TOWN OF MASHPEE
BOARD OF HEALTH – PUBLIC SESSION
Town Hall – Conference Room 3
Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Board Members Present: Member Absent: Also Present: Glen Harrington, Health Agt
Kalliope Egloff, Chairman Burton Kaplan, Clerk
Lucy Burton, Co-Chairman
Chairman Kalliope Egloff called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
APPOINTMENTS
7:15 – Ed Baker - Proposed Phosphorus By-Law
Ed Baker, member of the Environmental Oversight Committee, introduced himself to the Board.
Mr. Baker stated that the BOH voted some time back to recognize the health hazard regarding the problem of blue green algae in Santuit Pond. An ad hoc group, Friends of the Santuit Pond, put together a proposed by-law to control the utilization of lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous, brought it to the Environmental Oversight Committee, and that Committee now is looking for the presentation of the by-law at the Spring Town Meeting.
Mr. Baker stated that he came tonight to ask that the Board of Health please vote to support the proposed phosphorus by-law so that when it is presented at Town Meeting next spring, the electorate can be informed that not only the Environmental Oversight Committee recommends that it be passed, but also the Board of Health has reviewed the by-law and feels that it is the provident thing to do.
Lucy Burton stated that the intent of the proposed by-law is appropriate, but the BOH has three major concerns with it:
1) surrounding towns are contributing to the phosphorus in Mashpee’s water; the by-law would have to be passed regionally in order to clean up the estuaries that the bordering towns share
2) in order to be effective, the by-law would need to apply to all products containing phosphorus, i.e., detergents , and not just lawn fertilizer
3) enforcement of the regulation would be a serious challenge for the BOH.
Mr. Baker agreed that a Mashpee by-law by itself is not enough to solve the problem, but that someone needs to lead the way and his feeling was that Mashpee should take the lead.
Kalliope Egloff stated that the BOH members were uncomfortable with the enforcement issue of the proposed by-law, and questioned why the onus for enforcement was placed on the shoulders of the BOH. Kalliope stated further that the BOH is always concerned about the enforcement of regulations, and if it is determined that a regulation is not enforceable, then it is no longer under consideration. The BOH staff is already stretched thin, and to add the burden of enforcement of the proposed phosphorus by-law was unreasonable.
Kalliope Egloff suggested that Mr. Baker start an educational campaign and think about proposing the by-law at a later date. Kalliope suggested that having a dialog with Master Gardeners, landscapers, and all places in Mashpee that sell fertilizers would be a way to start, offering to provide signs made by the Environmental Oversight Committee and informing the vendors of the studies conducted by the committee. Kalliope also suggested that the members of the Environmental Oversight Committee talk to property owners around Santuit Pond, educating them as to why their pond has become blue algae infested and urging them to stop using fertilizers and other products such as detergents containing phosphorous.
Glen Harrington commented that the Conservation Commission, the DPW and the Board of Health are all cited in the illegal dumping by-law, and felt that the enforcement portion in the proposed by-law could be adjusted. Glen added that he shares the concerns of the Board as to problems with enforcement, the need for a regionalized regulation, and the issue of other products containing phosphorous in addition to lawn fertilizer that are not addressed. Glen stated that phosphorous is coming from wastewater discharges and if we are going to address what goes into the ponds and into the estuaries, the DEP needs to take action to reduce the amount of phosphorous coming out of the treatment plants.
Kalliope Egloff stated that the BOH was not comfortable in taking a position tonight on the proposed by-law before having full board membership involved in the discussion. The bottom line is that the Board is very uneasy with the enforcement section, having been designated as the primary enforcement authority. Kalliope emphasized again to Mr. Baker the importance of staging an educational campaign on the use of phosphorous products.
Ed Baker stated that he will go back to the Environmental Oversight Committee with the information that the Board of Health likes the general idea of the proposed phosphorous by-law, but is uncomfortable with the primary enforcement responsibility and feels it should lie somewhere else. The Board concurred with Mr. Baker’s summary of the discussion.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Sign Warrants. The Board members signed the warrants.
2. Review of Public Session Minutes of 9/15/10, 9/29/10, 10/13/10, and 11/17/10
Minutes of the meeting of November 17, 2010 were unanimously approved as amended by the Board. Approval of the minutes of 9/15/10, 9/29/10, and 10/13/10 was continued to the next Board of Health meeting.
3. Bennett Environmental – 76 Greensward Road – Reduction of Operation and Maintenance
Glen Harrington stated that the original Bioclere system was installed at 76 Greensward Road in 2004. All of the eight required BOH samples for total nitrogen have been performed. Annual sampling along with annual O&M is being requested. A reduction of testing was requested in 2009 by Coastal Engineering to DEP but no answer was received by the BOH. Glen’s recommendation was to allow annual sampling, along with the O&M as long as we have some concurrence with the DEP.
Lucy Burton made a motion that the BOH approve annual sampling along with the annual O&M at 76 Greensward Road, pending prior approval by the DEP. Kalliope Egloff seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
OLD BUSINESS
Recycling By-Law
Glen Harrington stated that his questions on the re-cycling by-law are still open and wanted to put out some feelers to the Board as to how to proceed. The Board had begun revisions to the recycling regulation and ran into the mandatory recycling hurdle of having to go to Town Meeting. Glen asked whether the Board wanted to go back to looking at recycling as a regulation and take out the mandatory part and see if we want to approve some of the changes without having mandatory recycling. Glen stated that mandatory recycling came from Mass. General Laws.
Kalliope Egloff asked the question as to why the Citizens Advisory would advise the BOH to use the language to prohibit waste banned items to be thrown away. The Board agreed to continue discussion of the recycling by-law to the next BOH meeting with Burton Kaplan in attendance.
DISCUSSION
1. Disposal of Unused Pharmaceuticals and Medications in the Ground Water
Kalliope Egloff stated that she had a conversation with George Heufelder, Chief Health Officer for the county, who recommended engaging in an educational campaign versus a regulation, on the proper disposal of unwanted medications, to be applicable to parties such as doctors, clinics, the Council on Aging, senior centers and pharmacies, distributing informational brochures to inform the dispensers of medications on the proper disposal of unused portions of prescriptions. Kalliope distributed copies of a brochure prepared by the Barnstable County Hazardous Materials Program on the proper disposal of unwanted medications, and stated that she would like to invite Mike Maguire, educator and water counselor for Barnstable County, to attend a future BOH meeting.
Glen Harrington stated that he attended a meeting called “Mashpee Cares” on Monday night at the Quashnet School Library, where discussion took place about prescription drugs and their popular misuse by young people. The problem also arises when young people are prescribed pain killers after major injuries and become addicted to the drugs when the doctor refills the prescriptions beyond the necessary time.
2. Update of Mashpee High School Air Quality
Glen Harrington reported that on November 30th he accompanied two Air Samplers from the Department of Public Health through each of the rooms at the Mashpee High School to inspect the air quality. Glen stated that the Air Samplers did a very thorough survey of the rooms, and he is waiting receipt of their report on the inspection which should be forthcoming in the next two to three weeks. Glen was very complimentary about the professional and comprehensive inspection that was conducted by the Air Samplers.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Board of Health was scheduled for Wednesday, 12/22/10 at 7 PM in Town Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ina G. Schlobohm
Recording Secretary
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