Minutes - 19910107 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 1 The County Commissioners questioned the report procedure used 2 by the State in their monitoring of these systems and asked that DEM be 3 requested to furnish copies of these reports to the Health Director. 4 Commissioner Gordon asked for some comparison data on all the 5 existing systems permitted by DEM in Orange County. This would include 6 how long they have been in existence, what the failure rate is, etc. 7 With regard to package treatment plants, Commissioner 8 Willhoit asked that a list be obtained of those systems which are self 9 monitored along with the monthly reports that have been submitted to 10 DEM to see if they are in compliance. The Health Department is not 11 aware of what happens to those reports or how they are processed. They 12 do know the location of all these systems. 13 Dan Reimer reported that there are 15,000 conventional 14 systems, 400 residential low pressure pipe systems, 20 engineered 15 systems, 40 non-single family dwelling systems, and six sludge disposal 16 sites in Orange County. 17 Dr. Bob Rubin, North Carolina State University, reviewed the 18 history, technology and reliability of alternative waste treatment 19 systems. He explained that the design criteria are how big the pipe 20 must be and how much water you have to get from here to there. 21 Performance criteria are protecting public health and environmental 22 quality in the County. He stated that the systems need to be monitored 23 more than four times a year to determine if a system is operating 24 properly. There must be some reliability and efficiency function built 25 into the design criteria. Flexibility must be built into waste 26 treatment systems. It is costly to design a system properly and to 27 install the system properly. It is costly to monitor and maintain these 28 systems if it is done properly. The first thing done when a permit is 29 obtained from the state is that a request is made for a wasteload 30 allocation. That wasteload allocation tells the design engineer what 31 level of treatment is required and that level of treatment is determined 32 by the quality of the receiving stream. The next step is to identify 33 pretreatment processes that would meet those limits. The design 34 engineer would then develop for that client an operation and maintenance 35 manual. All the systems that discharge to surface water require a 36 certified operator. The certification of that operator is dependant 37 upon the level of complexity of the treatment plant. The operator must 38 have a monitoring report to the State every month. He stated that every 39 county which utilizes type one through type six systems is going to be 40 required to have in place some kind of management entity to insure that 41 those systems are operated properly. With reference to risk management, 42 he stated that there are potential problems with every type of system. 43 He explained in detail some of these problems. To maximize risk 44 management techniques, the County can, when making inspections, look for 45 poor drainage, check pump levels, controls, etc. , and use preventive 46 maintenance. The County needs to have in place a spill control plan. 47 With reference to the Memorandum of Understanding he will provide to the 48 County Commissioners an educational package with what should be included 49 in a typical Memorandum of Understanding with the state. A workplan 50 also needs to be developed. The County would specify how they will do 51 what they say they are going to do in the Memorandum. 52 Commissioner Willhoit requested that someone be sent to