Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-13-2006-7bORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: .June 13, 2006 Action Agenda Item No. 7- I"J SUBJECT: Proposed Community Water Study Parameters DEPARTMENT: Health PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Draft Policies on Environmental Services Rosemary Summers, 245-2411 Governor's Grove Proposal PURPOSE: To consider parameters for future community water studies. BACKGROUND: The Health Department has engaged in a number of special community water studies over the past five years including: Rogers Road Community, Buckhorn Community, High Rack Quarry Area, and most recently, the Mill Creek Road area. The Mill Creek Road area has been followed by a request from a neighboring community (Governor's Grove) for a study in their area. Often when one community has requested and received permission for a special study, other neighborhoods often follow shortly. Environmental hazard studies are properly the responsibility of the Health Department if there is reasonable suspicion that the public's health may be affected. The Health Department takes seriously its responsibility in this regard. The desire of the Health Department and the Board of Health is to prospectively identify problem areas and prevention measures that will have positive affects on human health. These studies have provided valuable data to add to a countywide database on water quality, however their unplanned nature has led to diversion of staff resources from regular duties, The Board of Health at its May meeting considered the attached draft policies that cover community requests for studies and assessments. The policy proposes Board of Commissioner approval and ftanding for studies where operational costs exceed $2,500 or when the costs are greater than the Health Department can identify in their current budget, As the county moves forward with initiatives in the area of protecting water resources, integrating the cost and need for prospective rather than retrospective studies should be considered, These draft policies, far the most part, do not address prospective studies such as those proposed in the Health Department's Strategic Plan or in the Water Resources Initiative, although the data gathered can further inform the need or direction for prospective studies. FINANCIAL IMPACT: No immediate financial impact is associated with discussing or adapting this policy. Future environmental studies that would be authorized may have additional financial impacts depending on the particular studies needed. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board consider approving the draft as written or providing suggested alterations to the Board of Health,. ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES POLICY AND PROCEDURE MANUAL Section: Approved By: Effective Date: Reviewed By: Original Effective Date: Policy 1.0 Requests for Environmental Services and Assessments Policy Statement This policy covers processing and budgetary considerations regarding requests from citizens and communities for environmental services and assessments to determine whether environmental contaminants are present, environmental degradation has occurred or for the applicant's information for future reference. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to determine when environmental services, surveys or assessments will be conducted and also to set forth the funding mechanisms for those actions. Also covered within the policy scope is the decision tree for when community assessments will be considered and the ensuing financial responsibilities for those expanded efforts, This policy is not intended to cover nor does it cover applications, inspections, approvals or other processes for regulatory programs generally administered in the Environmental Health Division. Section I Program Overview 1,0 Environmental Health routinely receives concerns and queries from Orange County residents regarding environmental investigations to determine whether an environmental exposure exists and also whether unusual disease prevalence is occurring, These requests may arise from an individual or from communities, This policy addresses general and specific practices for'these requests and assigns responsibilities for their dispensation, Section II Individual Requests 1.0 Individual residents may request services and assessments for their property, whether owned outright, leased, rented, or otherwise legally occupied, These services include septic inspections, water samples, indoor air quality (IAQ) assessments, vector control inspections, single disease case investigations, or other services germane to current or future environmental health programs. Section III Community or Collective Requests 1,0 The following types of community or' collective studies and assessments will be considered and acted upon by staff with the appropriate approval(s) when environmental conditions are suspected or to be a causative factor: Acute Disease and/or Chronic Disease Rate Studies Wastewater System Surveys Well Water Samples and Surveys 1.1 Acute and Chronic Disease a, Airborne, vector borne and waterborne diseases are environmentally related in their transmissions and may affect a community as a whole, Chronic diseases such as asthma and cancer can have causative factors related to environmental conditions and exposures. The investigation of acute and chronic diseases would be indicated with confirmed cases of those diseases in rates extraordinary to baseline rates for Orange County or statistically expected rates for thaC community. Investigations will be carried out in accordance with best epidemiological practices established by the EPI Team* in each individual response. b. OCHD will conduct community studies for acute and chronic diseases suspected of originating from environmental exposures and for wells and septic systems failures when data or reports indicate that study beyond the individual level is needed to confirm or deny multiple sources of contamination leading to acute and/or chronic disease under investigation.. 1.2 Wastewater and Well Water Studies a. Community studies outlined in this policy will be considered and acted on or' denied by OCHD based on several risk factors and other defined considerations. Those include the following: • Surveillance data or other confirmed and documented medical or scientific reports that indicate potentially environmentally caused or transmitted disease prevalence at abnormal levels in that community. • Known disease-causing environmental contamination (chemical releases, improper biosolids applications, underground storage tanks,,junkyards, etc.) that could adversely affect a natural resource (groundwater, stream, etc.) or negatively impact more than a single property in that community. • Known geophysical conditions (e.g., underlying rock structure that might lead to high levels of natural radon release, severe disturbances of the underlying structure) with a scientif cally documented negative environmental impact potential that could affect the intended use and sustainability of property in the community. • More than 30% of the individual wells in a given geographical community that were drilled prior to 1981 and more than .30% of the septic systems in the community that are on average more than 20 years old. • Protection of water supply resources (critical watershed areas, wellhead protection areas, etc.), • Feasibility studies to explore public water and sewer extensions. • Statistical studies to determine well and septic system failure rates. Section IV Funding 1.0 The cost recovery for individual testing and assessments will come from fees for service administered according to the Environmental Health Division's Fee and Application Policy and from the fee schedule approved by the Board of Health and the Board of County Commissioners. In the case of an individual disease investigation that is a direct follow-up to an outbreak, the individual charge is waived. 1.1 The direct operational costs for materials needed for community related surveys, assessments and other studies will be paid for by Orange County when the first bullet in Section III, Article 1,2 above is met or when .3 of the remaining 6 bullets in that section are met. 1,2 Studies requested by other governmental agencies will be evaluated by the Health Director and County Manager as appropriate. 1.3 Other studies not covered in the immediately preceding bullets will be charged fees for service administered according to the Environmental Health Division's Fee and Application Policy, Section V Community Study Funding Approvals 1.0 When estimated operational costs are less than or equal to $250, the Orange County Health Director will approve or deny the study and the study will be funded through the Environmental Health Services budget, 1,2 When estimated operational costs are greater than $250 but less than or equal to $2,500, the Orange County Health Director will approve or deny the study based on current availability ofbudgetary and staff resources and present it to the Orange County Board of Health for final decision. The Health Director will determine the specific funding source for an approved study, 1..3 When estimated operational costs are greater than $2,500, or if the budgetary and staff resource needs are greater than available in the Health Department budget, the Orange County Health Director will recommend to approve or deny the study and present the recommendation to the Orange County Board of Health for consideration. The Board of Health's recommendation will be presented to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners for final decision and funding source identification if approved. *The EPI Team is the interdisciplinary health department staff team that is responsible for all outbreak investigations. GOVERNOR'S GROVE SUBDIVISION WATER QUALITY STUDY PROPOSAL ORANGE COUNTH HEALTH DEPARTMENT Apri128, 2006 STUDY METHODOLOGY Residents of Governor's Grove subdivision have registered complaints for several months to Health Department staff about their well water quality. Some of them actively participate in the Mill Creek Road area community meetings. Generally, the complaints are regarding turbidity (cloudiness of water), sediment, f xture staining and other aesthetic problems with the water in the neighborhood. There is concern among some of the residents that other development activities and the new Hillsborough Reservoir may be affecting groundwater quality in the area and thus leading to the well problems. The development has 82 lots and is located on either side of Governor Scott Road,just east of Mil] Creek Road. All of the homes are served by individual well and septic systems. Most homes were constructed in the mid to late 1990s by the land developer and are of modular construction. From a quick tax record and GIS review, it appears that the subdivision is completely built out and there are no remaining vacant lots. Given the nature of the complaints, the Division of Environmental Health Services previously recommended that concerned residents apply for bacteriological and inorganic chemical water samples, For complaints of'this nature, we generally also request the state lab test for total suspended solids and turbidity as well because they are the best indicators of high sediment levels and cloudiness, Staff offers two options for studying the water quality of this development below.. As part of the initiative and regardless of the method selected, we will also: • Survey land disturbance, • Survey any potential biosolids application activities in the areas immediately surrounding the subdivision, • Evaluate the topographical relationships of problem wells to any disturbance and also to the new reservoir. If the results show higher than expected values From the analyses or something in the field evaluation reveals an obvious problem, we will request that a hydrogeological consultant from the NC Division of Water Quality visit the area and offer guidance for further study or remediation. Stud~Methodolog, Select six homes on the corners and extremities of the neighborhood to collect bacteriological and inorganic water samples. After the sample analyses are complete, we would videotape the six wells to assess their structural integrity and adequacy and whether the well construction is contributing to the alleged water problems. The property owner' will need to consent for the videotape service and possibly provide some assistance in facilitating the process (e.g., removing well houses or pulling the pump). Staff will review all the videotapes and make recommendations based on the findings, If additional expertise is needed to evaluate the tapes, we will contact well construction experts at the state level. This approach allows staff to have a "snapshot" of the sentinel wells on the perimeter of the entire group of properties to determine if there is groundwater contamination, loss of yield or other definable outside influence problems. Study Methodoloey #2: Offer bacteriological and inorganic chemical water samples for any home in the neighborhood through a direct mailing with an application enclosed. We would then allow the residents a 10-14 day window to return Che completed application. It is possible that residents from all 82 homes would return the application, but given our recent experience in the Mill Creek area, we do not expect such a complete response. We estimate we will receive at least .30 applications from the residents if all 82 homes are part of the study group, Should we find abnormal sample results for certain parameters in the suite of samples, we will offer to videotape the wells at those affected homes to search for well construction or aquifer problems, Generally those parameters are turbidity (cloudiness of the water), suspended solids, iron and fecal coliform bacteria, As in Method #1 above, the homeowner will need to consent to and possibly participate in the well camera portion of the study if needed. GENERAL During the water sample collection visits, each resident will be provided with educational literature on wells, septic systems and other health department services, This is similar to the packets provided to others in the county during environmental education days and other specialized studies. Staff will prepare a report summarizing the activities with discussion for presentation to the community, the Board of Health and the Board of County Commissioners. COST ESTIMATES We estimate we can sample wells at 15-20 homes per staff day, The direct cost for that service is based on average salary for field Environmental Health Specialist and daily mileage, Field Field time for Report Time for Sample videotaping (2 Preparation samples kit d i Mileage ($42/hour) TOTAL ay w th Z Per @ costs staff) $32/hr Method #l (Sample and videotape six $128 240 $1,5.36 $62 $252 $2,218 wells Method #2 (Assuming a1182 applications $1,024 $.3,280 $2,560 $160 $420 $7,444 received and 10 wells videota ed