Falmouth Board of Health Approves Septic Variances With Three-Year Nitrogen-Reduction Deadline

FALMOUTH -- July 20, 2026, Falmouth Board of Health approves contested Edgewater Drive West septic variances with a three-year nitrogen-reduction deadline. The board voted 3-1 Monday to grant variances for a five-bedroom renovation at 227 Edgewater Drive West, requiring the owner, Amanda Hunt, to install a nitrogen-reducing wastewater treatment system, selected from the MassDEP banner list and capable of achieving less than 10 milligrams per liter of total nitrogen, within three years or at the point of sale, whichever comes sooner, unless the town's sewer outfall pipe is permitted and funded and municipal sewer to the area is anticipated by 2035. An earlier motion by board member George Hufeldher to require the innovative alternative system outright failed 1-2 with one abstention after attorney Brian Wall argued the project does not constitute "New Construction" under Title V and engineer Chuck Rowland of Cape and Islands Engineering showed a slight nitrogen reduction from existing to proposed conditions. The board also unanimously approved IA septic systems for two Falmouth Housing Trust affordable housing lots, 21 Pheasant Lane and 20 Brigantine, and a private accessory dwelling unit at 2 Suite Road, and heard Water Superintendent Matthew Lynn report that Falmouth has no confirmed lead service lines and is on track to complete a DEP-approved statistical inventory of 300 homes by early fall.