Pepperell Board of Health Approves Three Septic Variances at May 27 Meeting

PEPPERELL — May 27, 2026 — Pepperell Board of Health approved three septic repair variances and advanced a nicotine-pouch potency cap toward a June public comment deadline at its May 27 meeting. Chair Matt Wasson and members Dan Kane, Kevin Baker, and new member Libby Donegan voted 4-0 on each of the three septic public hearings, granting alternative-technology system approvals and groundwater-offset reductions at 18 Long Lake Road, 19 Christina Street, and 504 Great Road — all small, constrained lots where a standard conforming system was not feasible. Joan of the Leominster Tobacco Alliance explained the proposed six-milligram cap on nicotine pouches, noting a 400 percent increase in national nicotine poisoning calls linked to the products and multiple confirmed youth sales of Zyn pouches across the 46-town regional network, though none yet in Pepperell; the New England Convenience Store Association has asked the board to allow up to nine milligrams. The board voted 4-0 to continue the tobacco regulation public hearing to June 24, when a final vote and an August 1 implementation target are possible.