad children.
The group is collecting petition signatures from residents in both communities through the group’s website to request a “comprehensive plan to substantially improve the quality of our water.” The petition was presented to Orono town leaders last week and is scheduled to be given to Veazie town leaders on Nov.17.
“We know citizens are concerned and town leaders are taking matters seriously,” Veazie Town Manager Mark Leonard, who also is the police chief, said Thursday. “We will be working closely with the town of Orono to make certain the two communities’ actions are in line with each other as this process moves forward.”
Because the water district was established by the state Legislature, the Orono Town Council cannot order the panel to take action.
The “Council is not governed by any formal charter or ordinance procedure in a situation where community members are requesting that the Council take specific action,” Town Manager Sophie Wilson said in a council agenda memo.
Cross said that the only role the town councils have is to appoint board members.
“They’ve shared thoughts, concerns, ideas and stuff like that but the district functions on its own,” the superintendent said. “We don’t get any tax dollars.”
When the petition was presented to the Orono council, the board decided to forward it to the community development committee, which is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, in the Orono council chambers.
The water district board, which has the final say in who is selected to fill Cross’ shoes, soon will advertise for the position.
“One of the things I have enjoyed about the work is the variety,” the departing water superintendent said. “You go from financial stuff to community stuff to mechanical stuff in the infrastructure. I’ve always found it a very interesting profession.”