Anyone who cares about public health, sanitation and clean water should (along with their children, grandkids and our elected officials) see the award-winning documentary “Unless
Something Goes Terribly Wrong.” The film follows the employees of Portland’s wastewater treatment plant. These workers are doing phenomenal work with limited means to keep our environment clean. They are also very genuine, confident and relaxed in front of a camera!

The film clearly articulates the difficulty of maintaining an aging plant, due to chronic underfunding, and the inappropriate waste that we dispose into the system. It also shows that handling wastewater has different needs today than the plant was designed and built to years ago. Wastewater is more complex, flow has increased, and there are more pollutants today.

My takeaway is that it’s becoming increasingly important for existing wastewater treatment plants to be upgraded so that they can effectively and safely handle wastewater in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. However, for Fiscal Year 2026, the Trump administration’s discretionary budget request proposed to reduce or eliminate funding for many water infrastructure programs identified in this report: www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46471.

Traditional wastewater treatment plants were designed to handle wastewater as it was
produced many years ago. However, wastewater today is much more complex — both in
terms of greater flows but also containing a greater range of pollutants.

I salute the Portland wastewater plant workers for their impact on public health, the local economy and environmental well-being they deliver.

Jim Farnan
East Boothbay