From the Falmouth Enterprise · June 12, 2026 · By Lin Lin Hutchinson
The Falmouth Select Board voted on the Monday before June 12, 2026, to submit a draft environmental impact report to the state for review. The report covers a proposed ocean outfall, a pipe that would carry highly treated wastewater from the town's Main Wastewater Treatment Facility into Nantucket Sound. It would replace the current system of land-based treatment beds that discharge to groundwater. About six miles of pipe would run to a discharge point roughly 2,300 feet offshore from Kite Park in Falmouth Heights. Wastewater Superintendent Amy Lowell told the board the town's studies found no significant harm to water quality, fisheries or shellfish. She said the nearest eelgrass meadow is at least 250 meters inshore of the outfall, that drilling would be barred during the eelgrass growing season, and that the project would cut nitrogen entering Nantucket Sound by at least 12,000 kilograms a year.
The outfall would discharge into Nantucket Sound. It is summarized here because it is a major piece of Falmouth's wider plan to reduce nitrogen and expand sewers, and because Falmouth shares the Waquoit Bay watershed with Mashpee and Sandwich. Lowell said the system is designed for up to 3 million gallons a day, against a current average of about 490,000 and a permitted limit of 710,000. Asked about alternatives such as urine-diversion systems and composting toilets, she said they work for committed users but are hard to apply at the scale the town needs. The town expects state review and public comment, and the article reported plans for a July public meeting and a final report by the end of 2026. It also reported a funding request for design and permitting at the April 2027 Town Meeting and one for construction in April 2028, with construction possibly finishing in 2031 or 2032.
This is CPWB’s summary of a news article. The full article and its photos are published by the Falmouth Enterprise.
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