Gloucester Board of Health Unanimously Approves Four Residential Septic Upgrades

GLOUCESTER -- February 13, 2025, Gloucester Board of Health approves four septic upgrades and announces enforcement push against over 100 non-compliant Niles area properties. The board voted unanimously at its February 13 meeting to grant variance and relief requests for failing or substandard systems at 2 Skipper Way, 555 Western Ave, 116 Magnolia Ave, and 7 Seaview Road, all presented by engineer Tyler Judd of Gateway Consultants; each replacement uses an advanced singular treatment unit with pressure distribution designed to improve effluent quality near wetlands and the Jones River. Public Health Director Stephanie Crowley announced the department had used DNA-based wastewater testing to identify septic contamination reaching a stream in the Niles Beach area, and that approximately 29 letters will go out to the highest-risk properties, with a broader group of 70 to 80 more properties receiving pump-out notices; fewer than 50 percent of city septic systems are currently in compliance. Crowley also disclosed that wastewater testing contractor Biobot Analytics will add an opioid panel at no additional cost in March and that Gloucester is negotiating a regional SAPHE 2.0 public health collaborative with Manchester-by-the-Sea and possibly Essex, potentially worth $300,000 to $400,000 per year in state funding.