Buzzards Bay
BOURNE – A proposed wastewater outfall pipe could help clean Buzzards Bay and other Upper Cape Cod waterways of nitrogen pollution.
The proposal, spearheaded by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, aims to construct a discharge pipe from Wareham’s wastewater treatment plant that will allow flow directly to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and into the Cape Cod Canal.
The Coalition said that the project would remove 100,000 pounds of nitrogen pollution from Upper Cape bodies of water every year.
“Nitrogen pollution is one of the greatest threats to Buzzards Bay and the primary source of that nitrogen is from wastewater,” said senior attorney with the Coalition, Korrin Petersen.
She said that many near-shore harbors and rivers, including Buttermilk Bay in Bourne, suffer from nitrogen pollution.
Petersen said that the issue stems from existing septic systems that do not treat for nitrogen, but expanding municipal sewers would help mitigate the problem.
“Wastewater treatment facilities are extremely effective at reducing nitrogen, and Wareham does it regularly, reducing it by 95 percent,” said Petersen.
The wastewater treatment efforts are not without their challenges, as shallow, sensitive bays or shallow rivers need to be avoided when placing discharge pipelines.
She said that the Maritime Academy would be an ideal location, avoiding any sensitive ecosystems and helping to restore natural resources.
With warming waters due to climate change, Petersen said that finding cost effective solutions to mitigating pollution is an urgent and vital mission.
Some residents have expressed concern about whether the Cape Cod Canal is the proper place for the discharge location, but Petersen said that the Coalition has worked with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to ensure that the canal is the proper place.
She said that the Mass Maritime Academy is already an outlet for wastewater, and that the canal is not a shallow, sensitive ecosystem like other locations on the Upper Cape that would be helped by the project.
Even still, some residents expressed concern over potential damage to shellfish beds.
“This is not raw sewage being dumped into the canal, this is an opportunity to expand municipal sewer and reduce existing sources [of nitrogen pollution],” said Petersen.
No formal permit or action has yet been taken by state or town officials to implement the project, though the Coalition hopes that community feedback will make the regional water treatment plan a reality.
Numerous local meetings will be required to move the project forward, including Town Meeting votes.
About Grady Culhane
