November meeting on septic nitrogen limits

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting in Room 27 at the Wareham Town Hall at 2 p.m. on November 28. The public hearing will discuss new regulations for nitrogen limits in the town, specifically regarding the amount of nitrogen released into the environment from septic systems.  

Earlier in the year, the department set new rules on the amount of nitrogen communities can release into the environment. Municipalities with high nitrogen levels will either have to expand their sewer systems to cover the entire community, or upgrade all septic systems to nitrogen removing systems. 

Wareham narrowly escaped the first phase of the regulation's roll-out, but will be included in Phase 2, Town Administrator Derek Sullivan told the Select Board on Tuesday, October 17. Phase 1 includes Cape Cod. 

The department asked to hold a public meeting in Wareham, and the town helped set up a mutually agreeable date and time, said Sullivan. "I think [the meeting] might be at their own peril, but they want the public meeting.”

Select Board Member Alan Slavin said he believes Wareham will be penalized for the nitrogen produced by other communities further upstream, and will have to remedy that nitrogen's effects on the environment. 

Slavin said the town should come up with an argument to receive compensation for this effect. 

Wareham's Department of Health has voiced concerns about its data, some of which is over 20 years old, with the Department of Environmental Protection, said Sullivan.

He added the department's response to similar concerns on the Cape has been "less than receptive."