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State tells county to correct septage violations in 30 days
County to truck waste
By Matt Pranger
posted 07/19/00
State Department of Ecology inspectors are demanding several violations at San Juan County's septage lagoon be corrected within 30 days. If the county fails to comply, it could "face formal enforcement, which could include a penalty of $10,000 per day per violation," according to the Notice of Correction dated July 14, 2000.
The county already corrected one of the most serious violations -- putting additional septage in the lagoon: County commissioners yesterday unanimously approved trucking septage to the mainland. "It's a very short-term alternative until we figure out what we want to do this winter," said county Public Works Director Tom Huse.
Huse told commissioners he will request an extension to comply with the order. The notice stated the county must fill a gap in the lagoon's dike that allows septage to overflow and clean up the overflow within seven days. Septage that's impractical to clean up must be treated with lime or another alkaline substance.
Public works filled the gap, but Huse wants more time to clean a site that has been overflowing for years.
DOE also directed the county to "produce documentation" within 21 days showing the lagoons meet state codes. The state agency also gave the county 60 days to submit a complete application for bio-solids management.
"We have to come up with a closure plan. It will be the big expense," Huse said.
With DOE prohibiting any more septage dumping at the lagoon, and no other place to dispose of it, trucking the waste to the mainland became the only feasible way of disposing of it. After the county raised its septage dumping rates last month, some septic tank pumpers started hauling septage to mainland treatment plants.
"On a de facto basis, it's all being hauled over there," Huse said. "So, there's no reason not to do it."
Although the Orcas lagoon is closed, the county will accept septage and store it in an underground tank. The tank is then pumped into tank trailers that are hauled to the mainland.
A partial fix the county had hoped would help with septage disposal is not working as well as hoped. The de-watering machine removes solids that can be put in the landfill or composted. Workers are having difficulty adjusting the pilot machine. Widely varied amounts of solids in the septage makes judging the amount of polymer needed particularly difficult, Huse said. The polymer helps congeal the solids.
Problems with the de-water were not unexpected, Huse said. "It's not a production unit, it's an experimental unit."
"I'm convinced it's the right technology and equipment. We just need to get a few of the technical details sorted out.... When we get the polymer and manufacturer guys out here, it will all sort out," he said.
Representatives from the machine's manufacturer and the polymer maker are scheduled to check on the processor Thursday, July 20, 2000.
In addition to the short-term septage fix, public works is continuing to work on a comprehensive long-range plan for disposing septage and other bio-solids, Huse noted. "We are moving toward a comprehensive solution."
Town of Friday and the Eastsound Sewer District officials "are interested in working with us," Huse said. That makes it worthwhile for the county to pay for preliminary engineering of modifications that would allow their treatment plants to accept septage, he said.
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Septage dump fee goes up;
pumpers may go to mainland
By Matt Pranger
posted 06/16/00
County commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday, June 12 to increase septage dumping fees to 25 cents per gallon to help pay for remedies to plugged septage lagoons on Lopez and Orcas Islands. The fee hike might not lead to more revenue, though, as septic tank pumpers might take their loads to the mainland.
"If I can haul off island cheaper, I’m going to," said Larry Talbott of Friday Harbor Septic and Drain. "I think Craig (Starr) is going to haul off-island too."
Commissioners Darcie Nielsen and Rhea Miller voted for the rate increase. In previous meetings Miller said fees should pay for the facility. Nielsen has suggested the county could own a facility and contract it out.
John Evans of Orcas Island opposed the fee jump, noting the hike won’t help the county pay for fixes if its customers are going elsewhere. "Twenty-five cents might be what we need but it might not be what our customers can deal with," Evans said.
"I don’t think enough analysis has been done on price elasticity," Evans added.
Evans said joint ventures with the Eastsound Sewer District and Roche Harbor Water Systems should have been more thoroughly explored before an increase was approved.
Septic pump bump
By Matt Pranger
posted 06/12/00
San Juan County Public Works Director/Engineer Tom Huse today (June 13, 2000) is expected to ask county commissioners to consider a 400 percent hike – from 6.5 to 25 cents per gallon -- in septage dumping fees.
Revenue from the increase will help the county deal with its overflowing septage woes. The state has ordered the county to bring its septage lagoons on Lopez and Orcas islands into compliance or not accept any more septage.
The county has started on an interim solution: A mobile de-watering machine yesterday (June 12) began operating at the Orcas lagoon. By de-watering the waste and disposing of solids in a landfill, the county hopes to gain space at the Orcas lagoon while it finds a long-term solution.
Huse discussed the fee hike with septic tank pumpers during a "septage summit" last week, which resulted in the formation of a group charged with working on a county-wide biosolids management plan. The price to septic tank owners will be more than 25 cents a gallons as the pumpers add on 10 to 15 cents per gallon for their services.
If pumpers charge 35 cents a gallon for disposal plus about $150 in a pumping charge, a homeowner with a 1,000-gallon septic tank would pay $500 to have a tank pumped. And that could lead to less timely maintenance by septic tank owners. "I’m afraid they’re not going to pump as often," Larry Talbott, owner of Friday Harbor Septic & Drain.
"The more reasonable the price, the more compliance you have," he added.
The pumpers have worked hard to educate septic tank users about the advantages of pumping regularly, Talbott said. The pumpers reported about 50 percent of septic tank owners pump before they encounter problems. If the number of regularly maintained tanks decreases, that could lead to greater expense for owners and the environment as drainfields fail, he said.
New treatment or storage facilities may also lead to other increases. County commissioners have briefly discussed whether the county, and its taxpayers, should cover those costs. Talbott summed up the policy debate as: "Should government subsidize some of that (septage disposal and treatment costs) …or should the people who make it pay for it?"
No matter who picks up what percentage of the tab, the members of the group hope to keep other increases in check. "There may be cheaper ways to do it if everybody works together," Talbott said.
During the septage meeting, the players discussed cooperation possibilities and the current capacities at island facilities, said Mark Tompkins, county Environmental Health Manager. Facilities in Eastsound and Roche Harbor may be able to accept more waste, Tompkins said. Roche Harbor takes septage. Eastsound does not treat solids but does treat liquid waste. The county can dispose of solids through its Orcas transfer site and is also investigating composting the solids, also known as cake.
A joint operation between the county and Eastsound Sewage would help both entities. "We’d take the solid and they’d take the liquid," Huse said.
The group of private and public septage and sewage handlers will meet again July 5, 2000.
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Septage costs going up
San Juan County is renting a de-watering machine as a temporary fix to its septage treatment woes but a permanent solution will likely cost septic tank users hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The mobile machine, which separates water and solids, "buys" the county time while it develops a long-term septage treatment plan during the next three months, Tom Huse, San Juan County Public Works director/engineer told county commissioners May 30.
The county will use the de-waterer to first gain more space in its Orcas Island lagoons. Septage – waste from septic tanks – is comprised of 70 percent water. Solids leftover after the de-watering can be disposed in landfills or composted. The wastewater, or filtrate, may be treated by sewage systems, drainfields or stored in lagoons.
Storing and not treating has led to the county’s lagoons on Lopez and Orcas islands filling up to overflowing, and the state Department of Ecology has ordered the county to come up with a plan to remedy the problems.
Expanding current facilities, joint ventures with private treatment operations in the islands, trucking septage to mainland treatment plants and solar aquatic greenhouses were discussed during the May 30 meeting. Whatever solution the county picks, islanders with septic tanks will likely be spending more for septage disposal.
"The islands are going to have to deal with an $800,000 problem," Huse told commissioners.
"The ratepayers are going to have to pay for it," he noted later in the meeting.
The county currently charges 6.5 cents per gallon to dispose of septage but it might raise its rate to 25 cents per gallon to help pay for facility improvements. Companies that pump tanks will pass that hike on to septic tank owners.
Huse said a four-fold increase in pumping fees is still less expensive than paying for sewage system service. "It’s always going to be cheaper to have a septic tank than to operate a sewer system," he said.
The county has not been passing on its full costs, so a rate hike will result in "sticker shock" when septic tank owners pump their tanks, Huse said. He wishes the increase could be more gradual, but also noted: "One way of looking at it is everybody’s gotten a bargain over the past few years."
Huse suggested septic tank pumpers develop maintenance agreements that allow tank owners to pay per month, rather than in one lump when a tank is pumped.
The county, septic tank pumpers, septage treatment system operators and others will be meeting June 7 to discuss solutions to septage disposal problems. "Everybody’s looking at the same issue," said Mark Tompkins, county Environmental Health manager.
Huse and the commissioners discussed some permanent solutions, including placing a de-watering facility on Orcas Island, possibly at the solid waste transfer site. Locating a permanent de-watering unit next to the sewage plant was considered, as was locating it at the county’s Public Works site and pumping the water elsewhere for treatment.
Pumping would be expensive and neighbors of the Public Works site would likely organize, Huse said.
"I’m more optimistic than pessimistic," Evans said.
The Orcas commissioner also wondered whether "it’s in the county’s interest to get out of the septage business."
Commissioner Rhea Miller of Lopez Island said treating the septage is a public health issue and is the county’s responsibility. "The buck stops here. I want the best deal for the citizens," Miller said.
"We aren’t in the business of operating things like this," Evans said.
"There’s no reason the county couldn’t own a facility and contract operations out," said Commissioner Darcie Nielsen of San Juan Island.
Miller agreed fees would have to pay for the operation of septage treatment facilities. Huse said the county will likely have to obtain bonds to fund some of the capital improvements. Tompkins said there is grant money and for constructing biosolids facilities.
Public Works is continuing its evaluation of long-term septage treatment solutions.
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