Neighbors concerned about septic waste land application

By Michael Howell

Several landowners living on Sunset Bench, about six and a half miles southeast of Stevensville, are upset at the prospect of having septage and grease trap waste spread on land in the area by a local septage pumping company. The Ravalli County Board of Health has asked Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to extend the deadline for public comment on the project and provide the board with more information about the proposal.
The state received an application in May 2016 from Eckert’s Patriot Pumping, a septic tank pumping business in Stevensville, to use a 160-acre parcel on McIntyre Road owned by Zachary and Tracy Bugli for a septage land application.
DEQ believes land application of septage is an economical and environmentally sound practice. As it states in the Environmental Assessment (EA), “When properly managed, septage is a resource. When used as a soil conditioner, septage contains nutrients that can reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers for agriculture. A properly managed land application program recognizes the benefits of septage and employs practices to maximize the value of the material. Land application of septage benefits agricultural land by the addition of moisture, organic  matter, and nutrients to the soil and does not adversely affect public health. When the septage is being applied as a soil conditioner, the use is considered an application rather than a disposal because the materials in the septage benefit the soil by adding nutrients, moisture, and improving the soil tilth. This will help for better growth of the native pasture grasses.”
Neighboring landowners are not so sure that the current proposal is going to be that benign and the Board of Health has concerns as well due to lack of information about the actual details of the operation.
The Board heard from several neighboring property owners at a meeting on December 14. All of them were opposed to the project. According to the minutes of the meeting, they expressed concerns about the potential impacts on groundwater and surface water in the area, as well as impacts to pets and wildlife, downwind smell, and impacts to the road, shared by several of them, for access to their property.
The Board found it difficult to address the issues because no operational plan was presented. As a result the Board sent a letter to DEQ asking them to extend the deadline for comment, which was set to close on December 19. The Board listed several items to be addressed in the operational plan including more information about the status of the road and plans for future improvements and maintenance. More information was also sought concerning the plan and frequency of the application and the screening of solids and debris, tilling frequency, soil testing frequency, type and location of the application and any PH treatments (usually application of lime). The Board also wants to know when and how the septage will be applied and if there will be any special treatments for grease loads.
DEQ only notified seven property owners immediately adjacent to the project. Neighboring landowners believe that the proposal may impact a lot more landowners in the area than those immediately adjacent to the project. They also believe that the EA for the project was woefully inadequate. They also question the agency’s ability to enforce any permit provisions. According to John Palacio, Ravalli County Director of Environmental Health, the state generally makes two surprise inspections per year at each site.
The Board of Health has scheduled a hearing to re-consider the issue on January 11 and invited representatives from the septage pumping company, the Bugli family, and DEQ to attend the meeting.
According to the minutes, Board member Roger DeHaan said, “There are a lot of septage sites around. This is not reinventing the wheel.” But at the same time he expressed the need to be assured that the applicants know what they are doing beforehand.
“It is important that the Board of Health looks at these issues,” said DeHaan.