Looking for answers to the septage disposal crunch

by Michael Howell

Ravalli County has obtained funds to complete a comprehensive wastewater preliminary engineering report that focuses on finding solutions to the ongoing septage treatment and disposal limitations that county residents are facing. Septage wastewater from Ravalli County has traditionally been land applied within the county, taken to the City of Missoula Resource Recovery Facility or landfilled. In 2023, the City of Missoula limited out-of-county sources that were utilizing their facility. The reduced volumes and threats to totally restrict out-of-county sources brought attention to the issues of how to treat and dispose of septage wastewater.

Starting in 2023, a septage working group was formed to begin the public process of evaluating options and potential solutions for the long-term management, treatment and disposal of septage wastewater and biosolids. The working group helped in applying for two planning grants to prepare a comprehensive preliminary engineering report.

The preliminary engineering report will quantify the volume of septage generated within Ravalli County, identify alternatives to treat and dispose of septage, fats, oils and greases, and blue water generated within Ravalli County, prepare concept level plans for alternatives, rank alternatives and develop a preferred alternative with necessary capital, operation and maintenance funds, review environmental impacts and develop an implementation strategy.

Ravalli County received a 2025 Biennium Planning Grant for $40,000 from the Montana Department of Commerce Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP), a 2025 Biennium Planning Grant for $40,000 from Montana Department of Natural Resources – Renewable Resources Grants and Loans, and is providing up to $20,000 in local matching funds. 

The following components are anticipated to be reviewed: Permitted land application sites, current loading rates as compared to permitted capacity • Proximity to surface water and groundwater resources City of Missoula capacity to accept out of county septage, porta potty waste and FOGs. • Emerging and future restrictions on accepting out of county wastes. Landfill requirements and capacities for accepting septage and biosolids. Ravalli County municipal sewer treatment facilities’ capacity • Review of treatment capacity • Review of biosolids capacity • Review of permits and future discharge permit limitations. Financial states and costs of service will be reviewed for each current method of treatment and disposal. • Financial capacity of municipalities and county districts is not anticipated to be reviewed in this section of the report. It is understood that none of the Ravalli County public sewer currently accept or charge for receiving septage.

Once the existing facilities have been evaluated, the planning parameters defined and the need for the project established, alternatives will be developed to address the needs for septage treatment and biosolids disposal.

Each viable alternative will be evaluated with respect to technical feasibility, applicability, operational ease, capital cost, operation and maintenance requirements, environmental impacts, permit feasibility in respect to US EPA, Montana DEQ, Ravalli County Environmental Health, public acceptance, and other factors that the County may choose to include. A scoring matrix with weighted criteria will be prepared to facilitate ranking of the alternatives and presented.

Potential funding opportunities for implementation of the identified solutions include MCEP Project Grants, and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Renewable Resource Grant and Loan (RRGL) program, US EPA Pollution Prevention (P2) Grant Program, US EPA Water infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program, Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Block Grant Program (CDBG), Montana Clean Water State Revolving Fund, or US Dept of Commerce EDA.

County Commissioner Jeff Burrows said that building a facility or partnering with a municipal facility only addresses part of the problem. Then there is the cost of continued operation and maintenance.

“Not only do we want the engineers to show options and viability and technical design, we also want to see the real service costs going into it,” said Burrows. “We could build a treatment plant and charge $4 a gallon for pumpers to dump in but they could drive it all the way to St. Regis and land apply it for $2.80 a gallon. So then they wouldn’t be using the plant.

“Land application is what we are trying to avoid here in Ravalli County. It’s not popular and at some point, they may become more strictly regulated and maybe even prohibited. I think the most reasonable option at this point is to partner with some existing facility and pay for increased capacity and the headworks needed to treat the septage. That’s probably the best solution.”