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Attachment 2 Narrative Description
This Notice of Intent (NOI) is to provide information on the proposed return of highly treated
wastewater effluent via infiltration basins at 99 Buck Island Road in the Town of Yarmouth (Town). The
proposed project is part of the first Phase of the Town’s multi-phase 40-year Comprehensive
Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP). The CWMP is designed to reduce nitrogen loads to estuaries
and harbors which will improve water quality by collection and centralized treatment of wastewater
which currently enters the aquifer through septic systems.
In 2003, the Town’s Integrated Water Resources Planning (IWRP) Committee began development of the
CWMP to address community wastewater management needs, protect drinking water sources, and
restore valuable estuaries. The Single EIR (SEIR)/Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP)
was approved by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Massachusetts
Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) on September 30, 2022.
The executive summary of the CWMP is provided as Attachment 7.
The complete CWMP is available on-line at https://www.yarmouth.ma.us/2033/Project-
Management.
Attachment 8 is the Certificate of the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs on the
Notice of Project Change and Supplemental SEIR.
There are 8 phases in the approved CWMP. Phase 1 includes the construction of a new centralized
Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) at 99 Buck Island Road, construction of a collection system
including sewers and pumping stations and return of highly treated wastewater effluent to infiltration
basins at the 99 Buck Island Site. Wastewater will be collected in the Lewis By, Parkers River, Bass River
and Nantucket Sound Watersheds. For Phase 1, an average annual flow 0.417 MGD will be collected,
treated and returned to the groundwater at multiple locations. The 99 Buck Island Road is the first of
several locations for proposed recharge.
The proposed project may potentially impact wetland resource areas by increasing water levels. There
will not be construction in the wetland resource areas or wetland buffer zones as part of this proposed
project. For a maximum month recharge rate of 0.29 MGD, the area of potential water level rise greater
than 0.1 feet is shown on Figure 1. Figure 1 shows the area of groundwater increase of more than 0.1
feet based on current bog operations as solid lines and the area of increase if the bogs were used to
increase drainage as dotted lines. The WRRF and the four sand infiltration basins will be constructed in
the cleared area at 99 Buck Island Road. The project will improve water quality by removing nitrogen. It
is a key step in the Town’s efforts to restore water quality issues identified as part of the Massachusetts
Estuary Project (MEP).
In addition to a maximum month recharge rate of 0.29 MGD, impacts from maximum month recharge
rates of 0.46 MGD and 0.73 MGD were also simulated. Potential water table impacts both with current
drainage through the bogs and increased drainage through the bogs are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.
The infiltration basin area is located outside of the Yarmouth Conservation Commission jurisdiction.
Active cranberry bogs are located to the west and the north, Plashes Brook to the east and bordering
vegetated wetlands (BVW) to the south (previously developed and currently utilized as cranberry bogs).
Parts of Plashes Brook and associated BVW are now part of the town owned Raymond J. Syrjala
Attachment 2 Narrative Description
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conservation area. There are paths around the cranberry bogs and through the woods that are actively
used for recreation.
Existing Wetland Resource Areas and Water Control Structures
To the north, south and west of the proposed recharge site are cranberry bogs owned by the Town of
Yarmouth and leased out for cranberry production. There are pathways for recreation around the bogs.
These areas include drainage features to move water between the bogs, irrigation ponds and adjacent
wetlands. To the east of the site is Plashes Brook. Flow north of Buck Island Road in Plashes Brook is
controlled by water control structures in the cranberry bogs. Between Buck Island Road and Winslow
Gray Road, Plashes brook flows through the remnants of historical cranberry bogs and into an area of
deep marsh. The water level in the deep marsh area is controlled by a water control structure with stop
logs just north of Winslow Gray Road. South of the site are natural wetlands, the cranberry bog
tailwater pond and drainage from the cranberry bogs to the west. Plashes Brook and the cranberry bog
drainage flow under Winslow Gray Road through wetlands and former cranberry bogs into Parker River.
Descriptions of the existing wetland resource areas from a 2008 wetland delineation completed by CDM
Smith Inc. and approved by the Yarmouth Conservation Commission are described in:
Attachment 6a Wetland Hydrology Monitoring Program Plan and
Attachment 9a Order of Resource Area Delineation 2009 83-1864 and
Mapped in Attachment 9b and 9c Wetland Resource Area Delineation Mapping.
Based on MassGIS, the vegetation community types and area of BVW and area of open water impacted
by the three proposed maximum monthly recharge rates are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Potentially impacted wetland acreage by recharge rate and drainage scenario
Maximum
Month
Recharge
Rate
(MGD)
Bogs
Used to
Control
Water
Levels
Cranberry
Bog
(acres)
Shrub
Swamp
(acres)
Wooded
Swamp
Deciduous
(acres)
Wooded
Swamp
Coniferous
(acres)
Wooded
Swamp
Mixed
Trees
(acres)
Open
Water
(acres)
Deep
Marsh
(acres)
0.29 No 8.7 4.1 5.5 0 1.9 0.1 0.5
0.29 Yes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.46 No 20.2 4.8 7.2 0.7 2.2 0.4 1.0
0.46 Yes 0 1.5 1.1 0 0 0 0
0.73 No 26.7 5.2 10.2 2.5 2.2 0.9 1.0
0.73 Yes 0 2.6 2.8 0 0.55 0 0.16
Indirect Wetland Resource Area Impacts
Recharge at the proposed infiltration basins will results in increases of 0.1 to 0.5 feet at wetland
resource areas. The recorded variation in groundwater elevation is around 2 feet during a typical year
based on observed water levels in existing monitoring wells (see Section 4.3 of the Hydrogeologic
Evaluation Report). The predicted maximum rise of the water table due to the proposed recharge is
within the natural variation in water levels recorded at the site.
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The proposed monitoring plan includes monitoring of wetland resources areas, groundwater elevations
and surface water levels. The monitoring plan will include a year of baseline monitoring and monitoring
during and after recharge begins at the infiltration basins to determine if changes in water levels occur
and if the changes in water levels negatively impact wetland resource areas.
Groundwater Discharge Permitting
The Town is currently requesting the Hydrogeologic Evaluation be approved by the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to allow for a groundwater discharge permit with a
maximum day flow of 0.37 MGD. To support this flow rate, the groundwater model was used to
simulate the impact of the estimated maximum monthly flow, representing as a rate of 80% of the
maximum day flow, or 0.29 MGD, at the site. The groundwater increase represents the conservative
water level rise if this flow was applied at the stie continuously for the entire plant operation. In
practice, flows will fluctuate and be lower in the fall and winter and higher in the summer season.
Maximum day recharge is expected to occur around the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.
The initial Hydrogeologic Application (22-WP83-005-APP) and supporting information is included in
attachments:
Attachment 10a Buck Island Road – WP83 Hydrogeologic Evaluation Report Application 22-
WP83-005-APP and
Attachment 10b Buck Island Road 22-WP83-005-APP Additional Information
Obtaining an initial permit rate of 0.37 MGD maximum day flow will allow for bidding and construction
of the WRRF and the remaining Phase 1 collection system contracts to proceed. In the future, the Town
may request that the permitted discharge rate at the Buck Island Site be increased. This request will be
based on observed impacts to water levels and wetlands, nitrogen impacts to estuaries and harbors and
balancing of potential impacts at other locations within Yarmouth.
Three figures (Figures 2 through 4) are provided with this Narrative Description to show the potential
extent of mounding under maximum month recharge conditions for three permit rates. The figures
include the extent of mounding for two conditions, with cranberry bogs used to increase drainage and
without additional drainage through the cranberry bogs.
An existing discharge permit for the Yarmouth Dennis Septage Treatment Plant exists for this site
(Permit # X287216FP, program identifier WP12 GW#451-5). Treated water from the Septage Treatment
Plant is reused for irrigation source water at the Bayberry Hills Golf Course. The permit allows for excess
water not used for irrigation, up to 21 million gallons per year, to be recharged at the Buck Island site via
an existing sprayfield. After construction of the infiltration basins, excess reclaimed water not used for
irrigation at the Bayberry Hills Golf Course will be returned to the aquifer through the infiltration basins
at the 99 Buck Island site to be constructed as part of the WRRF. This potential flow will occur during the
fall and winter when wastewater flows are lower than the maximum month.
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Figure 1. Area of groundwater rise (mound) from maximum monthly recharge rate of 0.29 MGD.
Mound with increased drainage
through cranberry bogs
Mound under current cranberry
bog drainage operations
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Figure 2. Area of groundwater rise (mound) from maximum monthly recharge rate of 0.46 MGD.
Mound with increased drainage
through cranberry bogs
Mound under current cranberry
bog drainage operations
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Figure 3. Area of groundwater rise (mound) from maximum monthly recharge rate of 0.73 MGD.
Mound with increased drainage
through cranberry bogs
Mound under current cranberry
bog drainage operations