The Acton Board of Health met on October 28, discussing a range of new and ongoing issues.
Boardwalk School: hazardous materials control permit and wastewater monitoring
As reported earlier, the Board voted on September 30 to deny a hazardous materials control permit for the Boardwalk School’s battery energy storage system (BESS), given safety and noise concerns about its proximity to the school and abutters. Environmental Health Director Matthew Dow reported that Nexamp, the company working with the school on the project, is now suggesting a different location for the BESS. The Board agreed to have Nexamp representatives present their proposal at an upcoming meeting.
The Boardwalk School has also been on the Health Department’s radar for high levels of nitrogen and low pH in several of the septic system monitoring wells. Marc Hamel, representing the school, said a consultant had been hired and would be collecting monthly data for the wells in question.
Board members suggested several causes for the numbers, including the possibility of broken components in the system (causing high nitrogen), the use of cleaning solutions with hydrochloric acid (causing low pH), or high water usage.
Board Chair Conoby agreed it is appropriate to conduct monthly sampling but that looking at the influent is also important. “You need to know what’s going in and what’s going out to know how it’s operating,” he said.
Hamel said he would work with Dow to define the consultant’s scope of work, and agreed to have the monthly data sent directly to Dow, as Conoby suggested. The Board voted to continue discussion to a mutually agreeable date within the next three months.
Health and Family Services updates
Health and Family Services Director Penny Funaiole reported that more than 1,000 Acton residents would be affected by the loss of SNAP benefits that was expected to begin November 1 as a result of the Federal Government shutdown. The department is working with nonprofits in the area to learn what other resources are available.
Funaiole noted that Acton is a very caring community, and some residents may be able to help others through donations, but that “at this time, the town doesn’t have a lot of resources to help families.”
Funaiole also reported that work on the Community Needs Assessment is picking up, with several residents serving as “ambassadors” for the project. “We are planning listening sessions and looking for creative ways to get feedback from the community,” she said. She said two town-wide sessions will be held, one for parents and one for all residents. Once scheduled, the sessions will be widely advertised so residents can plan to attend.
Gould’s Plaza wastewater management
The Board returned to a topic continued from the last meeting regarding wastewater management at Gould’s Plaza on Great Road. In early October, the Health Department had issued a Notice of Noncompliance to the owners of the development for failure to mitigate two issues: 1) the need to have two hair salons connected to a wastewater holding tank (to collect industrial waste such as hair dyes); and 2) the need to upgrade the subsurface sewage disposal systems to include nitrogen-reduction technology. According to ActonGIS, the Gould’s Plaza property is mostly in Groundwater Protection Zone I, with the northern wing extending into Zone II.
A representative of Rhino Construction, in attendance, confirmed that the tank had been ordered but that delivery of the tank liner, which is needed for secondary containment, will take six weeks, meaning they will miss the deadline cited in the Notice of Noncompliance.
Jack Moloney of Dillis & Roy, an environmental engineering company working on the project, joined the meeting remotely and said that once the tank is installed, his firm will apply to Massachusetts DEP for an Industrial Wastewater Holding Tank Compliance Certification (WP56), which will then be submitted to the Town.
Board member Bill McInnis asked if Gould’s Plaza has submitted a revised design to the town for the entire system. “This is dragging out, and every time we think we are making progress, someone throws a flag and we get two steps back,” he said.
Brian Lafferty, representing the owners of Gould’s Plaza, joined the meeting remotely and said that an initial cost estimate for the nitrogen attenuation proved prohibitive, so the owners have switched vendors for design of the system, further delaying action. At the request of the Board, Lafferty and Moloney said they would provide a complete plan for the system within a week for the Health Department’s review.
“The goal is compliance, not fines,” Conoby said. The Board voted to authorize Dow to extend the order period by 30 days, “if he finds reasonable basis to do so.”
Other business
Dow said the Health Department is looking to hire a per diem food inspector as the former part-time food consultant has left that role. In the meantime, he and other staff are conducting those inspections. There was some discussion by the Board about the possibility of budgeting for a full-time employee in the future.
Given the November holidays, the date of the next meeting was unconfirmed at the time of the October 28 meeting.
Patricia McTiernan is one of the Acton Exchange’s beat reporters for the Board of Health.
Correction Notice: On November 9, the article was edited to clarify the location of Gould’s Plaza relative to Groundwater Protection Zones I and II, as ascertained by Acton GIS, see map below. Zone I is the area closest to public water supply wells, within which uses that might pollute groundwater are most tightly regulated.
