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Site Map for Navigating the MWWCA Web Site |
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Water district: Don't flush consumer
wipes Over the last few years the Portland Water District has experienced an increase in wastewater pump station malfunctions. Crews regularly need to unclog mounds of disposable wipes from pumps, at considerable expense and environmental consequence. Attempts to address the problem with retrofits and operational changes have not been successful. Now the Portland Water District will try installing grates and is considering construction of a $4.5 million screening facility.
Flush it and forget it.
Appeals Court Rejects EPA Mercury
Cap-and-Trade Rule The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the agency's
2005 "Clean Air Mercury Rule," violates the Clean Air Act by evading
mandatory cuts in toxic mercury pollution from power plants that burn
coal and oil.
Today the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck
down Bush Administration regulations that exempted coal and oil fired
power plants, including some of this country’s worst polluters, from
their obligation to sharply decrease their mercury pollution.
This ruling represents a significant victory for both the health of
Maine people and our natural environment.
on 35th Anniversary of Federal Clean Water Act Governor John E. Baldacci presented a keynote conference on October 18 that recognized five Maine citizens who, as “unsung heroes”, not only contributed personally but represent outstanding efforts of their respective professions in making the Clean Water Act one of the most successful landmarks in the history of environmental protection. The occasion will also mark the 35th anniversary of the Federal Clean Water Act. Rangeley resident gets EPA award
St. Agatha: Voters OK sewer project
funding
Fort Kent water workers rescue wildcat FORT KENT -
A wildcat escaped a murky death Monday morning when it was rescued by
employees at the Fort Kent Water and Wastewater Department.
Wells gets the sludge out
New process enhances efficiency
Customers
of the Wells Sanitary District may not fully realize it yet, but the
district is operating more efficiently now than it was a few short
months ago. That's because a $2.3 million project to upgrade the
sludge dewatering system went operational in April after a
two-year planning and construction process. World Water Monitoring Day
What is World Water Monitoring Day?
Certificate of Business Management for
Wastewater Program
Review of the 2007 Changes to 40 CFR 136 Earlier this year (2007) many changes to the way we are required to preserve samples, what containers samples can be stored in, and the holding times of these samples became federal law. Additionally, many EPA test methods have been withdrawn from the list of approved methods, while other ones have been added.
The Charles Perry Award Download an Application: For further information, please contact MWWCA Collections System Chairman, Steve Sloan (207-523-5267or ssloan@pwd.org )or the MWWCA office (207-623-8428 ext 206 or 297) or visit this page.
Maine Enacts Legislation to Protect Streamflow With over 6,000 lakes, one wouldn’t think a state like Maine would be very concerned about water resources. But when agriculture, industry and cities all compete for limited freshwater resources, the losers are often rivers, lakes and streams and the ecosystems they support.
Fish on Prozac -- it sounds funny (easier to catch? Or harder, because they're too happy to be interested in your bait?), but it's really not. That's because fish on Prozac, or any number of other pharmaceuticals that have made their way into our waterways, are unhealthy fish. Some drugs that show up in rivers, streams and coastal waters can "feminize" male fish, literally changing their hormonal balance and switching their sex from male to female.
Members of the Conservation
Law Foundation met with the
Herald editorial board Thursday to defend their appeal of a
wastewater discharge permit granted by the Environmental Protection
Agency for the Peirce Island sewage treatment plant.
Laboratory Practices Seminar
Collins targets mercury pollution Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has joined two colleagues in introducing legislation to create a nationwide mercury monitoring program to detect harmful levels of the heavy metal in the environment.
Times Are Changing for Water & Sewer
Students fill rafts with litter, laughter
Combine 73 middle school students, eight rafts and one litter-laden river, and what do you get? Answer: A cleaner river, greater environmental awareness -- and a real good time. That's what a contingent of sixth-graders from Portland's King Middle School proved Wednesday when they rafted a quarter-mile stretch of the Presumpscot River in Windham as part of National River Cleanup Week.
Sewer rates going higher Sewer rates will rise again
beginning with the January 2008 bills as a result of a 10 percent rate
increase needed to overcome a drop in revenues.
Western Pennsylvania -- on which the federal government has bestowed the title of having the nation's worst sewage-dumping problem -- took a landmark step toward cleaning up its water Thursday when federal, state and local environmental regulators filed a long-anticipated settlement in federal court with the region's biggest sewer authority.
LD 674 "An Act To Restore
Funding to the Maine Joint Environmental Training Coordinating
Committee"
J ETCC's water and wastewater operator training funding support has been significantly reduced over the last several years. LD 674 seeks to restore adequate funding to the JETCC training program. Your support and voice in Augusta is needed to help keep operator training costs down and to ensure that operators receive adequate training opportunities to help protect Maine's waterways.Maine's water and wastewater environmentalists can voice their concerns to their local representative using this sample letter. This letter is a good starting point and may be edited.
Bush to Block Sewer
Funding Many American cities have sewage systems that dump untreated sewage into nearby waters during heavy rainstorms. The problem contributes to beach closings, and in some places, sewage even backs up into people's basements. But the price tag to fix one mid-size sewage treatment system can be hundreds of millions of dollars. Without federal help that can be out of reach for many cities. Katherine Baer of American Rivers says the problem will be worse soon: "We have systems all around the country kind of hitting that place where there's a lot of population growth and older systems, and all of a sudden they've kind of come up with a perfect storm causing a lot of sewage." There's considerable support for the funding in the Senate, but no support at all in the Bush Administration. The President has indicated he will veto the bills if they reach his desk. For the Environment Report, I'm Tracy Samilton. © 2006 Environment Report
Greater
Augusta Utility District If legislators approve the new charter, voters from Augusta and Hallowell will decide in November whether to merge sewer operations along with Augusta Water District services in a new Greater Augusta Utility District.
Farewell
EPA Flooded With Complaints on User Fees The EPA's goal was to find a stable new funding source for the poetically named National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which governs how states grant permits for about 600,000 facilities across the country.
Leslie Arnson has provided Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) compliance services since 1989. Prior to establishing her company, Leslie was the Environmental & Safety Manager for a hazardous waste treatment/waste oil recycling facility; the Compliance Officer for an emergency spill response/hazardous waste transportation company; the Staff Attorney for an engineering firm, and an Environmental Law Clerk at the U.S. EPA Office of General Counsel.
Andre Brouseau from the Sanford Sewerage District (above right) presents MWWCA founding member Francis Anderson with a commemorative clock. Francis, a man of few words, reminded Andre that the first MWWCA meeting was held at the Sanford Sewerage District office.
Giant sinkhole in Guatemala swallows father, teens
Maine’s State Revolving Fund Programs -"How A Buck Buys You Five"
Fresh challenges He's the guy who made sure that every time you turned the tap or flushed the toilet, it worked. For nearly 35 years, Glidden has guided and maintained the complex environmental systems that comprise the Augusta Water and Sanitary Districts
Bucksport Unveils Plan for Sewer Overflow Site The design plan for the new CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) facility was presented at a Town Council meeting on Jan. 25. The three-level building will have a generator room, a utility room and a room where the swirl concentrator, which will separate out the solid wastes from the stormwater before sending it to the river, will be located.
Public sanitation — and with it the flushing lavatory — has been voted the greatest medical breakthrough since 1840. Sewage disposal and clean water supplies, among other aspects of sanitation, were chosen over 15 key medical advances named in an international poll by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Amalgam stumps dentistsBoulder's water specialists worried about mercury going down drainsThe people charged with keeping Boulder's water clean are worried about what's in your teeth, and they're proposing new rules to keep silver fillings — and the mercury they contain — from going down the drain. Silver fillings are made out of amalgam, a substance that consists of 40 percent to 50 percent mercury.
Court: HoltraChem owner must pay for studies A federal appeals court has ordered the former owner of the HoltraChem plant to pay for detailed studies of mercury pollution in the Penobscot River downstream from the contaminated Orrington site.
The following documents have been kept brief and to the point and can serve as the starting “talking points” on a particular issue of interest to our membership. We encourage you, as MWWCA members, to share your thoughts on these topics with other municipal officials and your local legislators. Presenting copies of these documents (Letter To MWWCA Membership (pdf) - Legislative Position Paper (pdf)) and presenting them to your town manager, board of selectmen, press reporter or local legislators would be a great start.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Site Is
Identified
For our members convenience we have provided listings of the newly appointed Maine Municipal Association Legislative Policy Committees and Subcommittees.
Water filter system will benefit millions Pure drinking water, the most sought after commodity on the planet, could soon be within reach of millions of people thanks to the ingenuity of Kiwi Russell Kelly, backed by space age technology developed for NASA. His recently designed filter system can turn sewage-polluted water into drinking water. International patents and trademarks protect the various processes.
EPA Approves New Test Procedures for Analyzing Pollutants in Wastewater and Sewage Sludge EPA is adding procedures for sampling and analysis in wastewater and sewage sludge. These revisions for analytical methods add choices to the set of EPA-approved methods for measuring pollutants. The newly-approved methods also reflect improvements in science and technology.
Sewer District plans line extension The Ogunquit Sewer District announced plans recently to install a forced main pipe from the Shore Road pumping station #2 to the treatment plant near Footbridge Beach, a distance of approximately 6,000 feet. Superintendent Phil Pickering said the proposed project was necessary for a variety of reasons.
Bucksport set to buy downtown building
Trends in Maine’s Environmental
Infrastructure Maine Department of Environmental Protection September 2006
Septic handler facing charges The owner of a local septic tank service has been charged with unlawfully operating a waste facility after police allegedly caught him dumping loads of raw material into sewer lines bound for the Waterville treatment plant.
Clinton Water District,
a Case Study of the Facultative Lagoon System The Clinton Water District provides a secondary level of wastewater treatment by use of a facultative lagoon system. Clinton’s lagoon system was constructed in 1987. The two lagoons are operated in series and cover approximately 26 acres and are approximately five feet deep. Read More............
Gaping Reminders of Aging and Crumbling Pipes
Last summer in Irving, Tex., a 2-year-old
boy disappeared near a sinkhole. One theory was that he was kidnapped.
Another was that he was lost in the sewer system that had broken open
and caused the collapse.
DEP Monitoring Mercury
Hotspots
As recently as 1970, Sebasticook Lake was one of the world’s most eutrophic small lakes. Nutrients from sewage overflows, agricultural runoff and industries added about two pounds of phosphorus per acre annually to the lake.
Tougher mercury rule runs into row
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office commended today's formal release of cutting edge research on mercury contamination in the Northeast. The Hubbard Brook Research Foundation announced through two reports to be published in Bioscience magazine the results of a three-year research effort to determine the severity of mercury contamination. They report five known and nine suspected biological mercury "hotspots" in the Northeast, the worst being located in southeastern New Hampshire downwind from a coal-fired power plant.
New studies identify mercury hotspots in the Northeast
Mercury Debate Reaches Feverish Pitch Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, says that she will re-introduce legislation to create a network that would rely on first-hand accounts of mercury levels and not on computer-generated models that are currently in use. Her plan would also require such releases to be reduced by 90 percent, and sooner than the president's plan.
Roger Gagne Award Presented at '06 Fall
Conference The Roger Gagne Award for Exemplary Long Term Service to the Maine Wastewater Control Association was presented at the Annual Fall Conference in Boothbay, Harbor.
MWWCA Andrew Rudzinski Presents the
MWWCA
Force Maine Wins Again at WEFTEC '06
Phyllis Arnold Rand - NEWEA
President 2006
Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research The use of biosolids in Maine .........A review........
Lagoon Day '06
Auburn, Maine Sewerage District Recognized for Excellence The Auburn, Maine Sewerage District (ASD) was recently selected by the U.S. EPA for a National First Place Award in the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control category as part of the annual 2006 U.S. EPA Clean Water Act Recognition Awards selection process.
JETCC Administers Maine
Operator Certification Program
Robinson appointed to DEP Surface Waters Ambient Toxics Monitoring Program Technical Advisory Team
Clinton Water District,
a Case Study of the Facultative Lagoon System The Clinton Water District provides a secondary level of wastewater treatment by use of a facultative lagoon system. Clinton’s lagoon system was constructed in 1987. The two lagoons are operated in series and cover approximately 26 acres and are approximately five feet deep. Read More............
South Berwick, Maine Wastewater Treatment Facility is EPA Award Winner The South Berwick, Maine wastewater treatment plant was among seven facilities across New England recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection for its commitment to improving water quality.
Practical Engineering Combined with Sound Operations Optimizes Phosphorus Removal Source: Water Engineering & Management April 2002 Volume: 149 Number: 4 Copyright © 2006 Scranton Gillette Communications Built in the early 1970s, The Oakland, Maine, Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) treats and discharges approximately 300,000 gallons per day (gpd) of wastewater to the Messalonskee Stream. The facility was designed as a conventional activated sludge secondary treatment system to be used principally for BOD and TSS removals.
Located in
the town of Wells on Maine’s Southern Coast, the Wells Sanitary
District provides treatment for up to
2.0 million gallons of wastewater per day. The use of
biosolids in Maine -
A review........
Maine DEP Recognized for
Wastewater Training and Technical Help by EPA
During part of an $8 million upgrade Old Town was the the first US wastewater facility to install a particular type of inclined screw press.
Scarborough Sanitary
District Online
Force Maine Takes Honors
at WEFTEC 2005 Vinalhaven wastewater-treatment facility protects environment, brings economic opportunity Vinalhaven wastewater-treatment facility protects environment, brings economic opportunity
A combination of governmental
support, community involvement, innovative engineering, and
skilled construction provided the right mix to
solve long-term wastewater needs in the island community of
Vinalhaven.
Force Maine Wins it all at the New England
Operations Challenge
(Ogunquit, June 7, 2005) Force Maine took First
Place Overall at the New England Operations Challenge. The team of
four wastewater treatment professionals from the Saco-Biddeford, Maine
area are
...............
The 2004 recipient of the annual Richard B. Goodenow Award is responsible for the operation and maintenance of a .35 MGD aerated lagoon wastewater treatment facility, 2 pump stations and 12 miles of sewer collection system.
Janet Abrahamson Recipient of the 2004 NEWEA Alfred E. Peloquin Award Douglas Miller, NEWEA President presents Janet Abrahamson, former MWWCA President, currently a circuit rider with MRWA, with the Al Peloquin Award.
Guilford-Sangerville Sanitary District receives Outstanding Operations Award
The Guilford-Sangerville Sanitary
District received the “Outstanding Operations Award” at Maine Rural
Water Association’s 24th Annual Water &
Wastewater
Technical Conference. Blasts ripped Louisville streets, spurred hazardous material law It was a Friday the 13th to remember ... the day the sewers exploded in Louisville. The year was 1981. At 5:16
a.m., Elsie Fisher and Shirley Rhodes were on their regular early
morning rides from their West End homes to their jobs at a local
hospital. They had stopped for a red light at 12th and Hill streets.
The light changed, the car accelerated, and seconds later, according
to an account in The Courier-Journal,
the street blew apart. Maine DEP Presents Achievement Award
The Maine Department of
Environmental Protection has recognized the staff of the Eagle Lake
Water & Sewer District, in particular, Gerald Raymond, Superintendent
of the District, for accomplishments in the
wastewater field and water quality improvement.
The
Caribou, Maine Utilities District was recently selected by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency for a New England Regional Operations
and Maintenance Wastewater Excellence Award in the medium secondary
plant category. The staff of the facility was recognized by EPA's New
England Office for their outstanding work in operating and maintaining
the facility and
their overall commitment to improving water quality. Maine DEP Recognized for Wastewater Training and Technical Help by EPA Four employees of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection were recently awarded the State Operator Wastewater On-Site Technical Assistance Provider Award by the New England office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
NEWWN Publisher Relishes First Hand Septic System Experience Septic system pump goes on the fritz.....
Send mail
to
administration with questions
or comments about this web site.
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Environmental
and public health groups as well as 14 states, one city, and native
tribes declared victory as a federal appeals court today vacated two
rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that failed
to set strict limits on mercury emissions from power plants. 
York County Community College with the
help of some MWWCA members has developed a Certificate of Business
Management for Wastewater program. It combines technical training
through a State managed apprenticeship program and business management
training through the college. Its purpose is to develop the next
generation of foreman, chief operators and superintendents. I
encourage you to review the attached information. The
Congress
appears poised to approve billions of dollars to help cities renovate
their aging sewage systems. That could prevent a lot of sewage dumps
into lakes and rivers. But the funding - if approved by Congress -
might not get the President's signature. Tracy Samilton reports: 
proposal to make permit holders pay for more of the cost of managing
pollutants discharged into the nation's waterways.
gallons of treated - but not disinfected - wastewater. The wind up
here blows something fierce. You go outside and lick your lips, it's
probably going to be salty, warns Superintendent Jerome "Frenchie"
Guevremont. 
View
2 
Outgoing
NEWEA President Doug Miller passed the President's gavel to
The
Tenth Annual Lagoon Day
Janet Robinson of Woodard & Curran
has been appointed to the DEP Surface Waters Ambient Toxics Monitoring Program Technical
Advisory Team. The team is currently charged with
reviewing the states dioxin program. Janet has over 14 years of
experience with ecological risk assessment and hazardous waste site
investigation. Her specialties include ecological risk assessments and
biological monitoring, remedial investigations, and facility closures. Janet is interested in any communities
/ operators that may have concerns or input in this area. She welcomes all
comments in this area and is committed to making improvements in the
program. Robinson can be reached at Woodard and Curran's Office at
800-426-4262 or by email at
The
Roger Gagne Award for Exemplary Long Term Service was presented to Tom Wiley
(at right) of the Portland Water District at the 2005 MWWCA's Fall
Convention in Boothbay Harbor. In addition to serving as
MWWCA President, Tom has chaired the Pretreatment Committee and the
Convention Committee, ensuring we have the best available technical
conferences and conventions in Maine. 
Located
in southeastern Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, the Town of Scarborough
was settled by seafarers. A small community of less than 2,500 until
after World War II, the population has now increased to almost 17,000
- an increase of more than 650%.
