Engineers are saying the Buzzards Bay Coalition overestimated the amount of water leaking from the waste water treatment plant's lagoons and the amount of nitrogen going into Aucoot Cove in a water treatment report filed in April this year.

Bernadette Kolb and Shawn Syde, representatives from the engineering firm CDM—which is the Coalition's engineering firm as well—presented their findings to Selectmen Nov. 15.

Kolb and Syde countered the Coalition’s claims that the treatment plants may be causing contamination in Marion’s harbors due to leaks in the plant’s lagoons. The main concern of the Coalition’s findings was the high levels of nitrogen that may be leaking into the Aucoot Cove, then into Sippican Harbor and into the Weweantic River.

In the report, the coalition stated an assumption that the plant leaked an average of half a million gallons per day. Kolb also said that the plant takes in half a million gallons and questioned how that was possible.

Kolb also told the board that the Coalition found fluctuating levels over the course of three different samplings. Readings ranged from 0.23 milligrams per liter to 10.2 milligrams per liter.

According to Kolb, this variability is too high.

"If the plant was the cause of this," she said, "then the levels should be constant from the lagoons and not changing."

“The questions is what could the other sources be,” Kold said. “There are other potential sources of the nitrogen and they need to be considered. Dealing with them is a good, fiscally responsible step.”

Kolb said other reasons for the variations could be the neighboring landfill, transfer station or from composting done adjacent to the plant.

Though the questions have not been resolved, CDM and the Buzzards Bay Coalition have agreed to continue to look into this matter and present their reports to the board once their research is complete.

In other business:

Police Chief Lincoln Miller informed the board that the department is still in talks with FEMA regarding reimbursements for Hurricane Irene expenses. Miller said the reports seems to be in good shape with the department likely receiving 75 percent, or about $85,000, that was spent during the storm for clearing debris. The reports have yet to be finalized.