Health Board Grants Septic Variance on Standish Street

Board of Health · Meeting of June 18, 2026

DUXBURY — The Duxbury Board of Health voted unanimously to grant a septic variance for a failing system at 221 Standish Street. Engineer Paul Lauterbach of Merrill Engineers and Land Surveyors said the 20-year-old plastic leaching chambers had failed and were backing toward the house, calling it "kind of an urgent situation." The board approved placing the new concrete-chamber field 110 feet from a wetland instead of the required 150 feet. Separately, the board discussed but did not vote on a Conservation Commission proposal, drafted by Conservation Administrator Nancy Rufo and Commissioner Sam Butcher, to ban certain rat poisons on town properties, agreeing to support it "in concept" while seeking more cost and alternatives data before its July 16 meeting.

The board also heard that PFAS levels in the Lake Shore Drive well exceed 4 parts per trillion, that a roughly $50,000 grant could fund filters for affected residents, and that a statewide health-compliance survey gave Duxbury a score of 87 out of 100.

In the full story:

• Septic System Variance, 221 Standish Street
• Conservation Commission's Proposed Rodenticide Policy
• Fertilizer and Nitrogen Regulation
• PFAS, Water Quality and the Safe Water Committee
• Health Agent's Report
• Food Establishment Compliance
• Minutes and Adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,839 words

Source: the Board of Health meeting of June 18, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.