BOURNE – Elected officials in Upper Cape communities have been presented with the results of a regional study that seeks a solution for wastewater management.
The study proposes local capital projects totaling $155 million by connecting the towns of Bourne, Sandwich, Mashpee and Falmouth to a larger wastewater treatment facility on Joint Base Cape Cod.
Edward Leonard, the senior project manager for Wright-Pierce, the engineering firm handling the study, made presentations last week to town officials in the four communities.
“It’s a good regional alternative,” Leonard said. “The four Upper Cape towns have a long history of working together and they were fortunate enough to secure two grants on this project.”
State Community Compact Cabinet Efficiency and Regionalization grants were awarded for study in 2016 and late last year.
The presentations provided an outline of what a regional wastewater treatment facility would look like, the size of the project and how much money it would cost to complete.
The current treatment facility on the base can treat up to 100,000 gallons of effluent.
“If you look to the mid-term and long-term, we are looking at greater than 10 times the capacity is needed in order to meet the needs that the towns say they have,” Leonard said.
Leonard said a brand new treatment plant would be needed to accommodate the regional needs.
The current facilities on Joint Base Cape Cod are owned by the Air Force and operated by the 102nd Intelligence Wing. There are 36 miles of sewers and the installation was built prior to World War II to support up to 70,000 troops.
Now there are only a few thousand staff who work on the base.
“There’s plenty of land available for treatment,” Leonard said. “It’s already cleared. It’s already available. It is great for construction.”
Through the plan, the towns would need to also fund the construction of pipeline connecting their wastewater infrastructure to base treatment facility.
The towns would also pay for the additional piping for disposal and expanding the plant’s disposal facility.
Leonard said the tricky part will be to determine where to dispose of the effluent.
“Where do we put this treated effluent?” said Leonard. “In a location that is environmentally responsible and a place that doesn’t cause other problems.”
The firm has not yet made a recommendation on whether the treated effluent should be disposed of on land or into the Cape Cod Canal.
Officials at the Bourne meeting expressed concerns over possible environmental impacts that could result from disposing of the treated wastewater into the canal.
The town of Barnstable is also discussing joining the four towns. The cost of the regional plan would increase if the town makes a final decision to be included.
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