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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 12-16-1997 - 10d S j 1 1 ORANGECOUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 16, 1997 Action Agenda Item # /U_J SUBJECT: Creation of on-site water/wastewater treatment failure classification/terminology policy DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: Yes z No ATTACHMENT(S): BUDGET AMENDMENT: Yes z No Environmental Health Director Memo INFORMATION CONTACT: County Engineer Ext. 2303 Environmental Health Director Ext. 2360 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough - 732-8181 Durham - 688-7331 Mebane - 227-2031 Chapel Hill - 967-9251/968-4501 PURPOSE: To provide, for the BOCC's review and approval, a proposal for a process and designation - short of the statutory"Imminent Hazard" definition and process-that can be used to categorize a public health concern that results from the failure of existing on-site water or wastewater treatment systems serving existing homes, buildings or communities. BACKGROUND: In April of 1989, the BOCC approved the County's Water and Sewer Policy, which was subsequently amended in September of 1991. Within the Water and Sewer Policy's statement of purpose, one facet of the County's role in the provision of water and sewer services was identified as being for the general purpose of correcting a"public health emergency". The"public health emergency" terminology in the County's Water and Sewer Policy represented a conscious effort to avoid the stringent public health criteria embodied in the statutory concept and definition of the term"imminent hazard". "Imminent hazard" was and is defined by Section 130A- 2(3) of the NC General Statues to be"a situation which is likely to cause an immediate threat to human life, an immediate threat of serious physical injury, an immediate threat of serious adverse health effects, or a serious risk of irreparable damage to the environment if no immediate action is taken". The Water and Sewer Policy recognized that there clearly can be public health situations that fall well short of the severe and perhaps catastrophic circumstances envisioned in the"imminent hazard" definition but that nonetheless call for some sort of governmental intervention to effect a corrective action. Within the Water and Sewer Policy, the concept of"public health emergency" was somewhat loosely defined as a situation 2 "such as a failing septic tank or failing package treatment plant" where"the , condition cannot be corrected without water or sewer service". The Water and Sewer policy made no provision for who or what agency would be responsible for determining if a system were failing or if the problem could be addressed without the provision of water and sewer service. Since the 1989 creation and adoption of Orange County's Water and Sewer Policy, there have been relatively few incidents or situations where County officials and policy makers from other local jurisdictions have had to consider an extension of water or sewer utilities under the criteria of a"public health emergency". The failure of the wastewater treatment system serving the Piney Mountain subdivision was the only situation where the exact circumstances envisioned in the Water and Sewer Policy have occurred and have been addressed accordingly. However, the"public health emergency" provisions are now being reassessed as to their relevancy and adequacy as a result of two current circumstances: a)the efforts of the Water and Sewer Boundary Task force to coordinate land use planning and utility extension policies; and b)the failure of the on-site wastewater treatment systems serving the Brookfield neighborhood in an area(University Lake watershed)where current zoning regulations do not allow the extension of water or sewer utilities under any circumstances. The Water and Sewer Boundary Task Force has focused on developing a tightly defined concept of"public health emergency". At least some task force members are concerned about the existing definition because the Water and Sewer Policy uses the public health emergency concept as a criteria for allowing the extension of water and sewer utilities into areas- such as the Rural Buffer and protected water supply watersheds-where such extensions are normally not permitted or are otherwise considered to be undesirable. Insofar as the Brookfield situation is concerned, the County Water and Sewer Policy is not in agreement with the County Zoning Ordinance with regard to the permissibility of extending water and sewer utilities into the University Lake watershed. In addition, there is a concern about the lack of specificity in the Water and Sewer Policy as to the party or agency responsible for determining if a public health situation actually exists and if and how a situation should be remedied. Orange County staff from the County Manager's, Health(Environmental Health) and Planning Departments and the County Attorney have met to discuss options to address the various concerns relative to the"public health emergency" concept. The Director of the Environmental Health Section has suggested the use of the term "adverse public health condition" in lieu of"public health emergency". The"adverse public health condition" term would be used to define a situation"where wastewater (or water) systems are failing and no on-site repair is approvable and recommended by the Orange County Health Department". An"adverse public health situation" would be certified or declared by the Health Department after an investigation of the situation by the Environmental Health Section. The certification could apply to circumstances that are less severe than either an imminent hazard or an emergency and that could occur at any location in the County, irrespective of the zoning, watershed protection requirements or proximity to water or sewer utilities. The proximity to utilities or zoning and watershed protection requirements as well as 3 financial considerations would, however, bear on the tools which would be available to address any adverse condition. The decision to allow or prohibit the use of any particular means of or tool for rectifying any particular "adverse public health condition" would ultimately remain- through zoning regulations -with the governmental entity or entities having zoning jurisdiction over the area where the adverse condition was located. RECOMMENDATION: The Administration recommends that the BOCC: 1) approve the use of the proposed designation of and definition for"adverse public health condition" in lieu of the terms of and definitions of "public health emergency" or"imminent hazard" in the Water and Sewer Policy and all other policies and regulations related to the extension of water and sewer utilities; 2) recommend to the Orange County Board of Health that the term, definition, etc., related to the"adverse public health condition" be incorporated into local health regulation and policy; 3) indicate to the Water and Sewer Boundary Task Force that the term, definition, etc., related to the"adverse public health condition" should be incorporated into its recommendations as to water and sewer extension . policy; 4) officially signify its intent to apply its zoning authority to guide the use of various tools and strategies for addressing"adverse public health conditions" within its zoning jurisdictions; and 5) direct staff to bring forward a report outlining the discrepancies within County zoning ordinance and policies for a Board decision on how those discrepancies are to be eliminated. Ouvf9e 4 qea&i VeA=&tear Daniel B. Reimer, MPH, Director ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIVISION o°°°�r ar ®�. Betty Borland Ron Hedrick,RS P.O.Box 8181 -306-C Revere Road a"• , 4° Jim Brown,RS Ron Holdway,RS Hillsborough,NC 27278 Perry Burns,RS Jan Jackson,RS FAX#919-644-3006 " yy Alan Clapp,RS, LSS Tom Konsler,RS Greg Grimes,RS Barbara Patterson •hr l �•• David Hecht,RS Wendy Thigpen,RS �h ac° Hillsborough Chapel Hill Mebane Durham 919-732-8181 x2360 919-968-4501 x2360 910-227-2031 x2360 919-688-7333 x2360 MEMORANDUM DATE: December 10, 1997 TO: Paul Thames FROM: Ron Holdway RE: "Adverse Public Health Condition" In my memo to Geof Gledhill on November 3, the phrase"correcting an adverse public health condition where wastewater systems are failing and no on-site repair is approvable or recommended by the Orange County Health Department" was referred to in the text of the memo. Geof suggested in a meeting last week that the phrase be expanded to read"correcting an adverse public health condition where wastewater systems are failing and no on-site repair is approvable and no on-site repair is recommended by the Orange County Health Department". I fully support this change in wording for this specific context of defining an"adverse public health condition" and hope that it helps clarify both the BOCC's and the WSBTF's understanding of the matter. Please let me know if you need any thing further on the matter. Ou"le eoaN4 qw&*10 Viii 5 Daniel S. Reimer, MPH, Diredor ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIVISION �' •. Bstly 8WI.n4 Ron Hadr RS P O.So 8181 -3MC Revere Rood `• Jim Brown,RS Ran Haidway,RS HlMeborouph,NC 27278 Perry Bums,RS Jan Jackson,RS FAX 0 91941444008 Alan Cktpp,RS,LSS Tan KwWer,RS Grey Grimm.RS Barbara Pe tsrsen, ►'�►► lae��'.• David Hecht,RS Wanly Thlppw%RS HM*orv* ampd H01 Mabsstr vurjr 919-7324131 x2360 919-904501 x2360 910.227-2031 x2360 919-bit-7333 x2360 MEMORANDUM DATE: November 3, 1997 TO: Geof Gledhill FROM: Ron Holdway CC: Tom Konsler Paul Thames David Stancil RE: "Public Health Emergency" As promised and as a follow-up to the Water and Sewer Boundary Task Force meeting and the discussions about the Brookfield area problem, I am writing to give you my thoughts on the"Public Health Emergency" debate as it relates to the extensor of public sewer into interest areas and also into designated watersheds. The existing definitions in the WSBTF draft agreement and Orange County's Water dt Sewer Policy both speak to situations involving existing land uses with[wing] Kid irreparable water or wastewater systems. The WSBTF docxmaent even contemplates condemnation of the properties because of irreparable failures. I'll keep my comments to the sewage end of the stick in this memo,but comparable arguments for and against water line extensions could be made. It has been my experience that many times water problems are more easily solved or at least are more sporadic. The declaration of a"public health emergency"is the current condition used to indicate the necessity of extending public sewer into unsewered areas of the county. Recently,the phrase"imminent hazard"has been proposed for use in that context since it has a statutory definition and was also recommended by NTilton Heath of the Institute of Government. To my knowledge,there is no legal definition of"public health emergency"in the statutes or rules other than the general text in the County's Water and Sewer Policy and Draft Boundary Task Force Agreement referring to irreparable systems. Both phrases appear to indicate that immediate action is required to avert immediate negative consequences. The responsibility of declaring a"public health emageW in unclear in the WSBTF draft but is clearly defined for an"imminent hazard"in the statutes. 1 Geof Gledhill, 11-3-97 6 , page 2 At this point, I will digress into my own opinions concerning these matters. Public health professionals are constantly told to use prevention and early intervention to avoid or ameliorate problems or potentially hazardous situations. With the Brookfield situation, I don't believe there is an emergency or imminent hazard existing nor is there likely to be in the near future given the density of houses in the area, the severity of the malfimc Lions and also because the problems have gone on for several years without obvious direct health implications. Many of the systems, however, are failing or noncompliant to some degree with permitting standards and the on-site remedies which are considered by us as "approvable"are extremely limited or non-existent. We have the ability in our rules to recommend repairs that in our"best professional judgment"will enable the system to function properly in an unapprovable situation,but in some instances even this option doesn't work The long term degradation of the public water supply must also be a com9ide*ation in this matter. In the absence of off-site areas for approvable repairs(and there are none apparent in this situation),the only viable option to completely eliminate the problems short of vacating the homes is the use of public sewer. Since the WSBTF is preparing a draft, I would lice to propose that the wording for allowance of sewer into watershed or interest areas be something less than an"emergency"or"imminent hazard"ruling. If protection of public health and watersheds is the ultimate goal and assuming that the vacation of Mmes is not an option at this point and that the long tern degradation of the watershed is a consideration, then I think the language of "correcting an adverse public health condition where wastewater systems are failing and no on-site repair is approvable or recommended by the Orange County Health Department" might be appropriate. Similar verbiage referring to failing or unapproved wastewater systems and illegal discharges can be found in the General Statutes as prohibited acts in a designated watershed(G.S. 130A-325 5dt6). If vacating the hoaxes is the ultimate answer, then some process for those actions should be developed, refined and impkrne<nted and staff should be given clear policy guidance on its use. I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.