Crews install pipe in St. Agatha sewer project

ST. AGATHA – Contractors are busy laying sewer lines beneath the waters of Long Lake this week.

Ryan Pelletier, the town manager of St. Agatha, said on Tuesday that crews from S.E. MacMillan Co. are continuing work on a $2.8 million sewer line extension project in the community.

The Cleveland Road and Pelletier Island sewer extension project began in July. The project includes 20,500 feet of sewer line extension, including an extension along Cleveland Road and a double line under 2,200 feet of Long Lake to Pelletier Island. The island, which is located in Long Lake and is part of the town, has approximately 55 camps and homes on it.

The sewer line will be extended along Cleveland Road 8,500 feet. Approximately 90 new users will be added to the system once the project is complete.

On Tuesday, workers were busy installing a 2,200-foot section of main pipe beneath Long Lake in order to connect to the island. In addition to the main, crews will install 64 individual grinder pump stations and several hundred feet of service line to connect the individual camps and homes to the main line, according to Pelletier.

“They have made a lot of progress as far as getting the lake crossing piece done,” Pelletier said Tuesday afternoon. “The workers are about 100 feet offshore right now, so things are progressing very well.”

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency provided a $1.72 million grant and a $578,000 low-interest loan to pay for some of the work.

The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development also awarded a $200,000 grant to the town and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection approved a $300,000 loan to complete the financing package.

Town officials expect that the pump stations will arrive in town in the next few weeks so that crews can begin installing the equipment.

The town hopes to have the project completed by December.