Phil Bondurant is from Henderson, Nev.

Henderson, Nev., native Phil Bondurant is the Summit County Health Department's new Environmental Health Director. Bondurant previously worked for health departments in Richfield, Ut., and Las Vegas, Nev. (Aaron Osowski/Park Record)

Phil Bondurant has worked for one of the largest health departments in the country and for one of the smallest, and he thinks Summit County suits him just fine. Bondurant was recently brought on as the Summit County Health Department's new Environmental Health Director and is excited for what he sees as the county being "on the cusp" of becoming a larger health department.

"In my opinion, environmental health always has to be proactive," Bondurant said. "My main focus is I always try to earn my keep from an organizational as well as a taxpayer standpoint. They pay to have clean air and clean water."

Bondurant, who is from Henderson, Nev., is taking over for the retired Bob Swensen. He has worked for nine years with the Southern Nevada Health District in Las Vegas, Nev., and previously worked as Director for Environmental Health for the Central Utah Public Health Department in Richfield, Ut.

Bringing sewer to county residents with outdated or malfunctioning septic systems is one of the main goals of the Health Dept. going forward. The department has also brought on an environmental consultant who will assist with on-site wastewater inspections for all new septic systems under 5,000 gallons.

"There have been some [septic] systems that have failed to the point of, 'Whose fault is it?' The installer? The county?" Bondurant said. "We're working on bringing sewer to a lot of outlying areas that are on septic systems. It's part of a push being sought nationwide."

The two most important areas of focus for the Health Department, Bondurant said, are air and water quality, based on residents' concerns and the Summit County Council's goals. Being proactive on air quality is helped by the fact that conditions in Salt Lake City can often be expected to have an impact on Summit County.

"As this county grows, people need to understand that the ozone and PM (particulate matter) 2.5 air quality concerns are not entirely the fault of Salt Lake," Bondurant said. "There is a certain component [of pollution] caused in Summit County."

PM2.5 is the primary winter pollutant, while ozone poses more of a threat in the summer. Bondurant said the Health Department's campaigns such as an anti-idling ordinance and "check engine" light awareness are crucial. Check engine lights almost always mean an emissions problem with a vehicle and the Health Dept. will work with mechanics to make motorists aware of the issue.

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Health Dept. has new Environmental Health Director

David Watson, a senior biology student at Metro State, measures the water flow of Bear Creek during a water quality testing project on Feb. 28, 2014, in Sheridan,. (Anya Semenoff, Your Hub)

David Watson, a senior biology student at Metropolitan State University of Denver, measures the water temperature at Bear Creek on Feb. 28 in Sheridan. Spearheaded by Groundwork Denver, a water-quality study being conducted along the length of lower Bear Creek aims to ascertain the level and behavior of E. coli in the water. (Anya Semenoff, YourHub)

Four years after high levels of E. coli bacteria were first detected in lower Bear Creek, the public will finally get a chance to see the plan for cleaning it up.

A draft of the plan is expected to be completed this month and will receive input from the community and other stakeholders before being sent to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment this summer.

Eighteen months ago, nine people representing Lakewood, Denver and Sheridan the communities through which the creek flows formed a steering committee to review available water-quality data, devise strategies and write a watershed plan to improve water quality in the creek. The plan is the result of their efforts, said Rachel Hansgen, program manager with Groundwork Denver. The local nonprofit got a grant in 2012 from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to spearhead the effort to clean the 8.2-mile stretch of creek that runs from the east end of Bear Creek Reservoir to its confluence with the South Platte River.

"The state of Colorado has identified that any water body with E. coli contamination has a priority for cleanup," she said. "Right now we're only looking at coliform fecal bacteria, which is a marker bacteria that reflects the presence of fecal matter in water."

The levels found in the creek in 2010 exceeded the standards set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for recreational water bodies. People have since been warned to be cautious about swimming, fishing or wading in the creek.

Last summer, the steering committee worked with the EPA at 12 in-stream locations and sampled water twice a month.

The monthly average surpassed Colorado's limit of 126 colony forming units of E. coli that is the threshold for swimming water, said John Novick, an environmental scientist at Denver Department of Environmental Health.

The source of the contamination is unclear. Hansgen said it could be anything from minute leaks in sewer lines, runoff from pet and wildlife waste or septic systems that aren't properly cleaning the water.

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Public to weigh in on plan to clean up E. coli in lower Bear Creek

A sustainable, energy-producing toilet for developing countries has meant a flood of phone calls--and an investment from Bill Gates

Caltech/Michael Hoffmann

Since word got out that Michael Hoffmann and a team of his students had developed a state-of-the-art, sustainable, energy-producing toilet for rural, developing countries, his phone has begun to ring much more frequently.

Hoffmann, a California Institute of Technology professor, was the team leader for Caltech's winning entry into the Bill and Melinda Gates contest to invent a more sustainable toilet. He and his team of six developed a flushing toilet that sanitizes the water and produces hydrogen from human waste to create electricity. One upshot was a $100,000 prize.

Another result was the callers, who are not always the kind one would expect. Some are American cabin owners who live off the electric grid. Others are owners of luxury apartment buildings in India. Others are developers in China, home to a middle class that is expanding much faster than the nation's sewer systems.

"There's a broad-scale interest," Hoffmann said. "There are much bigger markets out there."

While World Toilet Organization founder Jack Sim called improving access to sanitation in the developing world the "cheapest preventative medicine in the world" at the World Economic Forum on Africa in May, the cause has not been advancing as quickly as some think it should.

The seventh of the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals is to cut the number of people living without access to clean water in half between 1990 and 2015. So far, 2 billion people have better access to clean water, but the world is still off track to the goal, according to the latest World Health Organization report on sanitation. It is unlikely to reach it in the next three years.

While China and India have made great strides in providing access to sanitation by decreasing the rate of open defecation, sub-Saharan Africa and most of South Asia lag behind.

One answer to an urgent question Many of these regions also face diminishing water resources in the face of more severe droughts caused by climate change. Waterless toilets do exist but can be less sanitary and, for obvious reasons, much less pleasant.

Link:
Build a Better Toilet to Get Rich and Popular

ANGEL FIRE The village of Angel Fire could get more much-needed water supplies upon completion of certain documentation up to two decades past due, the State Engineers Office reported last week.

The village requested a variety of water consumption credits through a return-flow report filed with the State Engineers Office in 2005. The report suggests the village should be allowed to take more from its wells because much of the water used by the municipality returns to the ecosystem as a result of snow-making, land applications, septic discharge, golf-course irrigation, waterline breaks and waterline leaks.

In a letter delivered to Angel Fire Manager M. Jay Mitchell last week, however, Sheldon Dorman of the State Engineers Office wrote the village will not be eligible for any water credits until the municipality files a variety of documentation that should have been submitted from 1992-2013.

Among the missing documents are 23 well-completion reports due Nov. 30, 1992, a well-completion report due Dec. 30, 2008, and proof of beneficial water use due Oct. 31, 2013, Dorman wrote. Another well-completion report is due March 31 of this year, he wrote.

Dorman also wrote that the only water credits available to the village are for snow-making and sewer discharge.

It is recommended that credit for return flow for golf course irrigation, septic tanks, land application and unaccounted water such as leakage will not be granted to the Village of Angel Fire, a memo from the State Engineers Office states.

Although Angel Fires return-flow report suggests 79 percent of its water used for snow-making returns to the ecosystem, the memo states the villages snow-making credit would be based on an analysis for the Santa Fe Ski Company. Angel Fire Resort used an average of 84.24 acre-feet of the villages water for snow-making during each of the last three winter seasons, according to municipal records.

If the Santa Fe study came back and actually showed that theres a higher level of evaporation or something like that, it might be a lower (credit), Mitchell said.

Through the sewer-discharge credit, Mitchell said, the village would be allowed to use an additional acre-foot of water for every acre-foot of effluent released into the Cineguilla Creek. Although the village has the ability and permits to discharge about 1,120 acre-feet of water into the creek each year, the municipality released an average of only 63.08 acre-feet during each of the last six years.

This is why we need to get more people hooked up on our sewage system. We dont get septic credit. Its metered, so anything we process, clean and discharge, we get one-for-one credit on it, Mitchell said. ...Out of just roughly over 1,800 water customers that the village has, weve only got 389 that are on our sewer system.

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Sangre Chronicle > Archives > Angel Fire > Much-needed Angel Fire water credits hinge on missing documents

AUBURN | Three water scientists shared their knowledge Saturday of the current status of Owasco Lake, the local body of water that supplies drinking water, aesthetic beauty and recreational opportunities.

Sponsored by numerous organizations, The State of Owasco Lake symposium reviewed environmental and economic impacts on the lake and its users regarding occurrences of phosphorus, algae and disinfection byproducts.

John Halfman, along with two officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, led off the three-hour event in the Irene A. Bisgrove Community Theatre at Cayuga Community College.

His presentation "The Trophic Status of Owasco Lake," focused on phosphorus in the lake's watershed. The nutrient manifests both naturally and via manmade routes, such as through agricultural runoff. Phosphorus proliferation, particularly in shallow waters, is the basis for growth of algae blooms. Algae is preventable and can be costly, he said.

"The cleaner the lake the less you have to filter it, and filtering costs money," he said.

A professor in the geoscience department and environmental studies program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Halfman also leads the Finger Lakes Institute.

"Will I swim in the lake? Yes. Does it need to improve? Yes," he said.

Citizen groups, he said, make a difference in how municipalities fare financially when the time comes to make potable water available for public use. He pointed to the effective efforts of residents and users of Skaneateles Lake, the drinking water source for the City of Syracuse, at staving off water maintenance costs.

"By keeping that water clean they've saved millions, if not billions, in costs for Syracuse," he said.

Wastewater treatment plants, farmers and lake residents all play a part in Owasco Lake's health. Significant steps were made when the water treatment plant in Groton cleaned up its facility's operation several years ago, and more recently soil and water groups are working with area farmers to manage agricultural runoff, Halfman said.

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Forum sheds light on Owasco Lake status

Kimogener Point on the Bay off New Suffolk Avenue earlier this year. (Barbaraellen Koch file photo)

Protecting our surface and ground water is Long Islands public issue number one. The Long Island Clean Water Partnership has done a great job in increasing public and political awareness. But we must avoid the trap of oversimplifying both the problem and the solutions.

Any campaign has three elements: awareness, education and action. Awareness has been raised. Now the hard work, education, has to begin. Education involves inclusive public discussion, scientific debate and a broad coalition on how best to move forward.

Today, everythings a 10-second sound bite. However, using sound bites to explain proposed solutions can be harmful to long-term success. For example, in County Executive Steve Bellones recent public talks on the water issue, he and others read from the same script weve heard over and over again. We deserve more than that. We need more than that.

We need full information to make informed decisions.

Take Mr. Bellones main proposal to solve our water problems: prioritize areas with failing septic systems, identify those near existing sewer systems and extend the sewers to those properties. Interesting concept until you look a little deeper.

Now putting priority properties, especially waterfront lots, onto a municipal sewer system will remove nitrogen from septic systems and from leeching into our waters. This is good. But think about this a little more. In Long Islands history, when you extend sewer systems, high-density residential and commercial development follows. Always has. Always will. So what problems do extended sewer systems and more development add to our current water problems?

Many.

First problem is the sewers themselves. Septic systems work by seeping wastewater back into the ground. As the water moves through the soil, it filters out and reduces the concentration of nitrogen and other elements. In areas of high density too many homes and people on too little land the ground becomes over-saturated with septic output, thus the filtering of nitrogen and other elements is impaired. Sewers solve that problem, to some degree.

Most of Long Islands municipal sewage treatment plants, and the smaller community systems which feed into them, take wastewater from the sewers, treat it and pump the resulting effluent into the Sound, bays or the ocean. While this prevents nitrogen from entering the ground, it also means all of that sewered water is removed from the recharge cycle. In other words, instead of returning a large portion of the water we use back to the water table and deeper aquifers, its diverted to our surrounding bodies of salt water.

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Guest Column: Nothing simple about our water crisis

Cowlitz County issued a septic pumpers license to Joanne Caldwell last week, just a month after it revoked the pumpers license of her husband, All-Out Sewer & Drain owner Ray Caldwell, following his conviction of 33 federal felonies.

I cant bar her from having a license since there is no evidence that she participated in any crime, county Environmental Health Manager Chris Bischoff said Thursday.

Ray Caldwell was convicted Dec. 16 in U.S. District Court of illegally dumping into the city of Longviews sewer system the septage waste All-Out Sewer collected from customers. A federal judge found Caldwell guilty on all 33 counts: 25 felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act, six counts of mail fraud and two counts of making false statements.

In addition to the illegal dumping, Caldwell had been accused of grossly underreporting the amount of septage he collected from customers and pocketing the 6-cent-per-gallon disposal surcharge instead of giving it to the county.

The county notified Caldwell in January that it was pulling his license. He has appealed the decision.

Meanwhile, county officials want to take a more active role in regulating septic business and enforcing the rules to prevent a similar situation from occurring, Bischoff said.

When the county first wrote its septic business regulations, we never conceived of a situation like that surrounding All-Out, Bischoff said. So we were sort of hamstrung by the way the rules were written.

The county is looking at other jurisdictions that have more active enforcement practices and meeting with local septic professionals about adopting additional oversight, he said.

Some of them really want a lot (of oversight) and others dont want much, Bischoff said, adding that he didnt want to be oppressive.

However, he said, Were not even inspecting their sites or really auditing their records, and maybe those are some things we want to do.

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Ray Caldwell's wife gets license to pump septic

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Corrales has two general obligation bonds on the ballot on March 4, both raising funds to assist property owners who choose to connect into Corrales existing Septic Tank Effluent Pumping sewer system. It is important that voters understand that the villages STEP sewer is already in place and operational, with some village properties already hooked in. The vote on the bond questions will have no impact on whether or not the village has an operating sewer system. That decision was made years ago, including yes votes on funding for the STEP system by all current village councilors and for full disclosure, by me when I was on the council.

The bond questions on the ballot are not a referendum on whether the village should have a sewer or whether the STEP system is the best option.

So, why are there G.O. bond questions on the ballot?

Because hooking in to the STEP sewer system will be the only affordable option for many small lots in Corrales to comply with New Mexico Environmental Department regulations. Lots that are 3/4 of an acre or smaller are no longer permitted to discharge on-site from a septic tank.

The village will not require properties to hook in to the STEP sewer, and NMED has accepted the villages position not requiring mandatory hook-ins. But NMED will require a permit for all septic systems for a transfer of title (a sale or inheritance), a remodel of the property, or to replace a failed system. The small lots will not be issued a permit for a conventional septic system, and owners will have few options for compliance, such as a very expensive ($17,000 -plus) individual Advanced Treatment Unit. And for some lots, a unit may not fit on the site due to the required 100-foot separation from existing wells.

The bond questions raise funds as a community to offer property owners affordable access to the village STEP sewer system by establishing a zero-interest loan fund and by extending transmission lines into neighborhoods with clusters of small lots. Many of these neighborhoods are older subdivisions established before village incorporation, and deserve community support to solve the NMED compliance issues.

A no vote on the bonds will not change the fact that someday all small lot owners will confront the costs of NMED compliance. I urge voters not to punish the small lot owners because of continuing opposition to the controversial STEP sewer decision. Clean water is a community responsibility, and together we can share the burden of keeping our ground water clean, rather than abandon those with small lots to bear the costs alone.

All of Corrales benefits by protecting the water quality in the village from contamination known to be caused by densely located leaching fields. We protect our property values by ensuring that Corrales is known for clean water, not for contaminated wells.

I will vote yes on Bonds 1 and 2.

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Yes on bonds supports small-lot owners

Published: Friday, February 21, 2014 at 6:30 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 10:36 p.m.

It was encouraging to see that at least 200 water advocates from around the state, including Ocala/Marion County, rallied Tuesday in Tallahassee. They need to keep up the pressure to prevent a much smaller group from weakening or killing legislation to protect our imperiled springs.

The Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee held a workshop Thursday on draft springs legislation. The measure would create protection areas around springs where homeowners would be required to upgrade septic tanks or hook up to sewer systems. The work would be funded with about $378 million per year from existing fees paid when real estate is sold.

A workshop last week on the legislation attracted about a dozen lobbyists, only one of them representing an environmental group. The group was dominated by representatives of utilities and business interests, some of who questioned the need for any springs legislation.

You don't have to reinvent this wheel, said Doug Mann, representing Associated Industries of Florida. The toolkit's out there. It's putting the money towards that toolkit and setting some parameters.

Rhetoric about the state already having enough regulatory tools to protect its water resources has become a popular excuse for inaction. It's disingenuous for groups seeking to weaken regulations to claim that the state has all the regulations it needs.

The Legislature passed minimum flows and levels for springs and rivers more than 30 years ago. Now that regulators are finally setting them, special interests are trying to chip away at those protections.

Mandates to develop basin management action plans to clean up polluted water bodies passed about 15 years ago. The first of those cleanup plans for springs was not established until 2012. Plans will be developed for another 140 or more springs this year, the DEP says.

This is dramatic, said Herschel Vinyard, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. And we did it with the tools we have in our toolbox today.

Yet tools also have been taken out of that toolbox. Legislation passed in 2010 would have required Florida's 2.7 million septic tanks to undergo inspections to ensure they are properly working. Special interest and tea party pressure led to the bill's repeal just two years later.

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Editorial: Talk is cheap

HAMPTON TOWNSHIP, MI (WNEM) -

A sewer line connection issue has some residents crying foul in a Mid-Michigan community.

Hampton Township residentsRussell Gunther and Louis Czuba claim there is a very serious health issue going on in the Bay County community because dozens of residents aren't being required to hook up their homes to the township sewer system.

"I'd like to see some action taken in the right way, to correct this so we can safeguard the health of the township people, that's the number one concern" said Czuba.

The two men have taken their concerns to Hampton Township officials. Township supervisor Tom Foret says it's been on the books since 1965. But he saysthe townshipnever enforced the lawby sending out letters informing residents they need to hook up to the sewer system if they live within two hundred feet of the line because officialsfelt it would puta hardship onresidents of a twelveto 15-thousand dollar expense."We feel if there's no health issue, we don't feel it's right or fair" says Foret.

Foret says township officials have contacted Bay County Health officials about the issue,who say there are no health concerns in relation to septic tanks in the township.He says if a septic tank system fails residents are then required to hook up to the sewer system.

But Gunther disagrees, saying"It boils down to health issues, as far as I'm concerned. Gunther says sewage from septic tankscould seep into the soil and it's not clear where it could go. Heconcerned that septic tanks in his neighborhood could rupture or cause problems."We're trying to clean up our environment" Gunther said.

One thing Gunther and Foret agree on. Gunther says the township fears lawsuits from residents who would be forced to hook onto the sewer system. Foret says that's true.

"For a $15,000 expense they'll hire an attorney and fight it and I don't want to use tax dollars to throw away for not a just cause" said Foret.

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Sewer line controversy bubbles up in Mid-Mich. community