Nature of Activity: The Wayland Business Center, an office building complex under new ownership, sought to discharge effluents from its waste water treatment plant into the Sudbury River. The facility had been owned by the Raytheon Corporation, and the new owners originally sought to renew (or roll over) the existing permit. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. EPA ruled that the Raytheon permit could not be rolled over to the new owners of the Wayland Business Center, and hence the facility’s discharge was to be construed as a new discharge. As a condition for allowing the discharge, the NPDES permit specified that the facility needed to obtain an offset for its discharge. The facility will obtain offsets by linking faulty septic systems on 24 neighboring properties to the facility's WWTP.

Environmental Problem: General water quality and eutrophication of Sudbury River.

Pollutant(s) / Pollution Type(s): Phosphorus.

Trade Types: Point/nonpoint.

Stage of Implementation: The process began in early 1998; the permit was issued in September 1998. The municipality is currently finalizing plans for the sewer hook-ups and will implement them. The business center will pay for the hook-ups.

Relation to TMDL: Parts of the Sudbury River are on the State’s list of waters not meeting water quality standards and for which TMDLs must be developed (the 303(d) list) for metals, and parts of neighboring rivers are 303(d) listed for nutrients. The offset does not have a direct relation to a TMDL, but the actions will result in an 80% decrease in phosphorus loadings to the Sudbury.

Number of Potential Participants: The Wayland Business Center, the Town of Wayland and 24 property owners with septic tanks.

Trading Ratios: The facility is permitted to discharge 0.125 pounds per day of phosphorus, and must reduce loadings via septic tank connections by at least 0.375 ppd, thus the trading ratio is 3:1.

Estimated Cost Savings: The facility will save approximately $700,000. The municipality will avoid potential significant future capital investments that would be necessary if the town’s sewer system were to be extended from the municipal POTW to the 24 properties.

Available Written Information: The NPDES permit, including the trading clauses, is available.

Innovative Aspects: A clause in the NPDES permit specifying the offset provision and the septic tank sewerage is believed to be the first of its kind. The municipality will eventually assume responsibility for the business center’s WWTP, effectively making it a POTW. A contingency plan is specified if the sewer connection option cannot be implemented, including the possibility of harvesting excess algal growth in the river.

Obstacles: The corporate owners of the Wayland Business Center did not have legal authority to perform sewerage work so the municipality had to play an unanticipated implementation role.

Web Sites: Concord: http://www.epa.gov/surf2/hucs/01070005/

Contact: Jane Downing, EPA Region 1. (617)918-1571, downing.jane@epa.gov