Blue Hill awards $3.5M treatment plant contract, investigates outflow clog

By Tricia Thomas

BLUE HILL—The Blue Hill select board voted on Nov. 17 to hire a New Hampshire-based construction firm for a long-planned upgrade of its harborside wastewater treatment plant, and announced shortly afterward that it is investigating a new problem with the plant’s outflow pipe.

“Our outflow pipe is apparently clogged and broken,” said select board member D. Scott Miller.

Miller said that Olver Associates, the town’s wastewater treatment consultant, is looking into the cause of the break and already has installed a “workaround” to keep the plant running.

While the plant continues to operate, it is now out of compliance with state DEP regulations concerning outflow, Miller said.

Olver vice president Annaleis Hafford confirmed that an older section of the outflow pipe is broken and, as a result, had become clogged with silt.

“It was essentially clogged, in that some flow was going through it, but not much. We’ve now cleared it [and] the flow is going through it again,” Hafford said. “However, we now know that the pipe is damaged and partially plugged still, and will need to be replaced.”

Olver already has taken steps to replace the pipe, which is eight inches in diameter and more than 1,900 feet long, Hafford said.

“We’re in the process of working with the funding agencies that we already have for the [upgrade] project to get permission to move forward with permitting and the environmental review process,” she said. “Because it’s submerged in water, you have to follow procedures. You can’t just go and replace it.”

“I see it as something that won’t be ready to be done until next year.  It takes time, and the environmental review process is a bit cumbersome,” Hafford added.

Hafford said that effluent still is being fully treated, but is being released at a closer distance to shoreline than it previously had.

“It’s supposed to go out into a deeper location, so it’s discharging closer than where we would want it to, but there are no noticeable issues in the bay,” Hafford said. “The DEP has been notified, and we will take steps to fix it.”

Miller made the announcement about the broken pipe after the board had voted unanimously to hire New Hampshire-based APEX Construction for separate, long-planned upgrades to the plant. APEX, which specializes in water and wastewater projects, was the lowest of two bidders, submitting a bid of $3,473,997 for the work. The second bidder, Phelan Construction, based in Old Town, submitted a bid of $3,664,949. Both bids fell below the approximately $4.8 million that Olver had estimated for the construction phase of the project, Miller said. The total cost of the project, including design, project management, permitting and other fees, is $6.2 million.  Miller said the total also includes “contingency” funds for unanticipated costs.

“The budget was developed years ago, well before the actual construction costs (mostly) became known [when bids were opened on Nov. 14]. There is still the possibility of increased construction costs if unanticipated issues arise, like the outflow pipe,” Miller said.

The town already has secured funding through state and federal grants and a federal rural development loan. It also will use funds it received under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

Located next to the town wharf, the wastewater treatment plant was built in 1975 and upgraded in 2000. It serves approximately 322 customers, and is designed to process an average of 100,000 gallons of sewage per day.

Olver, which operates the plant on the town’s behalf, first reported issues there in 2020, and recommended improvements that could be done in phases. The first phase includes replacing aging equipment that is critical to the treatment process, and taking initial steps, including construction of a new high-tide pump station to protect the plant from flooding, sea level rise, and other effects of climate change.

Hafford said that work on the high-tide pump station could begin this spring. The upgrade will not interrupt wastewater treatment, she said.

Hafford also said that her firm is working with APEX on other, more expensive plant upgrades in Southwest Harbor and Winterport.

“They’re very familiar with this kind of work,” she said.