Date: Fri 12-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewers-DEP-septic-systems

Full Text:

Financial Aid Available For Failing Septic Systems

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Residential property owners living outside the sewer district who have failing

septic systems may be eligible for financial aid to help them repair or

replace those septic systems.

The town has received word the state Department of Environmental Protection

(DEP) has endorsed a town proposal to earmark a small portion of the $34.2

million in town sewer funding to make septic system repairs and replacements.

Participants would receive subsidized loans and small grants to help them fix

their failing septic systems.

Voters at an upcoming but as-yet unscheduled town meeting would have to

approve town participation in a septic system improvement program for the

loans and grants to be made.

Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) Chairman Peter Alagna said April 9 he

hopes a town meeting on the program can be conducted within two months. Mr

Alagna said he doesn't foresee such a program being rejected at a town

meeting.

The town already has established procedures that residents can take to apply

for financial aid, he said.

"We're pleased...We're delighted," Mr Alagna said of WPCA members' response to

DEP's endorsement of the septic system repair program.

Mr Alagna estimated that the average septic system repair project covered by

the program could cost $10,000 to $12,000. More than 50 failing septic systems

lying outside the sewer district could be helped by the program, he said.

Septic system owners who participate would be required to adhere to various

regulations, including the regular pumping of septic tanks to keep them

functioning properly.

In a letter to Mr Alagna, William R. Hogan, of DEP's bureau of water

management, writes that the town is eligible for $660,000 in federal money for

participation in the septic system program.

"(A) septic system management program will be implemented townwide, whereas

the on-site septic system repair program only will be implemented where it is

shown those repairs will achieve long-terms solutions, thereby avoiding the

need for sewers," Mr Hogan wrote to Mr Alagna.

"The use of (federal) Clean Water Fund monies for the repair of on-site septic

systems...will be limited to those repairs completed by October 31, 1997,"

according to Mr Hogan.

Participants will receive a federally subsidized loan at a two percent

interest rate, as well as a grant covering a minimum of 10 percent of septic

system repair costs, according to Mr Alagna.

The DEP serves as the US Environmental Protection Agency's agent in

determining appropriate uses for Clean Water Funds. The money typically is

used for building sewer systems.

Portions of program funding will be available based on financial need, as well

as on a first-come, first-served basis.

The DEP has never before used the Clean Water Funds for local sewer avoidance,

septic system management and on-site septic system repairs, according to Mr

Hogan.

"The decision to do so has been made with reservations and the DEP will not

allow this to be precedent-setting," according to Mr Hogan.

For the past two years, WPCA members have been investigating using the Clean

Water Funds for septic system repair and replacement.

The town's evolving septic system management program, also known as the sewer

avoidance program, is a body of anti-pollution policies and regulations that

the town will observe and enforce to ensure that the need for municipal

sanitary sewers doesn't expand beyond the area already planned for sewering.

People taking part in the septic system repair/replacement program must meet

various requirements on eligibility and participation.

The density of residential development in an area that needs septic system

improvements will be a major factor in determining which properties will

qualify for the loan subsidy program, according to Peter Grose, sewering

project director for Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's consulting civil

engineers.

Town Sanitarian Martha Wright has said several property owners already have

said they want to participate in the septic system repair program. Some of the

property owners have partially repaired their failing septic systems to keep

the systems operable until the property owners can take part in the loan

subsidy program, she said.

People interested in participating in the septic system program may contact

the health department on the lower level of Town Hall South, 3 Main Street,

according to Mr Alagna.

The town is installing a sewer system to rectify longstanding groundwater

pollution problems posed by failing septic systems in the Borough, Taunton

Lake North and Sandy Hook Center. The septic system repair and replacement

project for septic systems outside the sewer district would complement the

sewer system construction project in controlling groundwater pollution.