PORTLAND, Maine — A foul smell coming from the Kennebunk River caused a lot of commotion and complaints from people living in nearby areas over the holiday weekend.
Kennebunkport's town manager said after receiving several reports of a bad smell coming from the river, employees at the public works department and the Kennebunkport Wastewater Treatment Facility began to investigate.
The foul odor that was coming from the river seems to be gone, but workers from public works and the wastewater treatment facility are still working to correct the issue.
Public Works Director Eric Labelle said the microorganisms used during the wastewater treatment process to consume bacteria in the water somehow disappeared.
"We believe we had a massive die off of our microorganisms here at the plant," Labelle said.
Microorganisms, described as tiny bugs that eat away at bacteria, are used to eliminate bacteria from wastewater before it discharges into the Kennebunk River.
"Typically, our water is very clear when it comes out of the treatment plant," Labelle said.
On July 4 and over the holiday weekend, public works and Town Manager Laurie Smith were slammed with complaints about murky water and foul smell coming from the river.
"It took us a while to understand what was happening," Smith said.
Earlier this week, experts from Maine's Department of Environmental Protection were called in to help wastewater employees investigate.
To everyone's surprise, water testing samples showed that a substance in the wastewater is killing the micro-organisms that consume bacteria, but the exact cause is unclear.
Labelle's guess is that there's something else living in sewage water that shouldn't be there.
"Anything that would kill off any kind of organic matter. So, chemicals... any chemicals that would kill off any kind of organic matter," Labelle said. "Chemicals, pesticides, any of those types of chemicals, we surely never want to see in our sewer."
Without microorganisms present in the wastewater, bacteria thrive, making the facility's treatment process ineffective and giving the water that flows out of it a foul odor.
"People should not have water contact in the Kennebunk River," Smith said. "Certainly, if you're in a boat that's fine, but we're asking people don't swim or play in the water right now."
Smith said contact or accidental consumption of the river water could potentially cause adverse effects, explaining that people react differently when they come in contact with certain bacteria.
Some of those adverse effects could cause susceptibility to skin irritation or illness, but there is no certainty that any effects will follow after contact or accidental consumption at all.
Community members should take precautions, Smith said, further adding that people who are immunocompromised could be at a greater risk.
Wastewater facility workers are still working to resolve the issue. Labelle said they reseeded the plant with microorganisms from another treatment plant in hopes that those microorganisms will live and successfully ingest the bacteria in the wastewater.
Tests of the water were completed on Wednesday, and results from those tests will be available Monday to determine if the reseeding method was successful.
"What I really want to stress is that this is a biological process," Labelle said. "So, what people put down the drains or down to the sewer can adversely affect our treatment facility here, because this is a living plant that we have here. Our job is to maintain healthy living organisms here. Should somebody place something in the sewer that adversely affects that, it affects our plant and our discharge water quality."
There is no way to determine what caused the microorganisms to die off or to determine fault.
Smith said the Kennebunk River runs off into Colony and Kennebunk beaches, and ultimately into the ocean.
Water samples from both beaches were taken, and results showed that there are no elevated bacteria levels at either beach site.
Community members can check the town's official website and social media pages to follow updates on the issue.