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question septic safeguards Wednesday, March 12, 2008 BY JAN BARRY AND BARBARA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITERS If you're a Highlands resident, it's
likely you have a septic system, and the Highlands regional master plan
will
expect you to ensure it isn't polluting local waters. But current directives in the plan
for maintaining properly functioning septic systems near the state's
premier
water supply streams and well fields raise more questions than they
offer
readily understood answers, say officials in Highlands communities. Whatever is required will affect
thousands of homes and businesses across North Jersey's seven-county
mountain
region. The plan divides the region into a
"preservation area" of critical watersheds, subject to severe
regulations, and a "planning area" of less-critical lands where
development is left to community control with Highlands Council review.
It
would require preservation-area towns to adopt programs and laws to
"improve the maintenance of existing and new residential septic
systems." But local officials and environmental activists say it's not
clear what these ordinances mean for homeowners. Michael Siesta, a member of the West
Milford Planning Board, feels the regional plan will have "a tremendous
impact" on his township, which largely comprises single-family homes on
septic systems. He noted that many residents "will have to find their
septic systems, since they are buried, and many do not even know where
they
are." "Then there is the whole review
process," Siesta added. "Who inspects the systems? Who pays for it?
There are a lot of questions that we just don't know the answers to at
this
point." The Highlands draft plan proposes
local septic system maintenance programs for septic drainage areas near
municipal wells and streams. That program would require residents to
show their
town proof of proper maintenance, periodic pump-outs and replacement of
inadequate systems. In some cases, a homeowner might be required to
have a
maintenance contract with a wastewater utility or to hook into a sewage
treatment plant. Robin O'Hearn, a Ringwood Board of
Adjustment member and executive director of the activist group Skylands
CLEAN,
questions whether that would open the door for utilities to order homes
with
septic systems to be connected to their treatment plants. "I'm curious how homeowners
would react to handing their septic system over to a utility company,
or even
paying for a lifetime contract for the system," O'Hearn said. "If the
utility company decides everyone's system has to be replaced with a
sewer
system, do the homeowners have any recourse or say in that decision?" The Highlands plan calls for
sewerage to replace septic systems where public health is threatened by
pollution
of water supplies. The state Department of Environmental Protection
would make
that determination, the plan notes. West Milford has several small
sewage treatment plants and hundreds of homes on septic systems. The
township
has been investigating whether overloaded septic systems or small
treatment
plants are causing fecal coliform contamination of Belcher Creek, a
main
tributary of Greenwood Lake. The lake sends water into the Wanaque
Reservoir
system that serves more than 2 million North Jersey residents. Currently, West Milford residents
aren't required to do anything unless health inspectors determine the
septic
system should be replaced. Then they must apply for a department
permit. They
don't have to obtain one for pumping out the system. Alison McManus, the health
department clerk, said the agency receives about 12 applications for
permits a
month. Most, she said, result from home sales, when inspectors may fail
older
systems rather than risk having a new owner encounter a problem after
the purchase. "Only a handful of permits are
issued a year for systems that are in obvious violation," McManus said. E-mail: barry@northjersey.com If you're a Highlands resident, it's
likely you have a septic system, and the Highlands regional master plan
will expect
you to ensure it isn't polluting local waters. But current directives in the plan
for maintaining properly functioning septic systems near the state's
premier
water supply streams and well fields raise more questions than they
offer
readily understood answers, say officials in Highlands communities. Whatever is required will affect
thousands of homes and businesses across North Jersey's seven-county
mountain
region. FAST FACTS Highlands communities in the
preservation area where many homes and businesses are on septic systems
include: * Mahwah and Oakland in Bergen
County; Bloomingdale, Ringwood and West Milford in Passaic County;
Kinnelon in
Morris County. * Currently, the state DEP
recommends a maintenance schedule that includes having septic tank
pumped out
at least every three years by a registered hauler. * For more information:
highlands.state.nj.us/njhighlands/master/ (Highlands regional master
plan,
pages 212-216); www.state.nj.us/dep/dwq/pdf/septicmn.pdf (A Homeowner's
Manual
for Septic Systems) The plan divides the region into a
"preservation area" of critical watersheds, subject to severe
regulations, and a "planning area" of less-critical lands where
development is left to community control with Highlands Council review.
It
would require preservation-area towns to adopt programs and laws to
"improve the maintenance of existing and new residential septic
systems." But local officials and environmental activists say it's not
clear what these ordinances mean for homeowners. Michael Siesta, a member of the West
Milford Planning Board, feels the regional plan will have "a tremendous
impact" on his township, which largely comprises single-family homes on
septic systems. He noted that many residents "will have to find their
septic systems, since they are buried, and many do not even know where
they
are." "Then there is the whole review
process," Siesta added. "Who inspects the systems? Who pays for it?
There are a lot of questions that we just don't know the answers to at
this
point." The Highlands draft plan proposes
local septic system maintenance programs for septic drainage areas near
municipal wells and streams. That program would require residents to
show their
town proof of proper maintenance, periodic pump-outs and replacement of
inadequate systems. In some cases, a homeowner might be required to
have a
maintenance contract with a wastewater utility or to hook into a sewage
treatment plant. Robin O'Hearn, a Ringwood Board of
Adjustment member and executive director of the activist group Skylands
CLEAN,
questions whether that would open the door for utilities to order homes
with
septic systems to be connected to their treatment plants. "I'm curious how homeowners
would react to handing their septic system over to a utility company,
or even
paying for a lifetime contract for the system," O'Hearn said. "If the
utility company decides everyone's system has to be replaced with a
sewer
system, do the homeowners have any recourse or say in that decision?" The Highlands plan calls for
sewerage to replace septic systems where public health is threatened by
pollution of water supplies. The state Department of Environmental
Protection
would make that determination, the plan notes. West Milford has several small
sewage treatment plants and hundreds of homes on septic systems. The
township
has been investigating whether overloaded septic systems or small
treatment
plants are causing fecal coliform contamination of Belcher Creek, a
main
tributary of Greenwood Lake. The lake sends water into the Wanaque
Reservoir
system that serves more than 2 million North Jersey residents. Currently, West Milford residents
aren't required to do anything unless health inspectors determine the
septic
system should be replaced. Then they must apply for a department
permit. They
don't have to obtain one for pumping out the system. Alison McManus, the health
department clerk, said the agency receives about 12 applications for
permits a
month. Most, she said, result from home sales, when inspectors may fail
older
systems rather than risk having a new owner encounter a problem after
the
purchase. "Only a handful of permits are
issued a year for systems that are in obvious violation," McManus said. E-mail: barry@northjersey.com © 2008 Skylands CLEAN, Inc. • Background photo courtesy Dwight Hiscano, 908-273-5666 |
