SAN JUAN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

County Board of Health approves new septic system maintenance rules

posted 07/25/2007
PRESS RELEASE:
At its Monday, July 23 meeting, the San Juan county Board of Health unanimously approved the On-site Sewage System Operation and Maintenance Program Plan that will ultimately require the annual inspection of more than 4,000 septic systems in the county and inspections of all others every three years. The program plan must next be accepted by the State Department of Health.

San Juan County is one of 12 Puget Sound counties required by the State of Washington to adopt a plan that will ensure septic systems are inspected and maintained to prevent system failures which could cause raw or inadequately treated sewage to contaminate sensitive coastal areas, or surface or ground.

County Environmental Health Manager Mark Tompkins told the Board of Health that the County will conduct classes which will enable residents to earn certification to inspect their own septic system. The citizens' advisory committee which studied methods to comply with the new state regulations, estimated that septic tank owners who do not perform their own inspections will have to pay licensed inspectors up to $300-$400 for each inspection.

Tompkins said that the owners of aerobic and proprietary septic systems are already required to have maintenance contracts with a licensed contractor who should be qualified to file the inspection reports at little additional cost.

The plan approved Monday requires an additional $50 county inspection report filing fee to cover the cost of educational programs, data maintenance and enforcement; however Tompkins said that the county may be eligible for state grants that may reduce that cost by as much as $30 for each of the first two years.

The inspection regulations will be phased in over the next four years. Aerobic and proprietary treatment systems, and all systems in areas declared sensitive would be covered immediately. Pressure distribution, sand filter and mound systems would require annual inspections beginning in 2009, and all gravity systems will have to be inspected every three years starting in 2011.

The current requirement that all on-site wastewater systems be inspected when a property is sold will continue to be enforced.

After state acceptance, the Board of Health will need to amend the local sewage code to reflect the new inspection program.

A draft copy of document approved by the Board of Health is available at: www.co.san-juan.wa.us/health/ehsdocs/sewage_OM_Plan2007.pdf

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