Grant County reviews fairgrounds septic system

EPHRATA - Fairgrounds septic systems installed in 2008 shouldn't pollute the area, but three older systems still need to be examined.

Larry Julius and David VanCleve, from Gray and Osborne, reported on the status of fairgrounds septic systems to the Grant County commissioners at a meeting on Monday.

Julius, a principal with the company, and VanCleve, a civil engineer, presented the information following a July meeting between state Department of Health, Department of Ecology, Moses Lake and county officials.

Septic systems are permitted by one of three agencies depending on how much wastewater they take in. If a system takes in less than 3,500 gallons a day, the county health district issues the permit. For systems handling between 3,500 and 100,000 gallons a day, the state Department of Health issues the permit, and for systems larger than 100,000 gallons a day, the Department of Ecology issues the permit.

Gray and Osborne reported finding 17 systems designed to handle wastewater at the fairgrounds, including five new systems installed in 2008 and the holding tanks for the Kenny Ardell Pavilion and the campground.

"The systems that were installed at the time ... met all of the requirements of the county health district, the (state) Department of Health and actually most of the design requirements are the same," Julius said.

VanCleve pointed out most of the large restrooms have sand bed systems. The systems use 2 feet of sand, before the wastewater gets to the soil.

"If you look at them all, most of your large restrooms were upgraded in the last five years, and they still meet the design codes," he said. "A sand bed system treats your wastewater as good as a secondary treatment plant."

VanCleve compared the system to wastewater plants in Moses Lake, George and Othello. The system removes more than 99 percent of the bacteria and viruses, between 10 and 50 percent of the nitrogen and between 10 and 100 percent of phosphorous.

"You are providing good treatment out there," VanCleve said. "It's well documented. One of the problems with on-site systems is for a long time they didn't meet new standards, and ... for a long time, nobody ever maintained them."

Septic systems are designed to treat the water within 3 feet of going into the soil, VanCleve said. A 1980 Department of Ecology study determined the water table is about 100 feet below the fairgrounds.

"You have 100 feet of additional treatment after it leaves (the system,)" he said.

The state might consider requiring permits for two other restroom facilities including restrooms seven, near the horse barns, and the restrooms at and near the fairgrounds office as well as the concession stands.

"The concession stands, as a whole, might be considered a larger (system,)" VanCleve said. "Talking to (Fairgrounds Manager) Vern (Cummings,) he doesn't know what all those little concession stands have."

The company determined the wastewater from the concession stands likely goes into a pipe, and is discharged into the ground, Julius said.

"I don't know if it goes into a dry well, or just into a pipe that is open at the end," he said. "(It handles) gray water and the grease flows into grease traps, but it's still considered wastewater."

Along with the three larger systems, the fairgrounds has five small septic systems, including the gun club, the swine barn, the rodeo office and the mobile home. VanCleve compared them to a household septic system.

"They're less than 500 gallons per day," he said. "Most all of your small systems, like your gun club system, your mobile home system, would definitely fall under your Grant County Health District (permitting process.)"

Commissioner Carolann Swartz asked if the fairgrounds office system was included because of the showers connected to the system.

"Yes, and the campgrounds are right there, and they probably end up using them," VanCleve said.

When Swartz asked what the state and city officials were concerned about, VanCleve responded it was probably the concession stands.

"There's a pipe in the ground and we don't really know where it goes," he said. "It's probably just an old drain field pipe that runs the entire length of it."

Julius also mentioned the restrooms at the rodeo grounds had a problem occur during the 2008 fair, but Cummings quickly took care of it.

"It was a mechanical failure," Julius said. "Those things do happen. They took care of it properly."

All of the systems at the fairgrounds are presently permitted by the county health district, VanCleve said. Regulations require the state Department of Health to request the county change the jurisdiction of the systems.

"Department of Health has not requested that you do that," he said. "I don't know when they would do it. If you can prove to them that you're (at) less than 3,500 gallons per day, they can never force you to go over there. (If there is) any day greater than 3,500 gallons per day, they can walk in at any time and say, 'Please apply for the new annual permit for the larger on-site systems.'"

The company needs to perform an engineering study to determine whether the old larger systems take in more than 3,500 gallons a day, VanCleve said. The state regulations state if a sewer system is nearby and the agency allows a connection, the entity requesting the permit needs to connect.

"The state Department of Health might or might not permit you with a larger on-site system," he said. "Washington state Department of Health could say, 'No.'"

He added the Department of Health will require groundwater monitoring even if it does approve the permit. The monitoring includes one or two wells "downstream" from the septic systems, sampling the top 10 feet of water, and at least one well "upstream."

If the state comes back to speak to the county, it will likely be about the three older systems, where the county doesn't know where they drain, Julius said.

"If there is an Achilles Heel, this is it," he said.

The state changed some rules, primarily around monitoring groundwater, Julius said.

"One of the reasons this has become a big deal is, I'll say it, it was our report from 2008, (which) said that you used to use 300,000 gallons a day of water," VanCleve said. "That was before you replaced your water system."

Neither the engineers nor the county staff realized about 150,000 to 200,000 gallons of the water was lost because of leaks in the pipes, he said.

"You're not using that much water because you replaced your system," VanCleve said. "They're using a lot less water up there."

VanCleve also said the firm did a study in 2008 measuring the level of nitrates leaving the fairgrounds from the septic systems. The nitrate levels do not violate drinking water standards.

"We looked at your wells and the wells upstream and Moses Lake's wells and everything else," he said. "On peak day usage, the nitrates directly below your fairgrounds do not go above 10 milligrams per liter and at the edge of your property line would not bump up ... 0.2 milligrams per liter."

Swartz pointed out some people have questioned the firm's results, saying the firm would tell the county what it wanted to hear.

"I would hope there is oversight that says this is a balanced study, it's an accurate study," she said.

Julius said the firm is bound by the ethics of its profession and reviews of regulatory agencies.

"If they didn't like it, they would tell us," he said. "I don't think we lied about anything, or tried to manipulate data so it was favorable ... The data is the data."

Swartz questioned why the fairgrounds septic systems became an issue again. The commissioners met with Department of Ecology officials in 2009 to discuss the systems.

"The follow-up was they wanted to go out and see for themselves what was happening," she said. "(They) came out, went out to the fairgrounds with Vern, walked through everyone of these and they agreed on some sort of monitoring system, and that's why we thought we were good to go."

When the commissioners were contacted a year and a half later by Ecology, Swartz said it raised questions.

"We really never heard back from (Ecology,)" Commissioner Cindy Carter said. "It fell off the table ... For some reason they're coming back after us."

Julius said both state agencies are willing to work with agencies as long people aren't actively blocking or fighting them.