Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – A project by the Presque Isle Water and Sewer District, designed to divert waste water from the Presque Isle Stream to the Aroostook River, has garnered a great deal of attention as crews work to construct a pipeline to handle the discharge.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
CONSTRUCTION OF A PIPELINE from the Presque Isle water treatment plant, located on Dyer St., to the Aroostook River got under way in June, with S.E. MacMillan Company, of Bangor, performing the work. Discharge from the plant was affecting the water quality in the Presque Isle Stream, where it has gone for years. Working with the DEP, Steve Freeman, superintendent of the city’s Water/Sewer District, agreed a shift in discharge to the Aroostook River was necessary. Much of the project, estimated to cost about $5 million, will be covered by a combination of grants and loans.
The project dates back to a 2002 water quality survey performed by DEP.
“It’s been in the works for a long time. In 2002, surveys were done by DEP, during the summer’s low-flow period. As the result of the water quality study, the city was given a very strict license for discharging waste water into the stream for total maximum daily load. Though it’s a strict license, we’re still fulfilling the requirements in the summertime but couldn’t meet the Class B requirement for dissolved oxygen. Our only alternative was to move the discharge from the stream to the river,” said Steve Freeman, Water/Sewer District superintendent.
Unlike Mapleton, that had the ability to construct a waste water facility that sprayed discharge onto an open field, Presque Isle’s water treatment plant, located off Dyer St., had its options limited to one for waste water – discharging into the stream. Since it would be too costly to move the treatment plant, the only other option was to extend the discharge line.
“The goal is to extend the outfall pipe from the Presque Isle sewer treatment plant to the Aroostook River near the bridge, with the hope that the stream will go back to the way it was,” explained Nick Archer, regional director of the DEP.
Archer said water quality studies date back to the 1990s.
“Over the years, we’ve looked at the impact discharge was having on the water quality. We started with Mapleton in the 1990s. With this upgrade, the Presque Isle Stream and its tributaries will no longer have discharge – may lead to an upgrade in classification in the future,” said Archer.
The majority of pipeline will be run alongside the stream. But due to archeological and topographic issues, Archer said the line will have to cross the stream at a few locations.
“The pipe runs adjacent to the stream, crossing in four locations due to the slope of the bank and other issues,” said Archer. “It’s a gravity pipeline. To work, some banks had to be avoided.”
Archer said the stream, because of its slower flow, wasn’t able to handle the waste water, whereas the river, with its faster-running water, is better suited for the process of returning the discharge to a natural state.
“It’s an issue of dilution. The higher the water flow the more it changes the numbers. The smaller the receiving stream, the more it affects water quality,” said Archer, noting the change won’t have any impact on the city’s ground water supply.
“All waste water facilities are under strict regulations. The city’s drinking supply is obtained from a groundwater source off the Reach Road. This won’t have any effect on the city’s drinking water,” said Archer.
The project will be funded by a combination of grants and loans.
“In 2007, the USDA Rural Development awarded the Sewer District a $2 million grant and a $2.9 million long-term loan for the project. In 2008, the Maine DEP awarded the Sewer District a $250,000 grant for the project. This grant was part of a bond issue that was approved by Maine voters in 2007. Also in 2008 the Sewer District was notified by Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe that the District will receive a $300,000 earmark that was included in the 2008 federal budget,” explained Freeman.
Despite all the grants, the project will still have a significant impact on sewer rates, said Freeman.
“The project costs that are not funded by grants will be funded by a long-term loan from USDA Rural Development, and the Sewer District will be responsible for making the interest and principal payments on the loan,” said Freeman, noting trustees had yet to determine the amount of any rate increase or how it would be implemented.
Freeman said the gravity pipeline won’t involve the use of any energy sources.
“The waste water goes downhill from the treatment plant to the river – all natural flow, with no energy expenses involved,” said Freeman.
S.E. MacMillan Company, of Bangor, was awarded the outfall relocation project bid for $3,257,777. Work began in June and is expected to be completed by sometime in 2009.
“The project entails the construction of a pipeline that will relocate the wastewater discharge from the stream to the river, using cast iron piping that’s 36 inches in diameter. The pipeline will be about 7,000 feet long, when completed and is expected to last at least 100 years,” said Freeman. “MacMillan officials have actually indicated that hope to be done even sooner, if circumstances allow. Plans are, when the project is done, that the areas where roads have been constructed to allow workers access to lay the pipeline will be returned to their natural state.”
Recent rains have set the project back a bit. The Presque Isle Police Department received several calls over the weekend from people concerned that equipment might get washed away due to rains causing the river to rise. Concerned that equipment could be damaged or destroyed and that the river could be contaminated in the process, Freeman contacted MacMillan officials, who responded and moved machinery and equipment to safer ground.
