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15 <br /> Tony Whitaker presented a detailed analysis of the Piney Mountain neighborhood failure, <br /> describing it as 58 lots in the rural buffer permitted in 1987. After about five years, the inspection <br /> authority transferred to the Orange County Health Department, which had never been involved in <br /> the system's design. Upon inspection, the county discovered the system was in a terrible state, <br /> finding that dispersal piping hadn't been fully installed, the repair area was unsuitable, the primary <br /> area was 80 percent unsuitable soil, and there was effluent on the ground surface. The county <br /> stopped issuing building permits, leading to turmoil and lawsuits. Ultimately, OWASA and the City <br /> of Durham provided a public sewer connection, allowing the on-site system to be abandoned. He <br /> identified five problem areas in the Piney Mountain case but emphasized two "fatal flaws": soil <br /> evaluation and dispersal design that made that system unable to function. He quoted the county <br /> engineer at the time who said the system "could never perform adequately regardless of funds <br /> spent." Despite this, he concluded that this system and all its negative experiences are not an <br /> indictment of community wastewater systems but rather an indictment of bad actors who were <br /> allowed by the regulatory agency to act badly. As a counterexample, he described Hardscrabble <br /> Plantation in Durham County, built in the early 1990s using the same technology, but which has <br /> been in continuous successful operation since the early 1990s. He also mentioned touring a <br /> commercial system in Chatham County operating successfully for 15 years with twice-weekly <br /> professional oversight. <br /> Commissioner Carter asked what regulations need to be in place to prevent this. <br /> Tony Whitaker responded that Orange County's major subdivision procedures in the UDO <br /> already require developers to stake out soil areas for dispersal, have county staff evaluate them, <br /> and provide an assessment before preliminary plat applications. This would theoretically solve <br /> the Piney Mountain fatal flaw problem. However, he warned that the state has been slowly eroding <br /> local health departments' abilities to have anything to say about these system designs, causing <br /> consternation among health department staff statewide. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked about inspection requirements for the Durham County <br /> example. <br /> Tony Whitaker said it was a Type 6 system requiring twice-weekly inspections due to its <br /> size and complexity. The company doing inspections also does soil science work, engineering <br /> design, and system operation, working for both the HOA and individual commercial property <br /> owners. <br /> Slide #20 <br /> Reflections <br /> L 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 />