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| Lopez Island | Orcas Island | Visitor's Guide | ||
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SAN JUAN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH |
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Septic tank inspection classes filling upSan Juan County property owners have a choice – spend $350-$550 to have their septic tanks inspected by a licensed professional, or take a free one-day, two-and-a-half-hour course given by the county Health and Community Services Department, and perform the mandatory inspections themselves.Since the program began in March, septic tank owners have filled almost all of the classes on Orcas, Lopez and San Juan Islands to capacity and the participants have given the program rave reviews. Anonymous evaluation forms filled out by participants almost all rate the classes as "good"" to "excellent" and comments include remarks such as, "All of my questions were answered!" and "Yea! This was so interesting and presented knowledgeably too." More then 250 people have been certified to date. The certification authorizes the person to perform inspections and file required county reports on septic systems on property they own. The inspections are a new state requirement. The County Health department will begin sending notifications of the annual inspection requirement to owners of mound, sand filter and pressure distribution systems in 2009. Beginning in 2011, it will notify the owners of gravity systems that their systems require inspections forms to be filed every three years. The County has a $20 filing fee for inspection reports. The inspection classes require advanced registration and classes on San Juan Island are already booked up through September. As of this date, the July 30th class on Lopez Island had just one opening, but there are still several openings for the July 22nd class on Orcas Island. The schedule can be viewed on the county's WEB SITE County Board of Health approves new septic system maintenance rulesposted 07/25/2007 San Juan County is one of 12 Puget Sound counties required by the State of Washington to adopt a plan that will ensure septic systems are inspected and maintained to prevent system failures which could cause raw or inadequately treated sewage to contaminate sensitive coastal areas, or surface or ground. County Environmental Health Manager Mark Tompkins told the Board of Health that the County will conduct classes which will enable residents to earn certification to inspect their own septic system. The citizens' advisory committee which studied methods to comply with the new state regulations, estimated that septic tank owners who do not perform their own inspections will have to pay licensed inspectors up to $300-$400 for each inspection. Tompkins said that the owners of aerobic and proprietary septic systems are already required to have maintenance contracts with a licensed contractor who should be qualified to file the inspection reports at little additional cost. The plan approved Monday requires an additional $50 county inspection report filing fee to cover the cost of educational programs, data maintenance and enforcement; however Tompkins said that the county may be eligible for state grants that may reduce that cost by as much as $30 for each of the first two years. The inspection regulations will be phased in over the next four years. Aerobic and proprietary treatment systems, and all systems in areas declared sensitive would be covered immediately. Pressure distribution, sand filter and mound systems would require annual inspections beginning in 2009, and all gravity systems will have to be inspected every three years starting in 2011. The current requirement that all on-site wastewater systems be inspected when a property is sold will continue to be enforced. After state acceptance, the Board of Health will need to amend the local sewage code to reflect the new inspection program. A draft copy of document approved by the Board of Health is available at: www.co.san-juan.wa.us/health/ehsdocs/sewage_OM_Plan2007.pdf |
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SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008 |
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