It’s tempting to characterize opponents of the City/County Health Department’s proposed ordinance on wastewater systems to be as full of crap as the Illinois River and nearby Kickapoo Creek, both of which are considered by the state EPA, the Illinois State Water Survey and IDOT to be in poor condition due to human waste and other fecal coliform pollution.
But maybe County Board’s March 14 vote to postpone implementation of the months-long proposal was stampeded into delay by a mix of media manipulation and misinformation.
For instance, WMBD-TV 31 in news teasers that night stressed that the new ordinance “could cost you” (rather than “may protect public health”), and the Journal Star in stories before the Board meeting presented concerns of the Home Builders Association of Greater Peoria expressed in a Feb. 20 open letter that had been asked-and-answered by the Health Dept., but featured little rebuttal from advocates.
(The daily paper in a “Word on the Street” item by Chris Kaergard on March 18 was more even-handed, accurately noting that a Realtors complaint that stakeholders had been excluded from the process was, well, BS.)
This month – as a Clean Water Celebration occurs in the Civic Center Exhibit Hall on Earth Day April 22 – everyday people should share with the County Board the idea that septic systems should, well, WORK.
The proposal would establish the county’s authority to regulate Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems to prevent the transmission of disease, environmental contamination, and nuisances resulting from the improper treatment of domestic sewage. In other words, it would protect against public health hazards from malfunctioning septic systems.
Hardly crazy.
Nevertheless, misinformation engineered through exaggeration came from builders, Realtors and rural representatives like County Board member Brian Elsasser (R-Dist. 14), all of whom accused the county of acting in secrecy, harming home sales, making the county less competitive, and costing residents.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” said Wil Hayes, the county’s Director of Environmental Health. “However, there will be no fee increase – it’s staying the same – and it actually relaxes some regulations, such as those concerning chamber systems.
“Septic systems are like furnaces or sump pumps,” he continued. “All systems fail eventually. This would protect people from imminent public hazards due to failed systems.”
The claim that repairing or replacing broken septic systems would cost the homeowner also misses the point that any homeowners whose property is dangerous or has a serious problem – from unsafe wiring to termites – would have to pay to address such problems.
“A new septic system may be more expensive than one put in decades ago,” Hayes said. “But it may be cheaper, too [due to better technology].”
And the assertion that people with an interest in the outcome weren’t considered is ridiculous.
County Board member Lynn Scott Pearson (D-Dist. 3) said, “I take offense that we have not sought input from the public and from stakeholders,” she said, reciting a few of the many meetings, seminars, hearings and press releases issued since work on the measure started – last summer.
“People have had adequate opportunities for input,” she said. “The home builders’ suggestions were heard; they just weren’t all incorporated into the final draft.”
Peoria Area Association of Realtors member Jeff Kolbus said “Let the stakeholders help write the document” and claimed that the new law would put Peoria at a competitive disadvantage – despite a comparable law already in effect in Tazewell County and the state of Illinois considering a statewide version.
Further, people with a stake in functioning septic systems include not just builders and Realtors. What about residents who expect human sewage to be treated instead of leaking? What about fishermen, boaters and others who use the Illinois River? And what about people who BUY homes as well as sell them?
Inspections of homes on the market routinely include inspections for termites, radon and, if the property has them, water wells, oil tanks and septic systems.
That’s just common sense as well as what County Board member Allen Mayer (D-Dist. 6) described as “a matter of public health.”
If business people object to inspections for faulty septic systems because of cost –
Elsasser quoted a township official as saying we need “less regulation and more education” – does that philosophy pertain to all inspections? What about food?
Shall the county eliminate restaurant inspections because they cost money and have expectations of sanitary conditions? Can you say botulism, or E. coli?
Accusations that the county was overstepping its authority or couldn’t present statistics on the number of failed systems are silly, too.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has said, “County Health Departments regulate septic systems and have any information on failing ones. There are systems that are not reported as failing or are discharging illegally to waters, so it is very difficult to account for these.”
Nevertheless, in Peoria, the proposal was sent back to a “work-study group” made up of mostly Realtors, builders, and septic system professionals, with other participants including a health department staffer and representatives from the Farm Bureau, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, an unnamed environmental group, and the Lake Camelot subdivision.
Mayer initially took issue with the composition of the ad hoc committee.
“We should not protect special industry interest groups but the public health,” he said, before it was agreed that anyone could attend the committee’s open meetings.
Meanwhile, the other, more defined, fecal coliform keeps flowing.
Fecal coliform is bacteria found in the feces of people and other warm-blooded animals; it’s an indicator of water contamination. In Kickapoo Creek – which runs in Peoria County from near Elmwood past Wildlife Prairie Park to Bartonville, where it flows into the Illinois River across from Fort Creve Coeur – it’s bad and getting worse, according to the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS). The ISWS shows that Kickapoo Creek’s fecal coliform contributions to the Illinois River in the county are higher than any source during wet weather, and second only to combined sewer overflow in dry weather.
The County Board should recognize all of its constituents, not just powerful interests, and help protect the public from preventable hazards tied to septic tanks instead of Kicka-pooping on us all.
Contact Bill at:
Bill.Knight@hotmail.com; his twice-weekly columns are archived at: billknightcolumn.blogspot.com