The mother of all sewer outfalls was planned for our little town. The project had been in the works for several years during the 1990's, although its principal author, Underwood Engineers, did not share this information with Newington town officials until relatively recently.

The initial plan was to pipe wastewater from sewage plants in Newmarket, Durham, Dover, Rochester, (and any other Strafford County municipality that wishes to pile on) to one centralized outfall along the "lower Piscataqua" River.

Three sites were proposed: 1) Dover Point at the north end of the Sullivan Bridge, 2) PSNH's Rollins Farm property off of River Road in Newington, and 3) the Atlantic Ocean. The latter option would be very expensive.

Is the third alternative an option our Legislature would be willing to pay for? Or will they go for one of the economy models?

The economy models (Proposals #1 & 2) were not well received by the Newington Planning Board. The board's primary objection is the potential thermal impact on the estuary. Such an impact could be devastating as was demonstrated by a 1973 analysis conducted by Public Service Company of NH when the Rollins Farm property was viewed as a potential site for a nuclear power plant.

In support of the mother outfall, the Legislature proposed a bill in 2003 to establish yet another Concord-controlled "authority" to run roughshod over local communities. Fortuitously, then-State Senator Burt Cohen was paying attention when project proponents apparently were not. In a conference committee, he amended the bill in order to exclude an outfall in Great Bay, Little Bay, and the lower Piscataqua.

Metcalf & Eddy was then hired to examine several options, as detailed on the project web site that describes their NH Seacoast Region Wastewater Mangement Study.

Stay tuned. This one could get kind of stinky before all is said and done.