EBC Ocean and Coastal Resources Program:
Alternative Nutrient Management Strategies to Improve Water Quality
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Center
University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
151 Martine Street
Fall River, Massachusetts
This EBC Ocean and Coastal Resources Program will provide an overview of several
alternative approaches to improving water quality, and specifically nutrients, by means
other than sewer and wastewater treatment infrastructure. These alternatives can be
both cost effective, and can provide benefits to natural resources, recreational
opportunities, and local economies.
The Massachusetts Estuary Project (MEP) and the Southeast New England Coastal
Watershed Restoration Program are the state and federal programs set up to
coordinate and facilitate local and regional efforts to improve water quality and achieve
regulatory requirements. This session will provide an overview of the current status of
these programs, and what’s next. Also, the Town of Falmouth has undertaken a wide
ranging program to evaluate several different types of nutrient management, and
representatives will discuss two of these efforts: The Shellfish Cultivation Project, which
is evaluating water quality improvements possible from shellfish aquaculture, and the
Inlet Widening Project which is focused on providing benefits in terms of water quality
improvement and increased tidal flushing and habitat restoration.
DRAFT AGENDA
7:30 a.m.
Registration and Continental Networking Breakfast
8:00 a.m.
Welcome – Payson Whitney, Chair
EBC Ocean and Coastal Management Committee,
Vice President, ESS Group, Inc.
Introduction – Erin Healy, Program Chair and Moderator
Associate, Anchor QEA, LLC
8:15 a.m.
Southeast New England Coastal Watershed Restoration Program –
Grant Funding Opportunities and Available Modeling Tools
 Margherita Pryor, U.S. EPA Region 1
8:35 am
Massachusetts Estuary Project (MEP) – What’s Next?
 Brian Dudley, Massachusetts Estuaries Project Coordinator
MA Department of Environmental Protection
8:55 am
Town of Falmouth Program: General Overview from the Town
 Jerry Potamis, P.E., Wastewater Superintendent
Town of Falmouth
9:15 a.m.
Inlet Widening Project
 Nathan Weeks, Senior Project Manager, GHD
9:45 am
Falmouth Shellfish Cultivation Pilot Project
 John Brawley, Senior Marine Systems Ecologist
Woods Hole Group
10:15 a.m.
Panel Discussion
Moderator: Erin Healy, Anchor QEA, LLC
Panel Members:
 Brian Dudley, MA DEP
 Margherita Pryor, US EPA
 Jerry Potamis, P.E., Town of Falmouth
 John Brawley, Woods Hole Group
 Nathan Weeks, GHD
10:45 a.m.
Adjourn
PROGRAM CHAIR
Erin Healy, Associate
Anchor QEA, LLC
10 Liberty Square, Sixth Floor, Boston, MA 02109
(857) 991-1111 x1011 // Cell: (978) 996-3054 // ehealy@anchorqea.com
Erin Healy is a Sr. Scientist and Associate at Anchor QEA, and is based in Boston. She
has been involved in evaluating multi-media impacts in a wide variety of contexts
including contaminated sites, proposed projects and habitat restoration programs. Most
recently, she is the technical lead for contaminants analysis for the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan, which involves altering water flows in the Sacramento River, San
Joaquin River and Bay Delta, along with restoring 75,000 acres of tidal and floodplain
habitat. Two of the major regional wastewater treatment plants are located within the
study area, and potential changes in dilution capacity and generation of nutrients from
new wetlands are prominent issues. Erin also recently served as Project Manager for a
Mass. Division of Ecological Restoration Estimates of Ecosystem Service Values from
Ecological Restoration Projects in Massachusetts, which included estimating and
monetizing nutrient reductions associated with the Muddy Creek restoration project on
Cape Cod in terms of meeting TMDL requirements and the proposed sewer project.
Erin has an M.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina, and a B.A. in
Geology/Biology from Colby College.
SPEAKERS
John Brawley, Senior Marine Systems Ecologist
Woods Hole Group
jbrawley@woodsholegroup.com
Brian Dudley
Massachsetts Department of Environmental Protection
3195 Main Street, Barnstable, MA 02630
(508) 946-2814 // brian.dudley@state.ma.us
Brian has worked at MassDEP since 1989 primarily focusing on water pollution
abatement dealing with a variety of treatment processes ranging from on-site systems
to municipal treatment facilities and everything in between. He has been involved in the
Massachusetts Estuaries Project since its inception, and he has worked closely with
many communities in helping to develop wastewater and nutrient management plans.
Prior to coming to MassDEP, he worked for a private consulting firm in Falmouth, MA
where he was responsible for site design, design of wastewater treatment plants and
water supply systems as well as piloting the first on-site denitrification system approved
in Massachusetts. He holds a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental
Engineering.
Jerry Potamis, P.E., Wastewater Superintendent
Town of Falmouth
jpotamis@falmouthmass.us
Mr. Potamis has over forty years of professional engineering experience in water
resource protection. He is currently the Wastewater Superintendent for the Town of
Falmouth, MA. Prior to his retirement from U.S. EPA Region 1 in 2007 he held a variety
of management positions in the Construction Grant / State Revolving Fund, Wastewater
and Air Permits, and Non point Source and Watershed Protection programs.
He also has 35 years of service in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Colonel. Mr. Potamis’
service included both active and reserve duty assignments. He was a Preventive
Medicine for the 804th Medical Brigade. He also served as the Preventive Medicine
and Acting Deputy Surgeon for the Coalition Forces Land Component Command while
active for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Margherita Pryor, National Estuary Program Regional Coordinator
U.S. EPA
(617) 918-1597
pryor.margherita@epa.gov
Margherita Pryor is the Region 1 liaison for all six New England National Estuary
Programs (NEPs) and until recently was project officer and coordinator for the
Narragansett Bay Estuary Program. She currently is staff lead for the newly launched
Southeast New England Coastal Watershed Restoration Program (SNECWRP). Other
responsibilities include serving as: regional coordinator for the Rhode Island Nonpoint
Source Program; staff lead for reviewing and negotiating water elements of the
Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA) with Rhode Island that lays out annual
commitments for how the state will carry out its responsibilities for environmental
protection, including development of a comprehensive monitoring strategy, a
watershed-based framework for protection and restoration, and better integration
among water programs; EPA representative to the Rhode Island NRCS state technical
team, as well as a number of inter- and intra-agency workgroups and a variety of
organizations in the state and the watershed.
In addition, she works with EPA’s HQ water offices (OWOW and OST) in the
development of the Healthy Watersheds Initiative and the development of a biological
condition gradient (BCG) framework for complex estuarine systems. Pilot projects for
the latter are underway in Narragansett Bay, Mobile Bay (AL), and Tampa Bay (FL).
Before coming to Region 1 in November of 1998, she worked at EPA HQ in a variety of
offices including effluent guidelines and permits, regulatory management, public affairs
and the EPA Journal magazine, ORD’s Office of Science Policy, development of
biological criteria, and the launching and operation of the National Estuary Program.
She is particularly interested in development of meaningful performance and
improvement measures, as well as ways to better integrate programs and policies to
achieve better, more sustainable results.
Nathan C. Weeks, P.E., BCEE, Senior Project Manager
Wastewater, Watershed, and Energy Management Planning
GHD
1545 Iyannough Road, Hyannis MA 02601, USA
(774) 470-1633 // nate.weeks@ghd.com
Nate Weeks is a Senior Project Manager for Wastewater Planning and Watershed
Management, and works from GHD’s Hyannis Massachusetts office. Nate is a graduate
of Cornell University with undergraduate and master degrees in Biological and
Environmental Engineering. Nate has worked with GHD for over 25 years, and has
worked to complete several comprehensive wastewater and nutrient management plans
and implementation projects for the towns of: Falmouth, Barnstable, Chatham,
Provincetown, Mashpee, and Eastham on Cape Cod.
Nate currently serves on the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) Nutrient Management Workgroup to assist and advise
state efforts to update the regulatory review process for non-traditional nutrient
management projects planned for TMDL compliance.
Nate has been an adjunct professor at the Cape Cod Community College where he
taught a class for several years on watershed management, and he currently serves on
the College’s Environmental Technology Program Advisory Board.