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15 <br /> 1 Tony Whitaker presented a detailed analysis of the Piney Mountain neighborhood failure, <br /> 2 describing it as 58 lots in the rural buffer permitted in 1987. After about five years, the inspection <br /> 3 authority transferred to the Orange County Health Department, which had never been involved <br /> 4 in the system's design. Upon inspection, the county discovered the system was in a terrible <br /> 5 state, finding that dispersal piping hadn't been fully installed, the repair area was unsuitable, the <br /> 6 primary area was 80 percent unsuitable soil, and there was effluent on the ground surface. The <br /> 7 county stopped issuing building permits, leading to turmoil and lawsuits. Ultimately, OWASA and <br /> 8 the City of Durham provided a public sewer connection, allowing the on-site system to be <br /> 9 abandoned. He identified five problem areas in the Piney Mountain case but emphasized two <br /> 10 "fatal flaws": soil evaluation and dispersal design that made that system unable to function. He <br /> 11 quoted the county engineer at the time who said the system "could never perform adequately <br /> 12 regardless of funds spent." Despite this, he concluded that this system and all its negative <br /> 13 experiences are not an indictment of community wastewater systems but rather an indictment of <br /> 14 bad actors who were allowed by the regulatory agency to act badly. As a counterexample, he <br /> 15 described Hardscrabble Plantation in Durham County, built in the early 1990s using the same <br /> 16 technology, but which has been in continuous successful operation since the early 1990s. He <br /> 17 also mentioned touring a commercial system in Chatham County operating successfully for 15 <br /> 18 years with twice-weekly professional oversight. <br /> 19 Commissioner Carter asked what regulations need to be in place to prevent this. <br /> 20 Tony Whitaker responded that Orange County's major subdivision procedures in the <br /> 21 UDO already require developers to stake out soil areas for dispersal, have county staff evaluate <br /> 22 them, and provide an assessment before preliminary plat applications. This would theoretically <br /> 23 solve the Piney Mountain fatal flaw problem. However, he warned that the state has been slowly <br /> 24 eroding local health departments' abilities to have anything to say about these system designs, <br /> 25 causing consternation among health department staff statewide. <br /> 26 Commissioner McKee asked about inspection requirements for the Durham County <br /> 27 example. <br /> 28 Tony Whitaker said it was a Type 6 system requiring twice-weekly inspections due to its <br /> 29 size and complexity. The company doing inspections also does soil science work, engineering <br /> 30 design, and system operation, working for both the HOA and individual commercial property <br /> 31 owners. <br /> 32 <br /> 33 Slide #20 <br /> Reflections <br /> 1. The regulatory environment for onsite wastewater systems doesn't differentiate <br /> between Individual and Community ownership status. <br /> 2. Community wastewater systems are inherently unique and customized. <br /> 3. Any Community system requires professional operational management. <br /> 4. The EOP process shifts significant regulatory functions to the private sector. <br /> 5. Current Orange County UDO procedures for Major Subdivision should prevent a <br /> repeat of the"fatal flaw"in the Piney Mountain community system. <br /> 6. Community systems present opportunities for the BOCC to shape wastewater <br /> system characteristics in ways not typically available for Individual systems. <br /> 34 <br />