Sewer Lift Station Water Street SLR Relocation

Newburyport’s sewer lift station on Water Street in between Shandel Drive and Ocean Avenue is a crucial component of the wastewater management system for a neighborhood of about 87 homes as well as the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters (PRNWR). The low elevation of this area does not allow for a gravity-based system and so a lift station is needed to pump sewage from the neighborhood to a higher elevation in order to allow it to flow to the city’s Wastewater Treatment Facility. Built decades ago, the current sewer lift station is located in a FEMA VE Flood Zone, which means there is an approximately 26% chance of flooding every 30 years. Flooding a lift station can cause the pumps to fail and untreated sewage to back up into homes and contaminate the streets and environment. Climate change and sea level rise will continue to increase this risk. Therefore, the city is currently looking for a small plot of land on higher ground to which a new sewer lift station can be constructed and relocated. A feasible location is geographically limited, as one cannot move too far away or too far upslope without having to drill down deeper and deeper to reach the appropriate elevation for the re-directed gravity-based sewer lines of the buildings downslope. To date, it has been difficult to find an appropriate and acceptable location. The city is reaching out again to the PRNWR before potentially turning to residential neighbors.