State warns Old Lyme it's taking too long to address raw sewage issues

Old Lyme ― The commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Office of the Attorney General want to know why there still aren’t sewers along most of the town’s shoreline.

DEEP Commissioner Katherine S. Dykes and Attorney General William Tong in an Oct. 2 letter said the town is in jeopardy of losing up to $15 million in available funding if officials don’t “move forward in a timely fashion” to build the infrastructure necessary to pump sewage to New London rather than relying on individual septic systems.

Since 1982, the DEEP has been trying to control the pollution of groundwater, surface water and tidal water within town boundaries. In 2018, consent orders to force compliance in the private beach areas of Old Colony, Old Lyme Shores and Miami Beach led to a plan for a shared sewer system estimated at roughly $53 million.

Also included in the arrangement is the Sound View Beach area, which is governed by the town.

DEEP has said Sound View Beach contributes to the pollution, but the agency has not issued a consent order yet because the town is voluntarily working with the state to resolve the problem.

The project is overseen by municipal water pollution control authorities in each beach area and by the Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority in the case of Sound View.

The private beach associations could face enforcement action, beyond the consent order, if they don’t comply, according to the letter.

Dykes and Tong expressed appreciation for the effort that has been made so far and said the state is ready to help the associations and the town move the project to a conclusion.

“Nevertheless, any additional delay in the construction of this project jeopardizes the subsidy and leaves the community pollution problem unabated,” the letter said.

The leadership of the beach associations for years have been pushing for the shared system. Sound View was added to the plan in 2019 after eligible taxpayers from all over town agreed to the move based on a promise that only residents of the impacted neighborhoods would pay for it.

The process has left some residents of the public beach area feeling marginalized as they look at an estimated cost of $22,556 over 20 years to tie into the public sewer system.

A shared pollution problem

The letter from the state came up at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen in the context of a discussion about a proposed intermunicipal agreement to allow sewage to be pumped from Old Lyme to New London by way of East Lyme.

Shoemaker said she was left out of the loop earlier this year when it came to drafting the agreement, which was handled by leaders of the beach associations and the Old Lyme WPCA.

The selectmen agreed to postpone a vote on the draft agreement until unanswered questions about the agreement and the overall project can be addressed by town attorneys. Shoemaker promised to schedule a meeting as quickly as possible.

The letter comes as the Board of Selectmen, elected last November, has been more receptive than the previous administration to the concerns from Sound View residents.

Old Colony Beach Club Association Chairman Douglas Whalen on Tuesday said the beach associations asked for the state to send out the letter. He said they were hoping the message would convey the urgency of the situation amid what he described as “stall tactics” by the town.

“It was clear in that letter that not only is there a pollution problem, but if they don’t fix the pollution problem, the attorney general's office and DEEP could come down with some serious enforcement to require the sewers,” he said.

Whalen has also asked the agency to enter into a consent order with the town to officially compel sewers in the Sound View area, just as the agency has done with the private beach communities.

“All four entities do have a pollution problem in our community,” Whalen said. “It’s been identified as a pollution problem.”

In Sound View, the DEEP has relied on data collected between 1998 and 2013 to show the area is polluting the environment. Groundwater testing in a 2013 report produced by the Woodard & Curran engineering firm revealed ammonia and bacteria levels indicating the presence of raw sewage.

According to Whalen, the intermunicipal agreement must be signed by the three associations and the town before officials can put the project out to bid again. Selecting the contractors in November could allow for shovels in the ground by late winter or early spring of next year.

Whalen said Sound View’s pollution problem will have to be addressed eventually because the state will insist on it.

“The town is going to have to spend a lot more money if the three beaches move forward and the town at a later date comes back into it,” he said.

He estimated it would cost residents of the Old Colony association about $200 more per year if the town drops out of the shared infrastructure project.

‘ Together or not at all’

DEEP spokesman James Fowler on Tuesday did not specify the range of enforcement actions the private beach associations or the town could be subjected to if they do not show progress soon.

“While the Department has various enforcement tools available, including fines and orders, the intent of the Department’s letter was to highlight that the funding available provides a path forward that avoids any need for further enforcement,” he said in an email.

Selectman Jim Lampos on Monday spoke to the selectmen about his concerns that the project has not been fully vetted or communicated to the public from the start.

He said the problem goes back to efforts in the 1980s to explore ways to address pollution without sewers. But there’s been no visible progress in the Sound View neighborhood where he lives and raised his family.

“It has hung over our heads, impeded development and encouraged blight while we stayed in this holding pattern,” he said. “While I do not want to unnecessarily stand in the way of a project that may finally resolve this issue, I cannot support a project with unspecified costs, unvetted design, and unanswered questions. In terms of moving forward, we will do so together or not at all.”

e.regan@theday.com