05/21/09
Town agrees to cost-sharing arrangement to abate sewer, stormwater runoff
The Town of Cape Elizabeth has entered an agreement with the City of South Portland and the Portland Water District to remedy a combined sewer overflow at the Ottawa Road pump station.
Combined sewer overflows are discharges of untreated wastewater
from municipal sewerage systems that carry mixtures of sanitary sewage, storm water, and sometimes industrial wastes, according to a report published by the state Department of Environmental Protection, "Maine Combined Sewer Overflow 2008 Status Report".
Large volumes of water entering sewer systems through catch basins, old and leaky pipes, roof drains, cellar drains, sump pumps, and
other sources cause the capacity of the system to be exceeded, the report says, and hydraulic relief points allow the excess flows to be discharged. These relief points are generally near pump stations and river crossings.
Cape Elizabeth is considered a "Combined Sewer Overflow Community" because of overflow occuring at the Ottawa Road pump station.
An 8-inch overflow out of the final manhole at Drew Road allows discharges into Casco Bay during extreme wet weather events, the agreement says. The report recorded 11 overflow discharge events there in 2008.
The agreement, approved by the Town Council at their meeting May 11, provides for Cape Elizabeth to share costs of meeting conditions of a DEP license for combined sewer overflow, and for a study to determine where the flows are coming from. South Portland would be responsible for a third of the cost, and the remaining two thirds would be the responsibility of Cape Elizabeth and of the Portland Water District, which is conducting the study along with Wright-Pierce engineers.
The study, said Town Manager Michael McGovern, will attempt to find the sources of infiltration, and explore solutions for addressing them.
The cost of the entire project is unknown, McGovern said, but, "this has the potential to be well in excess of $1 million," McGovern said at the meeting. "This is not an insignificant issue," he said.
Based on preliminary analysis of where the flows are coming from, McGovern called the agreement a very fair allocation to the Town of Cape Elizabeth. "Most of the flow that comes to this area comes from Cape Elizabeth," he said.
In the meantime, Cape Elizabeth is doing what it can to alleviate combined sewer overflows as funds are available through the town's sewer fund. He cited a recent example of pipe replacement at the end of Oakhurst Road near Shore Road.
Under the state's Combined Sewer Overflow permit, the town will be obliged to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s Nine Minimum Control Best Management Practices; develop a long-term control plan to eliminate or abate overflows, and implement the plan as to comply with the EPA’s April 8, 1994 Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy.
Deadlines are still being discussed with the DEP, McGovern said. "This could be potentially a very expensive challenge for the Town of Cape Elizabeth," he said.
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