Septic waste violations corrected Down East officials say DEP sludge-spreading concerns addressed

MARION TOWNSHIP – Washington County has corrected the septic waste disposal violations that were identified during last fall’s inspection by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, according to the supervisor of the unorganized territories.

Dean Preston said the county has evened out the slopes on the gravel roadways to facilitate mowing and sludge spreading, and hydroseeded the entire area to encourage the growth of grasses, rather than the weeds that led to one of the violations last year.

Uneven spreading – referred to as spot dumping – and disposing sludge on vegetation that was too tall were among the problems DEP outlined in an Aug. 31, 2001, notice of violation.

“We’ve spent a lot of money and it’s probably better looking than it’s been in 10 years,” Preston said Thursday.

Washington County constructed the septic sludge-spreading site at the county-owned Marion Landfill in 1990 because many communities were not in compliance with the state law that requires municipalities to provide for sludge disposal.

Rick Haffner of DEP’s Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, said Thursday that Preston called him immediately after he received the Aug. 31 notice of violation and that Preston promptly corrected the majority of the violations.

Haffner said he and Preston would conduct a joint inspection of the site before septage is spread this spring.

“I fully expect the site will be in compliance,” Haffner said Thursday.

Sludge spreading can begin again when the ground thaws, but DEP has reduced the maximum amount that can be spread on the county site.

Some gravel roadways that were constructed without DEP approval in 1994 have reduced the spreading area from the initial 4.84 acres to 4.2 acres, according to DEP.

Haffner said that when DEP first learned of the roads in 1995, the agency asked the then-supervisor of Washington County’s unorganized territories – Dean Preston’s father, Calvin Preston – to measure the road area, and he indicated that the roads covered 6,720 square feet.

DEP staff measured it for themselves during the Aug. 8, 2001, visit and found that the roads covered 27,761 square feet, Haffner said.

That means that 28,000 gallons of excess septage was spread on the site between 1995 and 1999, according to DEP documents.

Haffner said he issued the Aug. 31, 2001, notice of violation and reduced the amount of sludge that can be spread on the site after he and two other DEP staff people visited it Aug. 8, 2001. Haffner said they went to the county site to determine if Stephen Preston Jr. – Dean Preston’s cousin – had the technical ability to operate a septic disposal site. Stephen Preston has managed the county site since 1995 and had applied to DEP to license a site of his own, also in Marion Township.

Last week, Haffner released a draft order recommending that Stephen Preston not be issued a license because he does not have the technical ability to operate a septic disposal site.

Haffner’s draft order – which is expected to go to DEP Commissioner Martha Kirkpatrick for a final decision next week – said Stephen Preston had violated septic disposal regulations at the county site and at his proposed site by installing storage tanks without department approval and failing to implement the erosion controls he had outlined in his application.

Stephen Preston has managed the county-owned site since 1995. Dean Preston became the supervisor of the unorganized territories in 1999 when his father retired from the position.

Stephen Preston said Thursday that he intends to appeal if Kirkpatrick does not issue him a license. He said he is not responsible for the spreading violations at the county site because spreading sludge is not part of his job.

He said each septage disposal company that hauls to the site is responsible for spreading its own sludge. If the hauler deposits the sludge in a storage container during the winter months, it must return to spread the sludge in the spring, he said.

He said all he does is check the pH of the load to make sure it is acceptable and direct the hauler to the road that should be used to spread the sludge. If he notices afterward that the application was done incorrectly, he notifies the hauler the next time a delivery is made, he said.

Haffner said he has asked Stephen Preston to outline his concerns with the draft order in a letter and send it to him by next week.