Orleans' Wastewater Management Primer
A Brief Summary of 30 Years of Wastewater Management Planning
- Many people move to Orleans and assume their wastewater is taken away and treated just like it probably was where they came from. That is not true. Orleans does not have a municipal sewer system. There are some decentralized private wastewater treatment systems (ex. Community of Jesus, Skaket Corners and Stop & Shop), and the Orleans Town Hall has an innovative alternative (I/A) treatment system.
- Most of our businesses and residences treat wastewater with Title V systems; some still have cesspools. Title V systems treat for pathogens, but do not remove a significant amount of nitrogen or phosphorus.
- It is nitrogen that moves from our Title V systems through the groundwater to our saltwater embayments providing excess nutrients for algae to grow. Phosphorus moves more slowly through groundwater and becomes the fertilizer for algae in our freshwater ponds.
- When algae grows in abundance, it shades the water column so that plant life on the bottom cannot survive. During the day, sunlight encourages algae growth. At night, the algae respires pulling oxygen from the water column. When the algae dies, the decay process consumes oxygen from the water often causing fish kills and muddy bottoms.
- Since the 1960s the water quality of freshwater ponds and saltwater estuaries of Orleans has incurred significant degradation.
- 1982: Meetinghouse Pond closed to shell fishing because of pollution from road runoff. (re-opened in ’95). This was a “wake-up call” to alert us that we need to protect our waters.
- 1985: Formation of Friends of Pleasant Bay (FOPB).
- 1986: Formation of Friends of Meetinghouse Pond, our first pond group.
- 1987: Formation of Orleans Marine and Freshwater Quality Task Force.
- 1987: ACEC (Areas of Critical Environmental Concern), a state designation to protect environmentally sensitive areas, went into effect in Pleasant Bay and Cape Cod Bay.
- 1998: Formation of Pleasant Bay Alliance, inter-municipal agreements between the towns of Orleans, Harwich and Chatham to create a plan for the protection of Pleasant Bay. Brewster later joined.
- 2000: Wastewater Management Steering Committee (WMSC) formed to work with town staff and consultant, Wright Pierce, to draft a wastewater management plan for Orleans.
- 2001: Water quality sampling started at select stations in Pleasant Bay.
- 2003: Formation of Orleans Pond Coalition, joining pond and neighborhood groups and individuals.
- 2000-2009: Work of the WMSC continued with research, analysis and numerous public forums.
- 2008: Summer workshops held by WMSC to solicit opinions from residents about three alternative plans for wastewater treatment.
- 2008: Draft Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP) adopted by voters at October town meeting.
- 2008: Board of Selectmen established Wastewater Management Validation and Design Committee to review MEP (Massachusetts Estuary Project) report on Pleasant Bay.
- 2009: The Town contracted with Woods Hole Group to peer review the MEP report on Pleasant Bay. They determined that the MEP report provides "a strong foundation for developing a course of action."
- 2010: County Wastewater Collaborative hired consultants CH2M HILL to review Orleans' CWMP. They gave CWMP an A- grade.
- 2011: CWMP granted approval by Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA).
- 2011: Cape Cod Commission approved CWMP in Development of Regional Impact review (DRI).
- 2011: County sponsored Peer Review Panel made up of esteemed national experts, unanimously reported that the science behind the Massachusetts Estuary Project (MEP) is sound.
- 2011: The Town hired the consulting firm, Weston and Sampson, to do an engineering cost comparison of the approaches in the CWMP and the alternative STE (Septic Tank Effluent) system over a 50-year life cycle. This study is referred to as the "Apples to Apples" study.
- The Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan is an extensive report that examines, among other things, existing conditions, wastewater management needs, alternative plans, environmental impacts and potential for regionalization.
- The CWMP calls for a flexible, phased approach to wastewater treatment based on adaptive management.
- The Plan provides for collection and treatment of approximately 53% of the Town's wastewater in order to meet the Total Maximum Daily Limits (TMDLs), i.e. the level of nitrogen allowed in our saltwater estuaries to maintain the level of health set by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
- The Plan calls for a centralized collection system with centralized wastewater treatment at the site of the Tri-Town Septage Treatment facility. The plan incorporates use of smaller decentralized treatment systems at terminal ponds in order to effect faster treatment of our most impaired waters. It also provides options for regional collaboration with neighboring towns and non-structural actions such as reduced fertilizer use and improved stormwater management.
- The Plan calls for six phases of construction over a period of 20 years beginning with the village center and moving out from there to other areas that require significant remediation.
- Residents will have opportunity to vote for each phase of the plan along the way, and the phases can be adjusted to take into account new information, new technology and progress to date. This is called adaptive management.
- The entire CWMP report can be found on the Orleans' town website. It is a huge document. Click here for a 5-page Executive Summary. Click here for the 56-page Final Plan.
- Given the results of the "Apples to Apples" study, the Town expects to further refine the CWMP.
The Current Situation
2012
- The Town has obtained all the necessary regulatory approvals for its CWMP and now awaits only the final certification of the State Department of Environmental Protection.
- The final report of the county sponsored Peer Review Panel of independent, national experts is available: The Executive Summary, The Full Report. They have already provided assurance that the science behind the linked model used in the MEP reports is: “… scientifically defensible and functionally adequate to be relied upon in the development and implementation of appropriate nitrogen TMDLs for the estuaries and embayments of Cape Cod.”
- The Town is actively investigating whether or not an alternative wastewater collection system would be less expensive and appropriate for Orleans. The firm of Weston and Sampson has been hired to do a comparable, engineered cost analysis of the approaches in the CWMP and the alternative STE (Septic Tank Effluent) system over a 50-year life cycle. This is referred to as the “Apples to Apples” study and will be completed by summer.
- The Town’s approved Capital Improvements Plan includes the Design of Phase 1 of the CWMP implementation in FY 2013.
- Orleans Pond Coalition anticipates there will be a Special Town Meeting in the fall for voters to consider the recommended plan based on the Weston and Sampson analysis.