LETTERS: Town Should Use State Funding for Lake Before June 30 Expiration
To The Editor:
Properly situated and maintained Title 5 septic systems can do a good job preventing bacterial contamination of waterways. But Title 5 systems do not treat excess nutrients in the wastewater.
Excess phosphates from urine flow out of septic systems. Some soils can absorb a portion of the phosphates, as they move slowly to an adjacent waterway. Once in a lake, phosphates tend to stay put, accumulating in bottom sediments to become part of a complicated natural phosphorus cycle.
In addition to wastewater, excess phosphorus can come from wild and domestic animals. It can fall from the sky, a deposition from our burning of fossil fuels. Artificial fertilizers are a source of excess phosphorus that can be easily eliminated. Though laundry detergents and (recently) dish soaps sold in Massachusetts must be phosphate-free, the phosphate from their earlier use is still in the lakes. A sign of excess phosphates in a body of water is overgrowth of plants and algae.
The amount of phosphorus in a lake is not the same in every cup of water. There is a constantly changing range of values, depending on place in the water column, time of day, and season. The CEI study only tested one sample of lake water last summer for phosphorus. The result was in the expected range of phosphorus values. The data from a few tablespoons of lake water taken on one summer day cannot support the statement "Phosphorus levels have not changed since 1989." Since phosphorus accumulates, the constant flow of excess phosphorus from septic systems will raise the overall phosphorus in any lake over time.
In contrast, nitrates move as fast as the groundwater can take it and at excess levels can contaminate drinking water, public and private. The CEI samples of groundwater between septic systems and the lake showed increases in nitrates.
There is no mention of Title 5 costs in this article. Some installations around Lost Lake have cost $40,000, an onerous amount for a current home-owner who happens to inherit a problem years in the making. Even if every septic system on the lake was updated, it still would not address the nutrient overload and the costs of its remediation.
By not taking the state funding, which expires on June 30, the Town of Groton is losing a financial opportunity to solve a problem that could result in further expense in the future. Replacing a public well, failed by nitrate pollution, would be expensive. And there may come a time when the Commonwealth will require inland communities also to deal with their nutrient pollution in order to protect fresh water.
Sincerely,
Mary Metzger
Ed Note: This Letter to the Editor was originally submitted as a response to the story: LOST LAKE: Determining Scope and Degree of Lake and Watershed Environmental Problems in the online version of this newspaper.
