The DEP also reviewed a town report on its own testing of private household wells in the central district, which showed that more than 36 percent of those wells were contaminated by nitrates. It's that study that opened our eyes. The central district is generally considered bounded by Main and Commercial streets and Holbrook Avenue and includes adjoining streets. The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater and the adjoining Uncle Frank's restaurant on the harbor share the same well cited by the state. The town has no power to close private wells.
Nitrates get into ground water from septic systems and cesspools.
While they are also found in fertilizers, both the state and the town agree the nitrates found in the water in the central district is from septic systems being located too close to wells on lots too small to relocate either system. The state letter points out that excessive levels of nitrates are especially harmful to infants under 6 months, causing illness and death. An increased rate of stillbirths, birth defects and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, as well as bone disease in adults, have all been linked to drinking water with high nitrate levels. Lawrence Dayian, DEP's chief of the drinking water program for the Southeast Region, did not feel the town was acting promptly enough to protect citizens. This is a public health issue.