Maine’s top environmental chief issued a blunt warning last week to landowners whose properties drain into the state’s most polluted watershed: Voluntarily help restore Long Creek’s water quality or risk a state-mandated cleanup.
David P. Littell, commissioner at the Department of Environmental Protection, offered the opening remarks Sept. 27 at a joint meeting of landowners and regulators on the critical need to meet standards of the federal Clean Water Act for the large watershed, which flows from the Maine Mall area into the Fore River.
The Long Creek watershed includes Westbrook, Scarborough and Portland. But the largest area is in South Portland, concentrated in the Maine Mall area near Route 295.
“I’m here today because this is an important priority for us statewide and the people in this room are crucial stakeholders,” Littell told representatives from major South Portland companies, including the Maine Mall, Unum Group and Fairchild Semiconductor.
“There are certainly regulatory options, and we prefer not to use them,” said Littell, referring to rules that allow the DEP to closely regulate storm water discharge into contaminated streams.
After the meeting, DEP officials said the state can ask property owners to submit plans to treat storm water runoff and if they don’t comply they can be fined.
The September meeting at National Semiconductor in South Portland was the first in a series of public-private workshops for creating a plan to restore Long Creek and implement measures for protecting water quality.
The Long Creek Planning Project, funded by a federal grant, is expected to take two years. More than 250 property owners are affected.
State environmental officials are encouraging the landowners to participate in creating the cleanup plan, which will require existing businesses to better control and treat stormwater runoff.
“This planning group gives us more options and more flexibility than just having the regulatory process,” said Dave Russell, facilities engineer with Fairchild Semiconductor. “Ultimately we have to meet the minimum government standards for this body of water. But there are different ways to get there and be just as effective.”
The watershed, which has been affected by more than 30 years of rapid business development, has been classified by the state as an “impaired urban stream,” based on the pollution levels, erosion and the aquatic life the stream can support.
Pollutants include oil, grease, silt, other petroleum products and metals such as lead.
There also are excessive nutrients that include nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers and automotive products.
Untreated storm water from parking lots and roof tops is often warm enough to raise stream temperatures and harms aquatic life.
DEP officials offered no estimates on how much it will cost to restore the watershed, but predicted the cleanup could take 10 years.
“We’d like to see it happen faster, but acknowledge it will take some time. There is no one magic fix for everyone,” said Don Witherill, who directs the division of watershed management for the DEP. “This will take a group effort to succeed.”
Many of the major landowners are businesses. But some properties are owned by the state and municipalities, such as the Portland-operated jetport and the Maine Turnpike.
State and federal law requires that lakes and streams should be clean enough to support fish and other wildlife, allow for safe recreational uses such as swimming; and be drinkable after standard treatment.
Restoring Long Creek “is good for the public… and good for you as property owners,” said Witherill, noting that the collective impact of rapid development affects water quality in ways that were not well known years ago.
Although the Clean Water Act is more than 30 years old, Witherill said, environmental officials have more information and a better understanding on the cumulative effect of development on water quality.
Witherill said the state DEP in 2005 updated its environmental rules for new developments. Now the DEP wants to help existing businesses establish steps for fixing water runoff problems at their sites.
“The question is, how do we go back and fix problems resulting from prior development?” he said.
The two-year planning process is voluntary for landowners, who can have a say in how to implement fixes that are likely to cost money.
Dozens of property owners have joined the effort. “This is a good, positive process,” said Russell, who sits on a committee that oversees the planning process.
“With so many factions there will always be challenges, and there will not be 100 percent buy-in. But this is our chance to get all the parties together and make some constructive progress.”
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