KP Superintendent, Selectmen Discuss Wastewater Treatment Options

King Philip Superintendent Elizabeth Zielinski met with the Wrentham Board of Selectmen Tuesday night to discuss solutions to the school's wastewater treatment problem.

The system has received odor complaints from neighboring residents.

Zielinski said the original plant was built along with the high school in 1974. When the school underwent renovation in 2007, the system had to be changed.

"In order for us to proceed, there was a requirement that we meet code," she said.

Zielinski said such systems require a certain amount of flow to work properly.

"The code calls for a tremendously higher amount than the flow we have," she said. "We met the code and, as a result, we're not meeting the flow."

That lack of flow caused the odor problem, she said. Subsequent complaints to the Board of Health led the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to order the school to fix the problem. Such a fix could cost the district $500,000.

Board Chairman Joseph Botaish asked if the district had any recourse against the engineers who designed the system.

King Philip Business Manager Paul Schaefer said he didn't believe it did.

"The high school retrofit was done in conjunction with the Board of Health and the DEP," he said.

Attendees noted that the high-flow requirement was in the DEP code.

Botaish said the idea of adding nearby residents to the King Philip system, and thereby increasing flow, was examined, but deemed problematic.

"I did the math," he said. "Sixty-one houses would have to be hooked up to the system to work."

Those residents, he said, would have to pay to be hooked up to the system and for maintenance.

Planning Board member Bob Cohen suggested the matter be reexamined.

"There are probably that many houses around the lake that are not Title 5 compliant," he said. "When they sell their houses, they will have to make them compliant. If those households spend $5,000 for this, they'd be so far ahead of the game."

Town Planner Paige Duncan said she was frustrated about the situation.

"The DEP created this situation, because the DEP sets flow, and now they're coming down with the hammer," she said, adding that sewage had been a problem in that are for some time. "We have an opportunity for planning that could be lost."

Selectman Michael Carroll suggested, and the board approved, a motion that the town contact State Sen. Richard Ross and State Rep. Daniel Winslow and ask them to help. Board members said they hoped to get the August deadline for a fix pushed back, so more options can be considered.