| Sustainability
is about using our resources efficiently. One way to do this is
to integrate our infrastructure, infrastructure being everything
from our roads, to our telecommunications lines, to our waste systems,
to our schools.
Definitions
Infrastructure:
A narrow definition is the system of
public works with a town; a broader definition is the resources
required for a town or economy to function. Examples of infrastructure
include:
•
Energy :
Electricity Grid, Fuel Oil, Natural Gas
•
Telecommunications :
Phone, Fiber, Wireless, Cable
•
Transportation :
Roads, Rail, Air, Public Transit, Bike, Walking
•
Waste :
Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste
•
Water :
Drinking Water, Waste Water
Integrated
Infrastructure: 2003 Sustainability Indicators
Report defines this as “ Cape Cod officials and agencies will apply
a holistic perspective to the planning, design, and operation of
water supply, wastewater, energy, transportation, communications,
and other systems.”
The
Current Infrastructure
- Water:
The Cape Cod aquifer, a sole-source
aquifer, currently serves as the source of the region’s drinking
water as well as our waste sink; filtering wastewater, point source
contaminants, and stormwater back into the groundwater, ponds,
and marine embayments across the Cape. The aquifer is protected
through a special Federal designation in recognition that alternative
water supplies do not exist for the region. Water resource areas
have been mapped by the Cape Cod Commission using four specific
designations: Potential Water Supply Areas, Wellhead Protection
Areas, Freshwater Recharge Areas, and Marine Recharge Areas. The
Commission’s Regional Policy Plan recommends minimum performance
standards for development in these different areas and holds those
developments regulated by the Commission to these standards. Developments
not considered to have regional impact are reviewed locally.
- Drinking
Water : Most of Cape Cod communities
obtain their water supplies from municipal water wells. A limited
number of areas on the Upper and Lower Cape, however, still
obtain their water supplies, including drinking water, from
small-volume wells and individual private wells.
- Wastewater
: Cape Cod has historically relied
upon on-site wastewater treatment and disposal. The vast majority
of the Cape’s on-site systems are standard Title-5 septic systems
that are not designed to remove nitrogen and phosphorus. Only
limited areas in Buzzards Bay, Falmouth, Barnstable, Chatham
and Provincetown connected to sewer with advanced wastewater
treatment.
•
Stormwater :
[lr1]
As stormwater travels over the land, it picks up chemical contaminants
and environmentally detrimental materials, and transports them back
into our waterways and into the aquifer. Employing the techniques
of Low Impact Development, (LID) in stormwater design is a goal
for future development and redevelopment on Cape Cod. Unlike traditional
stormwater control techniques, LID strategies prioritize resource
conservation and increasing green space, while simultaneously controlling
runoff discharge volume and quality to reach levels of preconstruction
stormwater control.
- Energy
:
- Electricity
: Electricity customers on Cape
Cod are served by NStar and Cape Light Compact through contracts
with power suppliers accessing energy generated across New England.
Most electricity is transported through the NGrid network, with
a very small portion being generated on-site. Over 60% of the
electricity used on Cape Cod relies on fossil fuels and another
28% is through nuclear generation. The remaining 12% is generated
from renewable resources such as water, waste, wood and a negligible
amount from wind and solar. Ten of the fifteen towns
on Cape Cod are currently investigating wind generation to serve
municipal facilities. By the end of 2005, 68 solar powered grid-connected
systems had either been installed or ordered, and their aggregate
capacity approached 200 kW.
- Heating/Cooling
[lr2] :
According to the 2000 Census, the majority of Cape Cod residents
use home utility gas (48.7%) or Fuel Oil (37.9%) for heating
and cooling. Only 9.6% use electricity for the purposes of home
heating, with the remaining. Twenty-two occupied housing
units on the Cape relied on solar energy for home heating, according
to the 2000 Census.
- Waste:
- Solid
Waste :
- Toxic
Waste [lr3] :
- Telecommunications
[lr4]
- Traditional
Wired Service
• i.
Phone & Dial-up Internet
• ii.
High-speed Internet
- Cable
Services
• i.
Cable TV
• ii.
Cable Internet Services
- Wireless
Services
• i.
Cellular Phone Service
• ii.
Wireless Internet Access
- Transportation
[lr5] :
Automobile transportation infrastructure continues to dominate
in terms of quantity, quality, and use. Four Park and Ride lots
serve commuters along Route 6; two of these lots are linked to
bus service to Boston. The Cape is also served by commercial airlines,
with two public airports in Hyannis and Provincetown, and private
air charters. There are three private airports on Cape Cod in
Falmouth, Barnstable, and Chatham. Private ferry service runs
seasonally to Cape Cod from Boston and Plymouth. Two companies
provide year-round bus service on and off the Cape. There is no
train service available to and from the Cape or between towns
on the Cape. Once on the Cape, there are three local bus services:
the Breeze, The Flex, and the GATRA Owl. Bike paths also exist
across the Cape.
Current
Resource Consumption
•
Land : Estimates
show approximately 17% of the land on Cape Cod remains both undeveloped
and unprotected. Forty-one percent of the land on Cape Cod is permanently
protected and between 42 – 44% of the land area has been developed.
•
Water : Public
water suppliers pumped approximately 11 billion gallons in 2004,
which is approximately 18% higher than the lowest amount pumped
over the past ten years (nine billion gallons pumped in 1996). Coincidentally,
according to recent census data, the Cape’s year-round population
has increased 22.5% from 1990 to 2003.
•
Energy:
•
Electricity :
Metered electricity consumption continues to increase steadily on
both an overall and per-capita basis [lr6]
, despite sustained investments in energy
efficiency and initial market entry for consumer-side distributed
resources.
•
Heating/Cooling [lr7]
:
•
Waste [lr8]
:
•
Telecommunications:
•
Transportation:
•
Automobile [lr9]
: Summer traffic counts conducted by MassHighway
show a 10% increase in bridge traffic and an overall increase of
12% along the major arterials between 1994 and 2004. Annual
bridge crossing data and monthly data for across the Cape show significant
increases in year-round traffic due to resident population growth,
with winter traffic in 2004 exceeding peak summer traffic in 1974.
•
Public Transit [lr10]
: Trolley
and bus ridership on Cape Cod has nearly doubled since 1994, with
415,172 passengers riding in 2005. Ridership is projected to increase
markedly with the addition of the new Flex bus.
Current
Resource Quality [lr11]
:
- Air
Quality [lr12]
:
In essence there has been no quantitative improvement in the air
quality of Barnstable County since the 2003 Sustainability Indicators
Report. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
monitoring station in Truro continues to show Cape Cod as having
the worst air quality in the Commonwealth. The DEP monitors atmospheric
ozone formed by chemical reactions of nitrogen oxides and unburned
hydrocarbons primarily from power plants and vehicles.
- Water
Quality :
- Drinking Water : Cape Cod’s
drinking water quality is generally very good, but there is
a trend towards water quality degradation during the past decade.
Between 1993 and 2004, the percentage of public water supply
wells considered very clean (nitrate levels tested at or below
.05 ppm) has decreased from 57% to 43%. Analyses of drinking
water from small-volume non-community supply wells indicate
even higher levels of nitrate-nitrogen contamination. Overall,
the percentage of contaminated small-volume wells (12-15%) is
much greater than that for public water supply wells (4%).
- Marine/Surface Water Quality
: Water quality data available from coastal embayments,
ecosystems particularly sensitive to nitrogen, indicates that
many of these systems have been severely impacted. Eelgrass
has nearly disappeared from most of the embayments along Vineyard
and Nantucket Sounds, and some waters are experiencing regular
low dissolved oxygen conditions.
| HOUSE
HEATING FUEL |
|
|
Occupied
housing units |
94,822
|
100
|
Utility
gas |
46,224
|
48.7
|
Bottled,
tank, or LP gas |
2,477
|
2.6
|
Electricity
|
8,790
|
9.3
|
Fuel
oil, kerosene, etc |
35,904
|
37.9
|
Coal
or coke |
294
|
0.3
|
Wood
|
904
|
1
|
Solar
energy |
22
|
0
|
Other
fuel |
150
|
0.2
|
No
fuel used |
57
|
0.1
|
|
