CAMDEN — The Town of Camden is one of several coastal municipalities that are receiving USDA funds coastal Water and Environmental programs in Maine in 2023. 

The Town of Camden received a grant of $1.4M and a loan of $12.5M to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility and pump stations. Formerly a pipe under the harbor conveyed sewage from a pumping station to the treatment plant. Thanks to this project, pipes have been installed under town streets instead, so sewage is no longer pumped under the harbor to the treatment plant.

The Water and Waste Disposal program helps to fund clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and stormwater drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas. State and local governments, federally recognized tribes, and nonprofits in rural communities may be eligible to apply.

Contact Bob Nadeau, Community Programs Director (robert.nadeau@usda.gov or 207-990-9121) for more information.

The other towns are:

- The Lubec Water District received a grant of $25K to assess its 25 miles of water lines and its overall water system. The pipes are over 100 years old, so the assessment effort will likely lead to significant updates in the future. This work complements an ongoing project to upgrade the town’s wastewater treatment facility and pumping stations. USDA Rural Development funded that work with a grant of $1.6M and a loan of $2M.

- The Freeport Sewer District received a grant of $7.5M and two loans totaling over $12.6M. The district will update its wastewater treatment plant and collection system to be more effective and to help alleviate health and sanitary concerns. Due to Freeport’s location on Casco Bay Watershed, this project will potentially benefit other coastal communities such as Yarmouth, Falmouth, Phippsburg, and Cape Elizabeth.

- Southwest Harbor Water and Sewer District on Mt. Desert Island. The agency has awarded the district a $4.25M grant and a low-interest loan of $5M.

Wastewater treatment and Maine’s coast:

Many Maine residents are familiar with private septic systems to treat sewage in situations where a municipal wastewater treatment system is not available. Septic systems are land-based, filtering liquids from sewage through leach fields. Fewer people know that there are also private systems that discharge treated wastewater directly into rivers, streams, and the ocean. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) licenses 650 of these Overboard Discharge (OBD) locations, with many along northern Casco Bay and mid-coast Maine.

DEP has been working for years to reduce the number of OBDs in Mane. One reason is that they pose a risk to nearby shellfisheries. The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) monitors and maps these locations and prohibits shellfish harvesting in the vicinity of OBD outfall pipes. Due to the risk of contamination posed by OBDs, an estimated 20,000 acres of mudflats and potential aquaculture habitat are currently closed to harvesting along Maine’s coast. As more OBDs are eliminated over time, more coastal habitats are likely to open for shellfish and aquacultural harvesting.

Efforts to expand and improve Maine’s wastewater treatment infrastructure impact the tourism industry as well. For example, the Lincolnville Sewer District recently completed a project to build a public wastewater treatment facility. Previously, local homes and businesses managed their wastewater treatment through septic systems and OBDs, and effluent pipes discharged near Lincolnville Beach. To protect this popular tourist destination, local leaders worked with state and federal partners on a multi-year project to install a public wastewater treatment system. USDA Rural Development provided over $3.5M in funding, and the Maine DEP’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) continues to support the work.

Meagan Sims, Maine Healthy Beaches Coordinator with DEP’s Bureau of Water Quality, notes that “Reducing and/or eliminating any potential human pollution sources through wastewater infrastructure repairs and upgrades can support improvements to existing coastal water quality conditions, protect public health, and prevent future threats to water quality.” Funding these complicated years-long projects often requires partnerships between municipal, state, and federal agencies and dogged persistence from local water district staff and town leaders.

Grants are one component of the funding assistance USDA Rural Development provides. Just as important are the low-interest loans the agency makes available to rural municipalities and water districts for these projects. For example, the Southwest Harbor Water and Sewer District was able to secure a 40-year loan at 2.125 percent.

“Rural communities often can’t budget for such improvements through fees alone,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Hampson. “That is why we dedicate so much of our funding and staff time to supporting these vital projects. We bring taxpayer dollars back to Maine to help make these projects feasible for towns, ensuring clean drinking water and wastewater services for residents and businesses. Over the long term, we hope these projects ultimately help keep Maine’s beaches clean and our shellfisheries open. These are vital to Maine’s economy and our regional culture.”

Maine DEP

Maine is well-known for its miles of stunning saltwater beaches, and ensuring these waters are safe for recreation is a priority for many coastal communities. Elevated fecal bacteria levels threaten public health and contribute to increased beach advisories during popular summer months. The Maine Healthy Beaches (MHB) program is a statewide effort to monitor water quality and protect public health at Maine’s participating coastal saltwater beaches. It is a partnership between the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP) and approximately 30 local municipalities/state parks. 

For nearly 20 years, the Town of Lincolnville has partnered with MHB and local volunteers to monitor water quality at Lincolnville Beach. Over that time, elevated fecal bacteria concentrations and associated beach advisories have occurred periodically. Fecal bacteria issues can be difficult to eliminate because they often result from a combination of human and non-human sources such as sewage treatment plant or collection system overflows, malfunctioning septic systems, untreated boat sewage, and domestic animal and wildlife waste. These sources can compound to create a larger water quality problem, particularly during periods of increased rainfall when stormwater runoff transports these fecal pollution sources to the coastal zone.

The USDA Rural Development (RD) Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program provides investments for communities to tackle many of these challenging wastewater infrastructure issues. In Lincolnville, their investment supported the development of a new wastewater treatment facility and collection system to replace outdated infrastructure and implement necessary upgrades. Additionally, Maine DEP administers the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) which provides low-interest loans to municipalities for the construction of wastewater infrastructure projects. Currently, a CWSRF loan with 100% principal forgiveness is being used to provide much-needed upgrades to repair Lincolnville’s collection system outfall.

Funding mechanisms like the USDA RD Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program and the Maine DEP-administered CWSRF provide opportunities for communities to tackle expensive, and often complicated upgrades to wastewater infrastructure that otherwise may not be feasible. Reducing and/or eliminating any potential human pollution sources through wastewater infrastructure repairs and upgrades can support improvements to existing coastal water quality conditions, protect public health, and prevent future threats to water quality.