SUN JOURNAL • June 3, 2025
Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Tuesday updating septic system regulations aiming to safeguard Maine’s lakes and ponds. The new law, LD 1550 sponsored by Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-York, addresses “short circuiting” in systems on properties abutting freshwater bodies such as lakes and ponds. Short circuiting occurs when septic system effluent skirts natural filtration processes by draining quickly through sandy soils or along shallow bedrock and into water bodies.