By BEURMOND BANVILLE
Congressman requests EPA review
MADAWASKA, Me., Oct. 9, 2000 (Bangor Daily News)—The discharge of untreated sewage into a tributary of the St. John River by the city of Edmundston, New Brunswick, has prompted Maine health officials to issue a public health advisory that took effect Monday, Oct. 9.
The discharge into the Madawaska River, which flows into the St. John River, about 1,500 feet east of the International Bridge at Madawaska, will continue over the next six weeks while construction on a sewer treatment plant is under way.
On Friday, the Bureau of Health issued a public health advisory for residents along the St. John River, east of the confluence of the Madawaska and St. John rivers at Madawaska. In Maine, the advisory is for people living in Madawaska, Grand Isle, Van Buren and Hamlin.
In a news release, Dr. Philip Haines, deputy director of the Bureau of Health, said Maine officials were notified this week of the dumping.
Also on Friday, U.S. Rep. John Baldacci contacted the Environmental Protection Agency to request a review of the planned dumping. In a discussion with an EPA official, the congressman called the sewage release "very troubling," according to a prepared statement.
Baldacci also has asked the EPA to determine what can be done to help those communities affected by the release.
The situation is much lower key than it was last year when Maine officials learned that a small New Brunswick community was dumping raw sewage into the St. John River, weeks after it started.
This time, Maine officials learned of the dumping before it started.
Haines said the dumping was to have occurred earlier this spring, but the timetable was pushed back to "minimize environmental and public health impacts."
Haines said river flows should provide adequate dilution of the sewage, but the public should be aware of the "slight potential for pathogenic bacteria viruses to be present in the water."
"Since swimming is not commonly practiced in these months, risks from body contact are unlikely," he wrote.
He still cautioned that people using the river take precautions to protect themselves from unnecessary contact with the water, particularly if open cuts or wounds are present.
The sewer treatment plant construction is being done by Edmundston, located across the St. John River from Madawaska. The work, according to Michele Poitras, communication director for the city, is the culmination of two years of work on the city's waste water treatment system.
The rehabilitation of the system was necessary because of expanding residential, commercial and industrial use of the system. The renovated system will go on line next spring.
While construction is going on, untreated sewage will be dumped into the Madawaska River, about one mile before it empties into the St. John River. The direct discharge of untreated sewage is expected to stop by the end of November.
The dumping is happening downstream of the Madawaska water supply. Haines said the amount of water in the river will dilute the sewage.
Water from the river, Haines wrote, should be disinfected or boiled for five minutes if it is to be used for consumption.
Last year, the village of St. Francois, New Brunswick, about five miles upriver from Fort Kent, dumped the contents of two sewage lagoons into the St. John River. The dumping continued while a broken pipe in the village's sewer system was located and repairs were conducted.
Officials in Maine found out about the dumping only after it had been going on for weeks. The dumping continued for a short time after officials learned of it.
After the dumping ceased, Maine and New Brunswick officials developed a communication system in the event of similar situations in the future.
© 2000 Bangor Daily News Bangor, ME via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.
