State could undercut sewer expansion

By NATHAN LAMB | Milton Independent Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

The Town of Milton has spent millions to expand its sewer system in recent years, but a recently passed law may complicate efforts to capitalize on that investment.

Central to the issue is phosphorus, a natural fertilizer with a knack for getting into watersheds and causing unwanted algae outbreaks in ponds and lakes.

The state is looking to curtail phosphorous levels in Lake Champlain, and passed Act 43 with that intent last year. Among other things, it calls for the state to ensure that the total amount of phosphorus discharged into the lake by wastewater treatment plants not exceed levels posted in 2006.

At this point it’s unclear how the State Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) will choose to enforce that law, but Act 43 could slow new growth or require multi-million dollar upgrades to reduce phosphorus output from the town’s treatment plant, explained Milton Town Manager Sandy Miller.

“Depending on how ANR pursues this, it could theoretically prevent us from connecting any additional users to the system that we’ve been installing over the past several years, including an $8 million upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant and a $9 million extension to the collection system,” he said.

Key to the question are the two separate metrics used to measure phosphorous in wastewater. The town’s treatment plant currently has permits based on concentration (or percentage) of phosphorous found in treated wastewater. However, language in Act 43 indicates a possible move toward tracking quantity (also called a “daily load”) against a fixed cap, which would be a whole new criteria for the town, explained town engineer Andrew Legg.

“If the cap is a percentage, maybe we could do that,” he said. “If the cap is load based, that’s a big change.”

The Milton plant already has state-of-the-art secondary treatment for wastewater, but a load-based system would likely require further investment, added Miller.

“If we had to significantly reduce our maximum daily loads or concentration levels, we might have to put in a tertiary treatment system which would cost millions more,” he said. “At this point we don’t know what ANR will recommend.”

Miller estimated tertiary treatment for the Milton plant as costing between $3-5 million. Current law stipulates that the state must foot the bill for all phosphorus- related upgrades, and those funds haven’t been put aside to date, said Miller.

That, in turn, may lead to ANR looking past just tighter restrictions on wastewater treatment plants, which produce only about 10 percent of phosphorus running into the lake, said Legg. The remainder comes from “non-point sources” such as agricultural and urban/suburban run-off, which includes everything from farming fertilizer to lawn-growth treatments.

Historically those sources flew under the radar in Vermont but that changed with regulations passed in 2003, explained Legg. Towns are now required to update the state annually on implementation of “best practices” for phosphorous reduction in both town operations and requirements for new development. Educational outreach on consumer phosphorous reduction, through both printed materials and a “smart waterways” website maintained by Champlain Valley communities.

Even so, Legg said non-point sources of phosphorus are diffuse and difficult to target, especially compared to wastewater treatment plants. Granted that, there’s only so much you can squeeze that 10 percent before you need to look at other sources, he said. Since another central goal of Act 43 is re-evaluating efforts to impact non-point sources, Legg is hoping they’ll allocate resources in that direction.

“We need to figure out where we get the most bang for our buck with phosphorous mitigation,” said Legg. “If that’s the intent, which it seems to be, then it makes sense, but if it to leads to tighter regulations on some of our newest and best technology {the treatment plant}, simply because they’re low hanging fruit, that is not a cost effective solution for the state.”

While environmental concerns are a stated principal of Act 43, Miller said thinly veiled anti-growth sentiment is also a factor. Overall, he expressed doubts that a hard-line approach on wastewater phosphorus would benefit Milton.

“The irony of the situation is one of the reasons we’re trying to connect a lot of properties to the wastewater treatment system is that there’s a lot of failed septic systems {putting out phosphorous}…and we’re trying to do denser development as opposed to sprawl. In a lot of those denser developments, there isn’t room to put in a septic system.”

Speaking near the end of December, Legg said it appears ANR will not recommend additional treatment be required for treatment plants--- but added the legislature could still be interested in that option. He said town officials would stay posted as that process unfolds.

“It’s definitely going to be something we’re going to have to keep an eye on in the legislature this year,” he said.

Reducing phosphorus run-off is a widely shared goal, said Legg at another point. He advised residents to learn how they can make a difference by logging onto the website www.smartwaterways.org.

“Everybody has a part to play in reducing phosphorous in the lake,” he said. “That’s a good source for people if they want to know what to do.”