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Finding the contaminants

Dealing with nonpoint source pollution in Milbridge

Clam flats can't be open to harvesting when they're polluted, but sometimes finding the source of pollution can be tricky.

"We had a bunch of overboard discharges and some were not identified," said Lewis Pinkham, town manager of Milbridge. The Maine Coastal Program (MCP) provided a grant that allowed the town to purchase lab testing equipment.

"We set the equipment up at Narragaugus High School. The biology teacher helped, and a bunch of volunteers - community members, police and myself - took water samples," said Pinkham. This project built on a 1992 Maine Coastal Program grant that enabled towns to do a watershed survey. The second grant enabled towns to measure overboard discharge.

Volunteers brought samples to the high school where students ran tests.

"We managed to track the sources," Pinkham said. The town applied for a small community grant of about $80,000 to replace eight failing sewage systems along the river.

"The kids at the high school learned a lot about nonpoint source pollution," said Pinkham. "They did spreadsheets for us. Then they went home and talked to their parents about it."

The town printed an informational brochure that was distributed door-to-door. They worked with the state Department of Marine Resources (DMR) water quality specialists and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) personnel to survey the shore.

"As money is available, we will continue to take care of failing systems. There are still a couple of pollution sources we're trying to track down. We're testing and sampling in conjunction with the high school still, from time to time.

"And we have given the Narraguagus Watershed Council permission to run tests through the high school as well, so the kids are getting great experience," said Pinkham.

"Unfortunately, the budget for Congress has not funded the coastal nonpoint pollution prograrm for the last two years. The story of Milbridge helps reinforce how important it is to reinstate those funds," said Kathleen Leyden, MCP director.

"These funds are essential to us. We know how the towns around us benefit from the results. It wasn't a huge amount to get us started, but we couldn't have done without it," said Pinkham. "It was a very, very worthwhile program."

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