Dear Editor:

In response to a recent letter to the editor, we thought it important to correct inaccuracies and provide the following clarifying facts. 

The original leach field location was approved by the State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The site permit was also approved or reviewed by the USACOE, MEIF&W, MDOT, MNAP and MHPC. The leach field was relocated to the “reserved” location with considerable engineering effort and donor expense in order to resolve the public concerns and to put the misunderstood and divisive controversy to rest ― not because of phosphorous loading. The Water District’s own expert confirmed in a Planning Board meeting that the phosphorous transport calculated was well within the DEP Permit requirements for the watershed.

The number of paved parking spaces located in the watershed is not 918 -- it is 271. The Gardens had 506 parking spaces at the end of 2016. The new parking areas will provide an additional 191 paved spaces and 221 spaces in a grass field. The new parking incorporates porous pavement for the treatment of stormwater and minimizes the development footprint.

Although there have been some typical erosion control issues on the construction site, there is a full-time certified erosion control engineer who monitors and documents the controls in place daily. A DEP third-party inspector visits the construction site weekly and following any significant rain event. All issues have been minor and each one was immediately corrected in concert with DEP. At no time has there been any certified increase in phosphorous or turbidity transported to the lake from the construction project. In the 26 third-party inspections so far this year, there has never been any turbidity present in the lake -- "the stream is running clear.”

There has not been any certified impact on the lake from the CMBG construction project. The NOV issued by DEP is related to previous minor erosion control issues and one area of inadvertent impact to a small forested wetland. The minor erosion issues were corrected at the time of occurrence.

David Emery

Boothbay Harbor

For the Building Committee of CMBG