In response to claims made by the Buzzards Bay Coalition that the Marion wastewater treatment plant is causing nitrogen pollution, the town’s Selectmen will have new engineering studies done on the plant in hopes of refuting the claims.

In a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection dated February 26, the Coalition charges that the lagoons of the wastewater treatment plant are leaking and causing nitrogen pollution in the nearby Aucoot Cove.

The Coalition is requesting that the DEP require the town to resolve the pollution problem.

The town’s Selectmen have denied this before, but on Tuesday, the board decided to take a new course of action.

Selectman Jody Dickerson said he was shocked by the persistent claims.

“What’s really shocking to me is that they have never been to the plant,” Dickerson said.

“I set up a visit in September and no one showed up. It’s like a doctor saying a patient needs surgery without ever seeing the patient.”

Town Administrator Paul Dawson agreed.

“The report said that the leakage in the lagoons was the same amount as what it takes in. That’s ridiculous. If it leaks, and I’m not at all certain it does, it’s not what was in the report,” Dawson said.

Dawson suggested the board hire engineers from Camp, Dresser, McKee, and Smith to conduct a new study on the lagoons.

Korrin Peterson, senior attorney for the Coalition, said the leakage was a concern of the Coalition, the town, and the DEP in the 1990s.

Since 2011, the Selectmen have held several meetings with the Coalition to discuss the matter.

The board has insisted that the Coalition overestimated the leakage of the lagoons.

Of the Selectmen’s decision to conduct new studies, Peterson said, “We feel confident the lagoons are leaking and we would rather see the town invest in engineering reports that would yield a solution. We’re here to help.”

While he disagreed with the pollution claims, Selectman John Henry said he would prefer to focus on the studies on upgrading the lagoons, rather than on proving whether the Coalition was wrong.

“I think we should take the initiative and upgrade them regardless of getting into an adversarial position over engineering reports. It’s a waste of time,” Henry said.

Of the upgrades needed at the plant, Henry said the lagoons should be lined.

Norman Hills, a member of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, suggested the board should attempt to refute the Coalition’s claims.

“I think the [Coalition’s] report doesn’t prove anything,” Hills said. “They’re making leaps of judgment. They haven’t proved anything, but they’re spreading the word around that we’re incompetent. I think it’s time to consider getting myth separated from fact.”

By the end of the meeting, the Selectmen agreed to wait for the engineering studies to be completed and to proceed based on CDM’s recommendations.