State to get more federal money for sewer outfalls

By: Christian M. Wade 

BOSTON — Massachusetts could be getting a windfall of federal funding to fix aging outfalls that spew sewage into the Merrimack River and other waterways.

A two-year reauthorization of the $38 billion Water Resources Development Act, which is tucked into a military spending bill approved by Congress last week, includes $100 million for several communities along the river that have struggled to fix combined sewer overflows.

Those communities — Lowell, Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill and Fitchburg — would each get $20 million under the proposal, which must still pass the U.S. Senate before landing on President Joe Biden’s desk for consideration.

Rep. Lori Trahan, a Westford Democrat who pushed for the funding, said it would help reduce pollution from CSOs in one of the region’s largest sources of drinking water.

“Substantial federal investments are essential to complete long overdue sewage system upgrades across our district,” Trahan said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing this legislation signed into law so we can get to work securing funds through the appropriations process in the months ahead.”

On Beacon Hill, lawmakers are also seeking to divert federal money toward dealing with frequent overflows from the combined sewer systems.

A $3.76 billion economic development bill, approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last month, includes $115 million for drinking water and sewer system upgrades including $15 million specifically for projects in “nitrogen sensitive” areas along with states’ waterways.

Designed long before the Clean Water Act was written into law in the early 1970s, the treatment systems collect storm water in the same pipes as sewage and are designed to overflow when they become inundated, usually because of heavy rain.

Public health officials say large and frequent overflows pose health risks to those who use the river for boating and swimming, as well as communities that draw drinking water from it. An estimated 600,000 people get drinking water from the Merrimack River.

Raw sewage also causes algae blooms, which can be toxic to people and deprive water bodies of oxygen, killing fish and other marine life.

Sewage treatment plant operators have been making upgrades to reduce CSO discharges, but the price tag for dealing with the problem is beyond most budgets.

They point out that the discharges are but a tiny fraction of the tens of billions of gallons of sewage treated every year and are typically diluted in the wide, fast-moving river.

Sewage plant operators are required give more timely public notice of spills into rivers and other waterways under state regulations went into effect last year.

Every year, hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated and partially treated sewage pour into the 117-mile Merrimack River from 229 active CSOs, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Sewage treatment plants in New Hampshire also contribute to the problem.

The Greater Lawrence Sanitary District — which treats sewage from Lawrence, Methuen, Andover, North Andover, Dracut and Salem, New Hampshire — has released nearly 17 million gallons of sewage into the river since July, according to MassDEP data on CSO discharges.

Haverhill’s sewage treatment plant has reported nearly 86 CSO incidents since July involving an estimated 3.2 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage flowing into the Merrimack and Little River, the data shows.