To the Editor:
On the evening of Sept. 4, there will be another meeting of the Tisbury planning board, as the Island Housing Trust will be presenting its revised plan for its newest multifamily addition inside the Lake Tashmoo watershed. At the previous meeting, the planning board announced that they were not experts when it comes to septic issues, and that they rely on “guidance” from the board of health on these matters. Unfortunately, the board of health wasn’t present, so we just couldn’t effectively bring up the topic.
So far the only discussion relating to the Lake Tashmoo environment has been about low-nitrogen septic systems, but the 2017 study of Lake Tashmoo by MassDEP makes clear a number of measures to determine the health of the lake, including the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water and the amount of healthy eelgrass in the lake that converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. The MassDEP study makes clear that the amount of human development converts directly into environmental stress on the estuary. The latest repeating attack is from fecal bacteria in the lake. Fecal bacteria come from feces, both human and canine. Shellfishing will be stopped in the affected areas. Low-nitrogen septic systems can’t solve the problem. Cloudy water coming from detergents, soap, and shampoo blocks sunlight to eelgrass, and results in a loss of oxygen in the water necessary for shellfish to survive. Low-nitrogen septic systems do not clean gray water either.
There are a number of multifamily developments all along the east side of Lake Tashmoo. The most recent one is still under construction by the Island Housing Trust, across from Camp Jabberwocky. IHT’s newest proposal is just a few blocks away on Daggett Avenue, and will convert a one-family seasonal property into a 365-days-a-year, four-family development. The total amount of effluent will all end up inside Lake Tashmoo.
The Tisbury planning board is not required to issue a special permit to Island Housing Trust, but we fear that if the special permit is granted, the board of health will simply follow the law regarding new low-nitrogen systems, and won’t pay any attention to the amount of oxygen in Lake Tashmoo or connect the latest fecal bacteria infestation to the newest building project on their list. Multifamily year-round housing development inside the Lake Tashmoo watershed will just keep advancing, and we’ll have the Tisbury planning board to thank for it.
Please come to the meeting if you care about Lake Tashmoo.
Mark Alexander
Tisbury