WRAB-WWMPC
Minutes of Meeting of 9/12/06
Police Station, 2 p.m.
Attending were Chair Weiss, members Nugent, Olthof, Williams, Lightfoot, Sullivan, Sandler and Bayne, Health Agent Crowley, and Selectman Sandblom.
The minutes of 7/25/06 were approved with a correction regarding the name of the town energy committee.
Williams asked that the zoning districts be explained, and several members agreed they are not familiar with the zoning districts. Therefore a zoning map and discussion of it will be on the agenda for the October meeting.
Weiss announced that the Energy Committee will attend the October meeting to discuss the location of up to four wind turbines in a potential well protection district.
Weiss distributed an article from the Financial Times about Eastham.
The issue of unmetabolized endocrine disruptors appearing in drinking water, which is the subject of articles distributed by Olthof and Nugent, was briefly discussed. (In file.)
Weiss described the contents of the displays the WRAB-WWMPC had shown at Windmill Weekend. These included material on the Mass. Estuary Project, results of our 3 year rotational well studies of nitrates, the function and design of waste water systems, and the pond studies.
Weiss presented the well study handout information he’d produced for Windmill Weekend. These charts demonstrated an increase in wells with nitrates above 10 ppm when comparing North Eastham data for 2003 and 2006, and demonstrated the North Eastham nitrate levels by map area. (In file.)
Weiss announced that the Part Time Residents Assoc. ranked water quality the most important issue for Eastham in a recent survey.
Crowley reported that her assistant, Lem Skidmore, had left, and that she has a new Americorp volunteer.
She announced that the APCC will sponsor a seminar on local and regional efforts to protect and restore coastal waters, focusing on the Mass. Estuary Project, on 11/16 at the Harwich Community Center, 8:30-3. It is free and board members are invited to attend.
She has been asked to do a seminar on Eastham water quality issues at the Wellfleet Sanctuary on 10/11, part of a two day seminar. She asked for board assistance at the Eastham portion of the seminar from 3:45-4:30.
Williams suggested the boards provide a monthly update to the media as information on the important issues we deal with are not reaching the public on a regular basis. The discussion included the suggestion that Jack Slavin be asked if the town web site could include an easy to access screen focusing on urgent issues. Crowley felt Slavin would be willing to add such a pop-up if the material is provided to him.
Crowley and Weiss reported on the last meeting of the Outer Cape Water Management Project subcommittee.
1. The members, working with Environmental Partners (E.P.), had agreed that the areas which should receive attention first in a phased plan for public water are:
Moll’s Pond study area
Route 6 corridor
Campground Rd. area.
South Eastham
2. CCNS management has expressed an interest in allowing towns to assume management of the public wells in the seashore.
Relative to involving CCNS in discussion of water issues, Sandler mentioned that a group called The Outer Cape Roundtable, begun by former Eastham planner and current Wellfleet assistant town manager Rex Peterson, meets monthly at the Seashore Marconi headquarters. Superintendent Price occasionally attends these discussions of matters of regional interest. Regular attendees come from Truro, Provincetown, Wellfleet and Eastham. The next meeting occurs 9/19 at 3 pm.
Nugent presented his pattern analysis of nitrates in Eastham wells based on data from the 10 year 60 well study. Using 2001-2005 data, Nugent used two methods to examine possible patterns.
The first, an aggregate approach to analyze changes throughout the town, determined that there is indeed an overall increase in nitrate levels, although the 59 well sample is statistically too small to be conclusive.
The second, a locational approach, identified highest nitrate levels (above 5 ppm) in each of the Town’s map areas (used to locate land parcels) for each of the 5 years to determine whether or not nitrates move between map areas.. He concluded that:
there is little or no evidence of movement from map area to map area; that
high nitrate levels persist in map areas which have had them in the past, that
high nitrate areas are concentrated in the west part of Eastham; and that
low nitrates are concentrated in the east and southernmost map areas. Therefore,
most high nitrogen levels appear to be local in origin.
Although there was uniformity of representation of almost all nitrate levels throughout the 5 years, there was also a rise in the levels of high nitrates. (In file.)
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Next meeting: Oct. 10, 2 p.m., police station.
Submitted by Sandy Bayne, Clerk
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