No new hookups will be allowed at the Oak Bluffs wastewater treatment plant until at least next June, due to orders from the state Department of Environmental Protection that relate to the problems with treated effluent seeping to the surface at Ocean Park.

As a result, several expansion or new building projects along the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road — including at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, the new YMCA building and Island Elderly Housing — will not be able to tie into the town sewer for at least a year. The Bradley Square affordable housing project and Donald Muckerheide’s 12-unit condominium project will also have to wait.

The DEP issued a notice of noncompliance to the town on Sept. 22 after an inspection in late August found that several effluent beds under Ocean Park were not operating properly, causing treated effluent to come to the surface periodically. The town has since entered into a consent order with the state that sets a firm timeline for fixing the problem.

The town wastewater commission has already agreed to divert part of the treated effluent flow from the leaching beds under Ocean Park to a new location closer to the treatment plant. At a special town meeting in December town voters approved $250,000 for design and permitting work to place new leaching fields on the Leonardo property.

This week wastewater superintendent Joe Alosso said around 90 per cent of the wastewater flow will be sent to the Leonardo property, where a pair of open sand pits will be built, each with a treatment capacity of 252,000 gallons a day. The new pits will be built in conjunction with a plan to connect the regional high school into the town sewer system, requiring new pipes and a pumping station to be built along Edgartown-Vineyard Road.

There are currently 28 separate leaching fields beneath Ocean Park capable of carrying 370,000 gallons per day of treated effluent. The fields are part of a $17 million wastewater treatment system built almost a decade ago. Mr. Alosso said Ocean Park will continue to be used in a much reduced capacity, most likely for overflow during the summer.

The wastewater commission voted in November 2008 to place a moratorium on all new sewer connections in town. At the time it was unclear whether the moratorium would affect projects that have already received a wastewater permit, including the YMCA and regional high school.

But Mr. Alosso said this week there can be no new sewer hookups until the consent order is resolved and the Leonardo property is ready to be connected to the wastewater treatment plant.

He said the wastewater commission can make exceptions for a failing septic system, and may allow new hookups if flow is reduced at other buildings around town. A proposal to reduce the number of hotel rooms at the Surfside Motel, for example, could allow for a new hookup somewhere else, he said.

Mr. Alosso said the town is waiting for $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; 45 per cent of the money will come in the form of a grant, while 55 per cent will be a low-interest loan.

He said the grant money and loan are expected to cover most of the cost of the work at the Leonardo property and the new sewer connection at the high school. He anticipates a special town meeting will be held before the end of the summer, where voters will consider an article authorizing the town to borrow the rest of the money needed for the project.

Mr. Alosso said the moratorium should not cause any major problems, since construction on new projects can begin without a sewer connection.

“I don’t see this as being problematic. Most of these projects will be completed around the same time the moratorium will be lifted,” he said.

Mr. Alosso said the plan to connect the high school to the town sewer system goes hand in hand with the plan to divert effluent to the Leonardo property.

“I had a lot of meetings with the school [committee]. They’re not in any dire need to tie in right now. The plan that makes the most sense is to connect the high school at the same time we switch to the Leonardo property,” he said.

Reached by phone yesterday, superintendent of schools Dr. James K. Weiss concurred. “We understand the wait is necessary because of the new site [at the Leonardo property]. Using the new site is better for us, and better for the town — it will requite less new pipe and cost less money. I don’t see this as a problem,” he said.