Commission Evaluates Seacoast Waste Problem

By Roger Wood on Tuesday, March 8, 2005.

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The state is in the middle of a million dollar study that could affect the Seacoast's environment for decades.

As NHPR Correspondent Roger Wood reports, the region is trying to figure out what to do with its growing problem of waste.

Each day, the 44 cities and towns in the Seacoast region handle some 20 million gallons of sewage wastewater .

And as the population grows so does that volume of waste.

And as the amount of waste increases, it adds to the stress on existing treatment plants.

On Monday the University of New Hampshire sponsored a daylong forum in Portsmouth.

There speakers and panelists tackled the issue of how to plan for the future.

Senate Bill 70 created the Great Bay Estuary Commission back in 2003.

Lawmakers assigned the commission the task of determining the risk that Great Bay could become contaminated by wastewater and sewage.

And what to do about the problem.

Newly elected State Senator Maggie Hassan of Exeter chairs the commission.

(Hassan) :08

“We want to be as informed as we can be about the issues not only of the Great Bay Estuary environment, but also the marine and ocean environment.”

The original legislation envisioned a new regional sewage treatment plant that would dump treated wastewater into the ocean.

But Hassan says no solution has yet been determined.

In fact, the commission is considering four alternatives.

They range from doing nothing to building a large project that could be similar to one operating in Boston Harbor.

MIT researcher Judy Pederson has studied the contamination of Massachusetts Bay since Boston installed its outfall pipe 5 years agol.

The city dumps its waste water 9 miles out from Deer Island

Pederson says that while the project has definitely alleviated inshore pollution, it has transferred some of the problems out into the ocean.

(Pederson) :21

“The total amount of pollution that went out is the same as what we were discharging close to shore before the outfall became operational. If anything, we’ve cleaned up some of the contaminants from the outfall. But yes, you’ve moved it from one location to another, so, you’ve cleaned up some of one area, and some of another area is receiving more of the pollution”

One of the problems is the outfall pipe’s freshwater discharge and its effect on marine life.

Fred Dauphinee fishes in the waters South of the Boston pipe.

He told the group that before 2000, he felt that his job was safe.

(Dauphine) :12

“They opened up that outfall pipe and (bang) that was the end of my fishing. I haven’t made any money for four years. I’m barely keeping my head above water.”

Another fisherman told the group that lobstering on the Massachusetts North Shore has suffered greatly.

He says the shellfish have moved away from the freshwater discharge area around the pipe.

Currently, only 17 of the 44 Seacoast towns and cities operate wastewater treatment plants.

But they take in sewage from surrounding towns.

Commission chair Maggie Hassan said that a final recommendation from the panel is due in 18 months.

And she says the report should address the concerns of inland pollution as well as marine life offshore.

(Hassan 2) :09

“We can’t pretend that the inland residents of New Hampshire don’t have an interest in the Seacoast, and the Seacoast knows that it has an interest in what happens inland.”

One of the interests not represented on the commission is that of commercial fishermen.

But newly introduced legislation is intended to add one industry representative to the panel.

One fisherman at the forum urged caution in proceeding.

He pointed out that once a large treatment plant and outfall pipe is built, the process is irreversible.

As he put it, “We’ve got to stop dumping everything we don’t want into the ocean.”

For NHPR News, this is Roger Wood