More than 470 people packed the Town Hall auditorium on Wednesday, October 19, for a Board of Health public hearing to address proposed regulations to reduce nitrogen emissions into Wareham's waterways.

But no discussion ensued. The meeting was postponed after fire officials determined that, while a line of residents stretched down the hall waiting to get in and more cars entered the Town Hall parking lot, the auditorium was over capacity.

Board of Health Chair Lisa Irish brought the meeting to order nearly a half-hour after it was scheduled to begin, after much discussion with her fellow members and safety officials about how to proceed.

"We clearly have a capacity problem here," town attorney Jason Talerman told attendees before announcing that the meeting would be postponed until a later date when it could be held in the Wareham High School auditorium, which is a larger space.

The announcement was met with booing and yelling from the audience, who had been growing impatient for the meeting to begin.

"We don't think it's fair to the public and we don't think it's safe to hold a hearing tonight," Talerman said.

The new regulations are intended to reduce nitrogen by correcting failed septic systems. New and upgraded systems would be required to meet a nitrogen limit of 12 mg/L.

Additionally, the regulations would allow the Board of Health to charge residents who replace their system an annual $75 monitoring fee for two years following the installation.

The regulation would not require that owners of homes with working septic systems complete an upgrade unless they planned to expand their property and increase their wastewater.

The hearing's high turnout may have been a result of dueling direct mail sent to residents in recent weeks.

A postcard sent by JC Engineering said that the new regulations would require residents to pay $40,000 to upgrade their systems with testing and maintenance to cost an additional $2,000 per year. The mailing encouraged residents to attend the meeting to ask questions about these "costly alternative septic systems."

Selectman Steve Holmes, speaking during the Tuesday, October 18, Board of Selectmen meeting, expressed frustration with that mailing, which he said was causing concern among the town's senior citizens, many of whom live on a fixed income and are under the impression that they will be forced to pay those fees if the regulation is passed.

Another mailing, sent by the nonprofit Buzzards Bay Coalition, encouraged residents to attend the meeting to show support for the new regulations, telling residents the hearing "is your opportunity to tell the Board [of Health] that these regulations are critical to restoring Wareham's waters and must be passed."

Some supporters of the proposed regulations wore bright green stickers with the words "stop nitrogen pollution" in large black type.

The Board of Health has been working on the regulations since April after a bylaw that required that new developments contribute no nitrogen to the watershed was deemed unenforceable and repealed by Town Meeting voters.

In addition to septic systems, nitrogen pollution is caused by fertilizer used on lawns, in cranberry bogs, on golf courses, etc. It's a problem because when nitrogen enters the waterways, it causes invasive species such as algae to grow. Those invasive species then use up all of the oxygen, which causes fish and shellfish to die.

A new public hearing date was not set. It will likely have to wait until after Town Meeting, which begins Monday, October 24, concludes.