Dave Formato from OnSite Engineering appeared before the Board of Health on March 5 requesting a variance to Article 16 of Acton’s Health Department Rules and Regulations, which deals with Minimum Requirements for Resource Protection, Waste Materials Management and Activities Within Surface and Groundwater Protection Zones. The proposed work involves the reconstruction of a wastewater system at Dover Heights Apartments on Central Street. As the wastewater discharge is greater than 10,000 gallons per day, the owners (NFMU DHA, LLC) were required to get a groundwater discharge permit from the State. That permit was issued, but the state determined that the facility was grandfathered. Based on the fact that the state did not require a treatment plant, but instead determined to apply the standards of Title 5 for their approval, the owners requested a variance to waive the local Acton standard which requires advanced treatment for all projects with a capacity of 10,000 gallons or greater per day within any aquifer protection zone. Instead, the owners propose to improve their septic system by relocating the leaching field to a site farther from the wetland, with more vertical separation from groundwater, outside of Aquifer Protection Zone 3.
The Board was concerned about the impact of untreated wastewater and the assertion that a treatment plant was not economically viable. Based on this issue, the board moved to continue the hearing to allow the petitioner to address the environmental and economic impacts of the project.
March 5th meeting materials are available online.
DK Halley was Acton’s Health Director from 1987 to 2015 and is the Board of Health beat reporter for the Acton Exchange.
