Bill for treatment plant jumps after rare salamanders found

READING -- Ten blue-spotted salamanders were discovered in a patch of Reading woods in March, but last week the Reading Board of Selectmen learned that their presence not only would cost the town a site for its new water-treatment plant, but also would probably add millions of dollars in new design fees and other expenses.

In one likely scenario, the presence of the amphibians could also cost the community its compost site and force the town to find alternative means for dealing with composted debris, like contracting for curbside pickup of yard waste and its removal from town.

''It's frustrating, very frustrating," said John Wood, a member of the Water, Sewer and Storm Water Management Advisory Committee, referring to the lizard-like animals that thwarted the town's plans for a water-treatment plant.

The town has already spent $1.5 million in planning and design fees for the plant.

The state's Department of Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, under the Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, is responsible for ''protecting the approximately 190 species of vertebrate and invertebrate animals and 258 species of native plants that are officially listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern in Massachusetts."

Natural Heritage considers the blue-spotted salamanders a species of special concern. The animals were found during a $27,000 habitat assessment of the area, mandated by the state's Endangered Species Act and Wetlands Protection Act.

Blue-spotted salamanders spend 11 months of the year underground, in burrows, and migrate to breed in small vernal pools in the spring, said John Regosin, a senior project analyst at Natural Heritage.

The Louanis Water Treatment Plant, built in 1935, requires extensive renovation or replacement to comply with newly proposed federal drinking-water standards, which will enforce greater screening of suspected carcinogens, like trihalomethane, said the Department of Public Works director, Ted McIntire. Residents have also complained that the water, filtered from the Ipswich River watershed, is hard water, is difficult to soap up, and has an unusual taste.

Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner reported that the costs for renovating the old facility and building a new $22.5 million water treatment plant were almost the same. That is, of course, until salamanders with unusual blue-speckled hides were found claiming the same site.

That site was preferred because of its proximity to the existing Louanis Water Treatment Plant and the well fields. McIntire and Brian Buckley, president of CDM, the engineering consultants that prepared the initial plant designs, presented some alternative sites to the selectmen, including the location of the current plant, the compost site, and an old compost site. All three sites are in the same vicinity, in the woods at the end of Grove Street.

Building on the old compost area, while the cheapest alternative, would mean placing a plant near homes in Foster Circle. Several selectmen expressed concern that a large steel water-treatment plant in that vicinity would upset residents. By the end of the meeting the present compost site and current Louanis facility site were at the top of the list. Both come with significant drawbacks.

Building on the existing Louanis site is the most expensive alternative, requiring the town to purchase all of its water from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority for 2 1/2 years and complete a more thorough demolition of the old structure. The demolition would require removing all of the foundation, as opposed to gutting the facility and burying the concrete foundation, which was the original plan. This option would add an estimated $3.5 million to the plant's price.

Building on the town's present compost area would allow the Louanis plant to continue supplying water during construction but would sacrifice the town's compost operation, requiring either a new site for composting or curbside pickup of yard waste and other composted materials. Officials did not know this week how much it would cost to modify designs for the plant to fit this new location. But McIntire said that the city would have to pay about $1.6 million over 20 years for curbside recycling of compost material.

A fourth alternative presented to the selectmen was purchasing Reading's entire water supply from the MWRA. The cost of this plan would be about the same as constructing a new water-treatment plant, but has permitting hurdles and would give up control of the water supply, said McIntire.

But such a plan would probably be supported by the Ipswich River Watershed Association, which has criticized Reading for damaging the Ipswich River by drawing from its watershed.

Blue-spotted salamanders are not endangered or threatened, but are rare, sharing the same status with the Eastern box turtle, and the bridle shiner fish.

''Blue-spotted salamanders are not in global peril, and there are other states where they're not rare," said Regosin. ''But they're rare in Eastern Massachusetts."

Regosin said blue-spotted salamanders are naturally uncommon, compared to other salamanders, but have been further reduced in number as their habitat is lost to human development.