NEW GLOUCESTER — Eligible voters residing within the boundaries of the proposed water district approved its creation Wednesday by a vote of 35-12.

The approval paves the way for a series of applications by New Gloucester to the Cumberland County Community Block Grant program and Maine Rural Water Association for funding assistance.

Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection will also fund part of the project to clean up benzene and MBTE contamination in drinking water supplies in a dozen Upper Gloucester area homes.

New Gloucester planner Paul First said in recent days that Maine’s two legislative bodies approved the creation of the water district in L.D. 1703 under emergency legislation that is ready to be signed by Gov. Paul LePage.

The proposed water system would serve up to 88 homes, as well as town facilities, Memorial School, day care centers, restaurants and clubs.

Underground gasoline storage tank failures identified in the 1980s in the Upper Village have led to the detection of benzene and/or MBTE in 22 Upper Village water supplies.

Household filtering systems in 12 locations produce water that exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards for sodium and chloride.

Memorial School on Route 231 has uranium levels twice the level of EPA drinking water standards and has filters in place.

At the town-owned New Gloucester Fairgrounds on Bald Hill Road, a deep sand gravel and bedrock aquifer has been identified west of the Royal River with high water quality and a production rate of 60 gallons per minute.

The New Gloucester Water District boundaries begin at Bald Hill Road at the Maine Turnpike Bridge to Upper Gloucester at the blinking light on Route 100 and north toward Auburn to the Gilmore Road, including a section of Route 231 to Memorial School.

Costs to implement the public water supply range from $2 million to $3 million, depending on whether a fire suppression system is included.

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