MARION — Marion will be receiving an additional $500,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection for the Marion lagoon project, State Rep. Bill Straus, D-Mattapoisett, has announced.

The lagoons are shallow pits that hold sewage prior to treatment in the wastewater treatment plant. A 2010 study by the Buzzards Bay Coalition in conjunction with the town confirmed the lagoons, located on Benson Brook Road, were unlined and were contaminating the underlying groundwater. This led to a call for the lagoons to be lined. 

The completion of the lagoon project will align the town’s Wastewater Treatment Plant and lagoon system with the latest Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Environmental Protection mandates regarding waste storage and treatment.

In 2018, Straus authored a targeted legislative earmark to the environmental funding bill to secure funding for the lagoon re-lining.  

The original state funding authorization was for $2 million and with this payment Marion will have received $1.5 million.  Straus has said he will continue to work with the town and Department of Environmental Protection to ensure that all available funds are released during future fiscal years. 

 “This project in Marion is an environmental plus for the town and Buzzards Bay. I am glad to have successfully helped the town secure this added state funding for an additional $500,000 to help defray the costs borne by sewer users in Marion. This vital project provides the benefit of a better sewer treatment facility in Marion,’’ Straus said.

 “This added $500,000 help from the state for the Town’s lagoon project is great news for the sewer ratepayers and frankly all taxpayers in Marion,” said Randy Parker, chair of the Select Board. “In 2018 we reached out to Bill Straus for state help on this project and he has worked hard on this the whole way.’’