BOURNE – Health officials are preparing for a possible upgrade of the state’s Title 5 law, which governs septic systems, next January.
The change would require property-by-property testing of septic systems on disabled watershed such as Squeteague / Megansett at Cataumet and Phinneys Harbor on Monument Beach where water quality needs to be improved by state and federal standards.
Health agent Terri Guarino said her office can conduct systematic septic inspections in critical areas as long as it remains fully staffed. The board of health president Stanley Andrews said he anticipated a concentrated septic effort and a defining time for the health bureau.
Andrews said a new and consistent Title 5 law would remain a distinct option at the end of the year, if only because of the Conservation Law Foundation’s lawsuit against the state Department of the Environment, Barnstable and Mashpee.
Health office expect new Title 5 to increase workload
Andrews said he expects major elements in a new law that will require attention, structure and organization when property owners realize what they will face. See the article : Take off with Liebherr electronics: high-tech drones from Quantum-Systems – The Business of Drones.
“We have to see,” Andrews said on June 22 during a Title 5 conversation. “Laws are written and not voted on or they change from what is first proposed, that happens. But this is a distinct possibility, and there would also be (septic system) review north of the canal as well; at Buttermilk Bay but probably not Sagamore Beach.
Andrews and Guarino said the highlights of the new Title 5 law will help cities come up with appropriate plans in place to combat impacts and critical nitrogen-sensitive water damage and correct polluted issues such as old and inadequate septic systems, as well as Cesspools officially as ” Errors “are declared.
Some coastal owners have in recent years been willing to install new reinforced treatment septic systems and others have installed systems called “add-ons”, Andrews said.
Guarino, however, warned some properties with functioning septic systems, which were installed in the early 1980s and today function adequately, do not include so-called “add-ons”.
Title 5 upgrade could mean added costs
The costs involved in any widespread need for new septic facilities will be high, but there will likely be subsidies available “for people with needs” and a waiver procedure would be introduced for some properties, Andrews said. On the same subject : Title IX: How the Next Generation of Black and Brown Athletes Are Working for More Diversity in Sport.
The board should meet with selection / sewerage commissioners to discuss the next step in the fight against nitrogen impacts and to consider advances in septic system design as well as the financial aspects of system upgrades, Andrews said.
President-elect Peter Meier on June 23 acknowledged Andrews’ concerns. Commenting on the understanding of new septic technologies and the improvement of the coastline, he said, “it will be interesting” as far as the community acceptance of a new law is concerned “and the funding to help the people.”
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The Bourne Wastewater Advisory Committee, meanwhile, has been reviewing water hazards, documented by Environmental Partners, the city’s wastewater advisor. Members evaluated community acceptance factors for ultimate septic change.
Members evaluate the state-of-the-art septic system design that may be appropriate for geographically extensively affected water bodies based on property conditions, location, density, distance from salt water and ponds, environmental needs and costs as well as political feasibility and community acceptance for new septic implementation.
Such factors come into play when you consider a need for expensive innovative alternative (IA) septic systems, the less expensive alternative systems and cluster systems that are suitable for new or smaller subdivisions or groupings of up to six houses.
