Marion receives $250,000 for wastewater treatment plant
Apr 2, 2021
From left to Right: Selectmen Norm Hills and John Waterman, Rep. Bill Straus, Selectman Randy Parker, Town Administrator Jay McGrail and Finance Director Judy Mooney at the Marion Wastewater Treatment Plant as Straus presents the check to Marion.
MARION — State Rep. Bill Straus presented Marion with a check for $250,000 on April 2, which will be used to pay down debt from the town’s wastewater treatment lagoon lining project.
The $9.5 million project is needed to bring the sewage lagoons up to current standards designed to prevent wastewater from seeping into nearby Aucoot Cove and from there to Buzzards Bay.
The town lacked funding for the project, until Straus was able to secure the money through a Department of Environmental Protection bond benefitting wastewater treatment plants in the Buzzards Bay area, which only applies to Marion.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Selectman Randy Parker said of the search for project funding.
Straus said he’s optimistic that more money for the lagoon will come in the next fiscal year, as the Department of Environmental Protection includes the project in its Fiscal Year 2022 budget.
“My hope is this is not the end, but it would be a first payment,” Straus said.
The $9.5 million project involves draining the lagoon, removing the biosolid waste from the bottom, and relining with an impervious liner. Originally, it was estimated by Camp, Dresser and McKee, Inc. that there was around 350 tons of sludge at the bottom. That number has since gone up twice, currently estimated at over 1,000 tons.
