181 



BARNSTABLE COUNTY ASSEMBLY OF DELEGATES 



In the ^car Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-One 



RF<;OH'TIOV Qi-:o 

 (as amended March 4, 1992, Resolution 92-5) 



Cape Cod Bav is an exiraordinan' natural system that represents both economic and 

 environmental value to Cape Cod. Any activity in the Bay is of critical imponance to Cape 

 Cod. Therefore, the elected and appointed public officials of Barnstable County suppon an 

 action plan by our government to protect Barnstable County citizens' vital interest in the 

 integnty of Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bay ecosystems and cause the MV»'RA to take, at a 

 minimum, certain actions. 



Bainstable County acknowledges the extended regulaton- and judicial histor> but Barnstable 

 County does not agree with the MWRA's plan to locate the wastewater outfall in 

 Massachusetts Bay because: 



1) This decision does not advance efforts to utilize innovative treatment technologies or 

 to conserve valuable drinking water supplies. 



2) Financial investments have been made in transponation of waste, rather than in 

 source reduction and treatment; 



3) This decision was based on the merits of the MWRA facility aione and did not 

 consider a bays-wide perspective; 



4) Scientific data used for decision- making are too incomplete to jusdf)' the assurances 

 that have been offered concerning no significant adverse impact to the marine ecos>'Stem; 



5) The siting decision was driven more Dy socioeconomic factors than by available 

 scientific information. 



Now therefore, 



BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates 

 that: 



The government of Barnstable County will take the following actions to 

 protect our citizens' vital interest in the health of Cape Cod and Massachusetts 

 Bay ecosystems as follows: 



1. Insist upon secondary treatment of all effluent prior to discharge unless an 

 improvement can be obtained by biological or technological alternatives which could 

 substitute for existing methods of treatment for the benefit of Massachusetts and Cape Cod 

 Bay. 



2. Urge EPA Region I to require a Far Field Monitoring Program, sufficient to identify 

 potential ecosvstem impacts, as a condition of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 

 System (NPDES) Pemiii. 



3. Request that EPA Region I conduct a public hearing on Cape Cod on the MWRA's 

 request for an NPDES Permit. 



4. Insist that decisions regarding the ^'I^^■RA Treatment Facility and its operation 

 incorporate an analysis of the costs and benefits of protecting the integrity of the marine 

 ecosvstem. 



