SAUGUS — Since it approved $1.2 million for the US Environmental Protection Agency Stormwater Phase II Rule Program, the town has inspected the majority of its drainage areas, said Department of Public Works Director Brendan O’Regan.
“We have inspected 90 percent of drainage areas; 300 of the outfalls in the town, and well over 250 of the catchment areas,” said O’Regan. “And many of them have come back clean and we don’t have to do other investigative work.”
The $1.2 million funding approved by the town last June was primarily aimed at helping the town meet the federal requirements set by the EPA program, which seeks to improve the nation’s waterways by reducing the quantity of pollutants that stormwater picks up and carries into storm sewer systems during storm events.
Most municipalities, said O’Regan, hired consultants to meet the federal criteria, and Saugus followed suit by hiring an environmental consultant from the Wakefield-based company Arcadis, who helped identify infrastructure defects.
Repairs made thus far include the realignment of the catch basin frame and a cover to catch stormwater. The outfall sediment and the drainage wells in about 15-20 locations around the town, such as catch basins at Summer Drive and Mount Vernon Street, and others, were cleaned.
“We have cleaned the drainage swales in the area of the Eastern Avenue and Wristow Street; we repaired some catch basins at Summer Drive, Mount Vernon Street, and Emerald Street,” said O’Regan. At this point, all repairs were made within the limits of the DPW operating budget by department employees, but in the future “some capital is going to be needed to do major repairs in the town,” he said.
Along with the repairs, the department will submit an annual report to the federal government to show that the town is following all the program requirements, said O’Regan.
“There is no federal money that you get for the annual maintenance work. It’s through your local appropriation,” said O’Regan.
The federal program mainly tries to make sure that towns have an inventory of locations where drainage water quality can be improved, he said. The locations examined this year included catch basins connected to pipes that direct the drainage water to the Saugus River, as well as drainage retention basins from where the drainage water goes into the ground.
“They want to reduce water pollution, oil and grease, and sediment like sand, as well as trash like bottles and cans,” said O’Regan.
He said that the program was also effective in identifying where pollutants might be coming from and preventing the bacteria from sewer water being discharged into the environment by mistake.
“When you go to the bathroom you flush into the sewer, and the bacteria from there do not get discharged into the environment. But sometimes there are mistakes, and someone connects the pipes to the drainage system, and knowing where it’s happening, you can eliminate it,” said O’Regan.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
