South Portland breaks ground on Pearl Street Pump Station upgrade

City officials and state and engineering partners gathered on October 14, 2026 to mark the start of construction on the Pearl Street Pump Station upgrade, which replaces equipment more than 50 years old and a river pipe nearing the end of its useful life. The project is the latest step in a combined sewer overflow plan dating to 1994 and aims to keep about two million gallons a day of wastewater flowing to the treatment plant while reducing overflow risk to the Fore River.

Key points

• Mayor Tipton said the station handles about two million gallons of wastewater daily from the west side of the city and that the city is replacing aging infrastructure before it fails.
• Tipton said South Portland has cut combined sewer overflow volumes by more than 97 percent over roughly 30 years of work.
• Fred Dillon, Water Resource Protection Department director, credited predecessors Pat Cloutier and Brad Weeks and said the project follows the city's 1994 overflow plan and its 2022 update.
• Mike Riley of the Maine DEP called it one of the most important wastewater infrastructure projects in the state and said the department expects to see the station in service in just under three years.
• City Manager Scott Morelli said the project has spanned three water resource directors and thanked the council, including the mayor and Councillor West, for pushing public outreach on the project.
• An unidentified speaker thanked long-term residents who sold their property to the city at assessed value to make the site possible.

Next steps

• Dillon invited residents to follow Lacey Kramer's construction diaries on the city website for project updates.
• Riley said the Maine DEP expects to return in just under three years to see the pump station online and in service.

Read the full transcript