08/19/2019 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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Open letter to the Mashpee Board of Selectmen Call to Fund Phase I of the Mashpee Comprehensive Watershed Nitrogen Management Plan August 19, 2019 Like communities across Cape Cod and, indeed,the entire nation, Mashpee is confronting a crisis that threatens our waterways,our health and, ultimately,our property values and tax base.This threat is excess nitrogen. We have been on a several decade journey to understand and figure out how to deal with this challenge. It has now been established that the sources of this nitrogen are': 82% Septic Systems 10% Fertilizer 7% Stormwater(fertilizer, pet,yard waste) 1% Wastewater Treatment Facilities This problem is getting worse.A ten-year testing project has demonstrated that the water quality in both Popponesset and Waquoit Bays is deteriorating. Many parts of these systems have been classified as "Significantly Impaired." Both systems have lost eel grass,which provides the primary habitat for the normal tidal ecosystem including shellfish." Dangerous levels of algae are growing in both our fresh and salt water systems. It is clear that this problem can only be solved through comprehensive nitrogen management.This testing was just one part of a process that took decades whereby the Town studied the problem methodically. It could have been much worse.The plan benefits from the fact that over the years,the Town has wisely required most large-scale developments to build facilities to treat their own wastewater.Today, there are 10 wastewater treatment facilities already operating in Mashpee.These are in locations such as the Mashpee Commons, New Seabury,Willowbend and the Mashpee High.These facilities are inconspicuous and do not produce the kinds of odors that many associate with water treatment. To solve this problem,Mashpee staff and citizens developed a Comprehensive Watershed Nitrogen Management Plan approved that was approved in June 2015 by the Mashpee Selectmen. It calls for reaching a nitrogen level in treated water of 3 mg/I.The only facility in Mashpee that currently achieves this is at the Mashpee Commons.The other existing facilities can be retrofitted to achieve the 3 mg/I target. Here are rough numbers on nitrogen output levels for comparison: Nitrogen levels Source (mg/0 Raw sewage 50 Outflow from average home septic 25-40 Outflow from average home de-nitrification system 15-20 Outflow from nine of Mashpee's exiting treatment facilities 5-15 Target outflow(currently met only by Mashpee Commons) 3