About the Scarborough Sanitary District

Located in Southeastern Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, the Town of Scarborough was settled by seafarers. A small community of less than 2,500 until after World War II, the population has now increased to almost 17,000 - an increase of more than 650%. The growth can be attributed to Scarborough's proximity to the city of Portland, a comfortable seven-mile commute, and the Town's rural character and extensive natural resources.

The central geographical feature of Scarborough is a large saltwater marsh formed by the confluence of the Scarborough, Libby and Nonesuch Rivers. The most heavily developed areas to Town encircle this marsh. Over the years, as Scarborough grew residentially and commercially, the water quality of local beaches and marshlands was degraded by the discharge of raw and partially treated domestic and industrial wastes. A comprehensive wastewater collection, treatment and disposal program was necessary to abate this steadily increasing water pollution.

In 1963, a small collection system and primary treatment plant was constructed in the Oak Hill section of town. This facility was upgraded to secondary treatment in 1969 in response to stricter federal and state water quality standards.

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, which established federal standards for treatment and disposal of wastewater, required that Scarborough develop a wastewater system that served all of the heavily developed areas in town.

A referendum authorizing the creation of the Scarborough Sanitary District was passed in 1969. This new district had authority over all wastewater collection and treatment for the Town of Scarborough. Between 1975 and 1980, the District and Whitman & Howard, Inc., consulting engineers of Wellesley, Mass., formulated a town wide wastewater plan.

This wastewater plan, which was evaluated by an environmental impact statement prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, proposed a new 1.8 million gallons per day secondary treatment facility at Prouts Neck. Wastewater would be delivered to the plant through 125,000 feet of gravity sewers, 9 pumping stations and 55,000 feet of force main. The effluent from the facility is discharged into deep ocean water off Prouts Neck.