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Dirty Little Secrets
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Nov. 23, 2004--When reports surfaced that raw sewage was flowing from a nearby home into the Keweenaw National Historical Park, Kathleen Halvorsen was not surprised.
"Septic is the most serious form of decentralized pollution that we have," said Halvorsen, an associate professor in the social sciences department and the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.
Halvorsen studies an unromantic aspect of rural life that doesn't receive a lot of attention, at least not until something goes drastically wrong: onsite sewage systems. The term encompasses conventional septic tanks and drainfields, mound systems and more than a dozen other methods of coping with the inevitable effluent of households.
Her recent report, "Strengths and Weaknesses of Great Lakes Onsite Sewage System Regulatory Programs," found that national standards for regulating these systems are unevenly enforced around the Great Lakes. For that to change, according to the report, homeowners and local governments must realize that septic tanks need to be taken just as seriously as sewage treatment plants.
In addition to Halvorsen, the report's coauthors are Associate Professor Hugh Gorman (Social Sciences) and Kristine Bradof, community program coordinator for the GEM Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.
What the many different onsite sewage systems have in common is location. None are more than a stone's throw from the toilet. As more and more people build vacation homes on a lake or succumb to the allure of a 10-acre lot in the country, they also find themselves far beyond the reach of municipal sewer systems.
The situation arose in the decades after the Second World War, when Americans began moving out of cities and into suburban and rural areas that lacked sewers. "At the time, we assumed that the sewers would be extended, but that's become less and less likely," Halvorsen said.
Homeowners are responsible for their own septic systems. Many, however, adopt an out of sight, out of mind approach, at least until raw sewage starts backing up into the bathtub. According to the U.S. Environmnetal Protection Agency, 10 percent to 20 percent of all onsite sewer systems nationwide are in a state of failure at any given time, which can contaminate soil, well water and nearby lakes and streams.
Area health departments are responsible on paper for making sure septic systems function properly throughout their jurisdictions. Most have local or state codes they follow, with the notable exception of Michigan, which is the only state in the U.S. lacking a state code. However, most departments along the Great Lakes fall short of compliance with guidelines established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
It's not for lack of trying, the authors suggest, and many health departments do an excellent job of protecting public health and the environment. "We had a sense that people felt the EPA guidelines are good," Halversen said. "But what if you have 20,000 onsite sewage systems in your area? Just doing one annual mailing to homeowners, as the EPA suggests, would be expensive."
While less state and federal funding is available to oversee onsite sewage systems, the pressure on health departments has escalated in the last 20 years. Demand has soared for second homes, often on waterfront properties with sandy soils, small lots and bedrock close to the surface, conditions that require high-maintenance alternative treatment systems. "So the potential for contamination is much higher," Halvorsen said.
Their study surveyed more than 70 departments in seven states and Ontario. Among its recommendations, the report suggests that departments receive adequate funding to enforce codes, that systems be inspected periodically after they are built and operating, and that departments communicate the importance of properly maintaining onsite sewage systems with homeowners and local officials.
They didn't get any argument from the health departments. "When we started this study, we expected that we'd have to convince environmental health directors that change was necessary," Halvorsen said. "Instead, we found that they were already on board."
Environmental Health Director Tom Reichard of the District 10 Health Department, in lower Michigan, praised the report. "I haven't come across a study that looks as concisely and conclusively at the Great Lakes region as this one does," he said. "The Great Lakes cover a large number of jurisdictions, and we have a massive, unconnected series of codes to deal with septic. I think this study moves us in the direction of looking at septic regionally, from the point of view of the entire Great Lakes watershed."
Since water is arguably the region's greatest natural asset, and since lakes and rivers are indifferent to political boundaries, now may be the time to take a hard look at how septic affects that resource.
"It's a topic that nobody wants to talk about," Reichard says. "Sewage disposal doesn't have star appeal, but the resource we are trying to protect does have star appeal."
Since the 1930s, conventional septic systems have done a good job of protecting public health by getting rid of bacteria and viruses. However, they do not eliminate fertilizing compounds such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which can find their way into lakes and streams, Reichard says. Adding fertilizer to a lake has the same effect as adding fertilizer to a lawn: More and bigger plants grow, though in the case of lakes, the plants are algae and not grass.
When algae takes over a lake, it causes eutophication. In other words, it sucks up all the oxygen in the water, killing fish and creating a stagnant, scum-covered pond.
"We need to take additional responsibility," Reichard said. "We are putting in tens of thousands of onsite sewage systems every year, and while they may not create a public health problem, we can't ignore the impact they have on the environment."
The stumbling block to effective regulation tends instead to be local government, though not in all jurisdictions, says the report. A lack of awareness can lead local units to promote development on marginal building sites. Though tax revenues may rise in the short term, environmental problems caused by system failure can hurt property values and public health over the long haul.
"If you are a local official concerned with property tax revenues, it's in your longterm interest to assure that septic is installed property," Halvorsen said. Because nobody wants a dead, green lake next to their pricey waterfront lot. |
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