Bernalillo County grapples again with septic question

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As groundwater contamination problems go, the stuff leaking from septic systems isnt terribly sexy. Give me a gas stations leaking underground storage tank any day, or an old electronics plant, or Kirtland Air Force Bases sloppy aviation fuel handling. That I can get excited about.

But waste leaking from an aging home septic system?

That, says University of New Mexico engineering professor Bruce Thomson, is precisely the problem.

Its groundwater contamination thats happening all around us, and were not paying any attention, said Thomson, an expert in treating human waste who delights in describing his academic specialty as turd mechanics.

Septic systems drain away household waste into settling tanks, with the water spilling out into drain fields and the natural filtration of the soil doing the cleanup work. But when they dont work because homes are packed too closely together, or the systems are old or poorly maintained, contamination can result. The key problem is nitrates, which can render water dangerous to infants.

Nitrate contamination from leaking septic systems is a problem statewide, and here in Bernalillo County, and its contamination thats entirely preventable, said Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins.

This evening, the Bernalillo County Commission will take a fresh stab at tightening the rules to try to reduce the risk, a combination of inspections of aging systems and rules that push some septic system owners to hook up to the regions municipal sewer system if that is an option.

As currently proposed, the ordinance would:

The ordinance, pushed by Hart Stebbins, has been bouncing around for more than a year, delayed by opponents concerns because of the way the cost of compliance falls on homeowners.

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Bernalillo County grapples again with septic question