The tribal government at Sipayik is proceeding with plans to move its wastewater treatment plant because of the risks posed by rising sea levels, flooding and storm surges. Several potential sites have been identified, but a decision has not yet been made on the new location.
      Chuck Applebee, superintendent of the Pleasant Point wastewater treatment plant, notes that, even today, if a 100-year flood occurred the floor of the treatment plant, located on Passamaquoddy Bay along Bayview Drive, would be underwater. Because of the risk, Olver Associates Inc., an environmental engineering firm based in Winterport, was hired by the tribal government to conduct an assessment of the potential for flooding of the wastewater system, including the treatment plant. Its report, completed in 2024, states, "The wastewater treatment plant is currently in the precarious position of having many of its critical components, including its buildings and reactors, located as much as two to three feet below the present 100-year flood elevation. This will become an increasing concern in the future, with modeled flood elevations showing the plant being as much as three to six feet below water." Three of the seven wastewater pump stations at Pleasant Point also are subject to flooding.
      Applebee notes that while a seawall has been built to protect the homes along Bayview Drive, it does not currently go as far as the treatment plant. The tribal government has been considering having the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers extend the seawall past the wastewater plant in 2026 to provide protection both for the plant and homes that are near it. With the moving of the treatment plant to a higher elevation, a pump station would still be at the site of the treatment plant and would need to be protected. Other interim measures include making watertight eight sanitary manholes along Bayview Drive that are subject to flooding.
      The tribal government has received approximately $3 million in funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for engineering work for the new plant. Applebee estimates that the best case scenario is a four-year timeline for completion of the plant, with a cost estimated at between $44 and $55 million. He notes that existing sewer pipes in Pleasant Point would still be used, so the construction of a new plant would not require laying new pipes in the community.