Town of Harwich , MA
Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP)
January 10, 2008 – 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Harwich Town Offices – Griffin Room  

 Community Meeting No. 2 Summary  

Attendees:

            Wastewater Management Subcommittee (WMS)
                        Frank Sampson (Chair)
                        Stanley Kocot
                        Larry Ballantine
            (George Myers and Robert Owens were unable to attend)

Town Staff Advisors
Paula Champagne 
Heinz Proft
(Craig Wiegand and Sue Leven were unable to attend)

              Other Notable Attendees

Thomas Cambareri ( Cape Cod Commission)

Jim Merriam ( Harwich Town Administrator)
Ed McManus (Harwich Board of Selectmen)

            CDM Project Team

 David Young, Alan Roscoe, Mary Barry, Gary Mercer

Introduction:

The Wastewater Management Subcommittee (WMS) conducted an informational community meeting on Thursday, January 10, 2008 in the Griffin Room of Harwich Town Offices to describe the Massachusetts Estuaries Project (MEP) program to the citizens of Harwich. Brian Howes (SMAST) gave a presentation relating the MEP to Harwich.

PRESENTATION

WMS Chairman Frank Sampson welcomed the guests and introduced WMS members to the public at approximately 7:00 p.m. Mr. Sampson gave an overview of the importance of nitrogen removal from Harwich’s estuaries and introduced Mr. Brian Howes from the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), who is the Technical Director of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project  (MEP).  

A copy of the presentation slides for Community Meeting No. 2 will be posted on the WQTF Web site.  

At the conclusion of the presentation, presenters were available for a Question & Answer (Q&A) session. A brief summary of the Q&A session appears below:  

BRIEF SUMMARY OF QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

 Q. Models have uncertainties or can give a wide range of results. What are the accuracies of the modeling?

A. (Brian Howes) Approximately 5 – 10 percent uncertainty. With site specific models, 5 percent is the goal, that‘s why the results are verified, validated, and calibrated via multiple sources.

Q. (Referring to one of the presentation slides for the Three Bays project) Won’t the new ponds you are building for nitrogen removal readily eutrophy?

A. (Brian Howes) Ponds do require management to keep suitable depths and not eutrophy. Effectively managed, these ponds can remove up to 95 precent of nitrogen.

Q. What can I (homeowner) do to reduce my nitrogen load?

A. (Brian Howes) Some people use advanced technologies (more advanced septic systems), but efficiencies are not there yet, due to operations and maintenance problems. Fertilizer reductions can reduce loads. Use collected stormwater for yard watering, as rainwater contains nitrogen. Title 5 systems remove phosphorous better than nitrogen.

Q. (Allin Thompson - comment) Martha’s Vineyard is moving to improve their estuaries and have created a handbook called “ Island Blue Pages”. The document was produced by a shellfish organization and includes many frequently asked questions. This document is available on their Web site. We should probably do something similar in Harwich.