Flathead County Commissioners Adopt New Septic Regulations
The new regulations and construction standards allow property owners to install gravity-fed septic systems, which the county has not permitted since 2004
By Zoë Buhrmaster
Flathead County Commissioners approved a new set of septic regulations and construction standards that specifically allows for the installation of gravity-fed septic systems. Since 2004, the county has only permitted pressurized, or “pressure dosed,” septic systems to move wastewater to the drain field.
“If a system is installed properly, and is maintained properly, they’re both going to do their job,” Commissioner Pam Holmquist said. “I don’t think there’s documented evidence that pressure dosed has been any better really than gravity anywhere else if you maintain it.”
Before the proposed changes reached the commissioners’ desks, Flathead City-County Health Board officials spent the past 18 months reviewing the existing septic standards with the goal of making the process easier for the public and county health department staff, said Don Barnhart, the chair of the health board.
Health board officials initially looked at matching the county’s standards with those adopted by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), although the county’s attorney advised health officials to draft their own regulations, Barnhart said. Health board officials still drew from DEQ’s standards, including a clause to allow gravity-fed systems.
DEQ permits both gravity septic systems, which rely on gravity to distribute effluent to a treatment field, and pressure dosing systems, which discharge effluent periodically to a field via a pump.
“Dosing outperforms gravity-flow systems because distribution is more uniform, controlled, and can be used in any applications,” according to the DEQ regulations. “Pressure dosed distribution should be the method of choice whenever possible.”
Health board officials voted at the end of February to adopt the new regulations and construction standards, save for Barnhart. Officials said that the new standards would continue to prioritize pressure dosing systems, while giving property owners options based on what works for them and their property. The heath board forwarded the changes to the county commissioners for final approval.
At Tuesday’s public hearing, several people spoke against adding gravity systems, including representatives from local groups Citizens for a Better Flathead (CBF), Flathead Lakers and the Upper Flathead Lake Neighborhood Association. Including written public comment, commissioners received more than 75 comments opposing the changes, citing Flathead Valley’s high groundwater table and the growing number of failing and at-risk septic tanks in the valley, as well as the potential for increased impacts to impaired streams.
Seeking a compromise, Barnhart proposed a process that would afford property owners with unique circumstances, or those without power, to apply for a deviation from the pressurized standard while still requiring administrative approval.
“If you have a good enough reason that you need to have a gravity [system], you could bring that forward with an application to the environmental health office, take a look at that and then it could be administered administratively,” Barnhart said.
Mayre Flowers with CBF presented commissioners with a seven-page document that cited findings in the Flathead-Stillwater Watershed Restoration Plan, which the Flathead Conservation District published to convey the impact of septic leachate on impaired streams in the county. She argued that because pressure systems outperform gravity systems, they would lessen the potential impact on already impaired streams.
After the commissioners called a 90-minute recess to review the public comments, Commissioner Holmquist pointed out that the findings from Flathead Conservation District identify septic failure as one factor among a range of potential issues impacting stream quality, including soil erosion, temperature, and livestock.
“It’s in there, but it’s not necessarily the main problem,” Holmquist said.
Citing a Google search, Commissioner Randy Brodehl pointed to cost disparities between the two systems, with pressure dosing systems running $6,000 to $8,000 more than a gravity-fed apparatus.
“For new families that are trying to get out of an apartment and move into a three-bedroom, one- or two-bath house, $6,000 plus the maintenance costs every year would impact their ability to make a decision between whether they live in an apartment or live in a house,” Brodehl said.
The commissioners unanimously approved the new regulations.