Court OK’s change in Gloucester sewer consent decree

In late August, the U.S. District Court in Boston validated an approach that Gloucester has been taking over the last several years to comply with a sewer overflow consent decree.

The ruling modifies an agreement, established in 2005, that requires the city to introduce separate pipes for wastewater and stormwater as a means of preventing the system from being overwhelmed and discharging untreated wastewater into Gloucester Harbor.

The revised decree reflects approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental officials of an approach the city adopted about four years ago, according to Gloucester Public Works Director Mike Hale. The approach involved giving priority to the sewer discharge points that have the highest spill volume.

The challenge, according to Hale, was to provide sufficient data to persuade state and federal officials that giving priority to the discharge points with the highest spill volume was the best way to proceed.

“We developed what was perhaps a better way to address the goals in the court document,” Hale said. “We really wanted to make sure that the EPA, as well as the state, didn’t think that we were trying to skip part of the process.”

Hale added, “It was a gamble. [Until now] it wasn’t approved by the courts.”

The schedule also is designed to spare the city’s downtown from torn-up streets during the summer tourist season.

“This kind of construction is very destructive to neighborhoods,” Hale said.

He added that several years earlier, sewer-related construction in downtown Gloucester was “devastating” to businesses, particularly those that were not well established.

Hale said that 2015 remains the target date for complying with the sewer overflow consent decree.