U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta’s first major piece of legislation in Congress would require the Environmental Protection Agency to study the impact of nitrogen released into the Great Bay Estuary. House Bill 1480 would also ban the EPA from requiring more advanced treatment work at water facilities for the next five years.

The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership and others have warned that high levels of nitrogen in Great Bay are destroying vital habitat for marine life. Most of that nitrogen comes from wastewater treatment facilities like the one on Peirce Island in Portsmouth, as well as septic systems and storm water runoff.

The EPA has mandated that the plant in Portsmouth implement more advanced treatment with nitrogen removal technology. But city officials say installing the new technology will be expensive and could result in higher water and sewer rates.  

In a statement released April 14, Guinta said he has met with representatives from Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, Newmarket, Rochester and Durham, the six communities that comprise the Great Bay Estuary Water Quality Coalition. He said his bill is a response to “overzealous regulation by a federal agency” and accused the EPA of acting rashly without studying the facts.

“This legislation provides time for a proper examination of the evidence,” Guinta said. “Let’s have a factual, peer-based review of conditions in Great Bay, let’s give Granite Staters a chance to have input on that study, and let’s keep the EPA in check until the information is available.” 

The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership has, in fact, conducted an in-depth study on Great Bay’s water quality, resulting in the 2009 State of the Estuaries Report. It can viewed at www.prep.unh.edu.