tProtection of aquifer from legal challenge and new environmental threats discussed

At the Aug. 12 County Council meeting on Orcas Island, County Senior Planner Colin Maycock asked the council to approve an ordinance adopting the Eastsound sewer plan, an update until 2023 for the County Comprehensive Plan, as required by the Growth Hearings Board’s requirements for compliance with the Growth Management Act (GMA).

Maycock advised that the capital facilities plan presented by the Eastsound Sewer and Water District (ESWD) to the county shows that the Eastsound Urban Growth Area (UGA) would be served with the plan.

During the public hearing, ESWD Commissioner Ed Sutton said, “I’m relieved that we’ve gotten to this point in the GMA process so we can move on.” He added that he hoped the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) would assist the sewer district financially; “It’s an expensive project to get into compliance.

Sutton described ESWD plans that would eliminate the need to haul solid waste off the island, instead converting it into topsoil, and that would study septic density in an effort to protect the Eastsound aquifer recharge area, located right within the Eastsound UGA.

Sutton also said that the ESWD currently operates on one-half acre, and will need to expand its physical space.

Fred Klein brought up the Bartell Road sewer lines that are outside the UGA, describing them as an “anomaly” where land is provided with an urban level of service outside a UGA. Klein said that there was only one other instance in the state where non-urban growth areas had existing sewer lines, and suggested such service may be challenged by the Growth Hearings Board.

Former County Commissioner John Evans said, “Septic systems pollute, period…. The more septic systems, the more the eventual rate of pollution in the aquifer.” Evans said that it doesn’t make sense to limit the development of infrastructure outside the UGA or for allowing increased density within the UGA without a requirement to hook up to its sewer system.

“By not allowing essential services outside the UGA, you are creating an environmental and public safety problem,” Evans said. He urged the County Council to work with the Governor and the Legislature to modify the GMA and address its limitations.

Evans also noted that basic septic systems don’t treat the pharmaceuticals and chemicals that are ever more frequently flowing through to the aquifer. Council members weighed in on this new development in waste treatment, and Alan Lichter asked what was the advantage of hooking into a sewer system if it wasn’t designed to treat such chemicals.

Jack Corey, a registered on-site septic designer said that the advantages to having waste treated by a sewer system was that all a community’s waste was collected in one area, and could be treated uniformly rather than through random systems.

ESWD Commissioner Mike Stolmeier said that the equivalent of 750 residential units are served by the ESWD’s system of collection, treatment and monitoring. “Septic [drain] fields are highly variable in performance, depending on rainfall and temperature. It’s affordable to the community to extend lines and offer services.”

Upon questioning by Council Member Kevin Ranker, Stolmeier explained that the GMA prohibits extending urban levels of service – such as sewer lines – outside UGAs.

Sutton said that the Critical Areas Ordinance committee is addressing the problem, and that removal of the prohibition on on-site testing by the ESWD and a moratorium on septic tanks outside the UGA would be helpful.

Before Maycock’s presentation, County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord advised that public comment be continued for another week before the council made their final decision, due to an error in public hearing notices sent out by the County.