PARIS — State regulators are expected to approve a new license for the town’s wastewater treatment facility this week, relaxing the standard for the concentration of copper discharged into the Little Androscoggin River. 

The Board of Environmental Protection will rule on the Paris Utility District’s application for a new license when it convenes at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Elks Lodge, 397 Civic Center Drive, Augusta.

It will also consider an appeal to the proposed $50 million Canton Mountain Wind Project.

The PUD application, which includes a permit seeking an exemption effectively raising the bar for measurable amounts of copper, has been endorsed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, according to agenda documents. 

A quasi-municipal organization processing the daily wastewater for 900 residents, the PUD is asking for permission for a higher cap on the concentration of copper coming out of facility.

In a hearing in September, district officials contended that a higher emission will harm neither people nor the environment, though without relaxing the standard, the facility will continually bump against regulations, resulting in fines.

To make its case to regulators, the district hired Portland-based water quality analysts Integral Consulting in 2011 to conduct a study on the effects of elevated copper levels in the Little Androscoggin River. Its findings, which were completed in conjunction with Maine DEP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and presented to the DEP in the spring of 2014, found the river could safely absorb higher rates without the copper molecules posing a threat to fish and other aquatic life. 

“The science proved we could have discharged 10 times more, but we decided to be more protective,” PUD Plant Manager Steve Arnold said.

The Little Androscoggin River is 47 miles long and runs from Woodstock through Greenwood, Paris, Norway, Oxford, Mechanic Falls, Minot, Poland and Auburn. It empties into the Androscoggin River.

The district was last successfully licensed in 2001. During its five-year review in 2006, regulators spotted copper levels that did not meet state standards, which are determined by taking the seven days over a 10-year span when copper levels are at their peak. 

State regulators at the Maine DEP say the relatively small size and low flow rate of the Little Androscoggin River limit dilution in comparison to other facilities statewide. 

After failing tests during relicensing in 2006, a consent agreement with the state was signed, paving the way for the facility, which was built in 1975, to go through $10.5 million in renovations to overhaul its treatment processes. Construction was completed in 2010. 

The new license will nullify that consent agreement, resolving outstanding liability issues, Arnold said.  

Following action on the license, the board will also consider action on a Carthage woman’s appeal of the Canton Mountain Wind Project. 

Wind power opponent Alice McKay Barnett and representatives of Canton Mountain Wind LLC are expected to address the board over a $50 million plan to install eight turbines atop Canton Mountain. 

In documents filed with the DEP for the appeal, Barnett has raised objections over turbine noise and adverse health effects.

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