Sewage system causes unease

Apple Greene residents want fields farther away

Friday, July 23, 2010

Residents of a Dunkirk subdivision continue to have issues with the wastewater treatment system proposed to accompany a future shopping center in their community following the failure of a similar system in Huntingtown.

After two years of negotiating, the 161 families living in the Apple Greene community had reached a tentative agreement with Marrick Properties, the shopping center's developer, to have drip-irrigation fields and a sewage holding pond built within 200 feet of the nearest homes.

But permit violations at a similar drip-irrigation system serving the Marley Run subdivision in Huntingtown were the final straw for Apple Greene residents, who have since asked the developer to either find a "more reliable wastewater treatment technology" or keep all drip fields and the holding pond 500 feet away from homes. Placing the holding pond underground is also an option, according to a June 29 letter sent to by Richard Klein, an environmental consultant hired by the Apple Greene Civic Association, to Marrick Vice President Rick Bailey.

"Our goal is not to kill the project but reach a reasonable solution that would still allow Marrick and [property owner Ed] Howlin to make use of the property," Klein said.

The state has already issued Marrick a discharge permit for the facility, but the developer has been working with the community to assuage its concerns over the Marley Run facility and another drip-irrigation system servicing the Dunkirk Gateway shopping center. The two systems are the oldest of their kind in the state. The only other drip-irrigation facility in the state is located on the eastern shore.

Bailey did not return several calls seeking comment.

Partially-treated sewage has been observed ponding on the surface of both systems' drip fields within the past couple years, a violation of their discharge permits. In most cases, Klein, president of the consulting firm Community and Environmental Defense Services, has observed the violations and alerted the Maryland Department of the Environment, which subsequently confirmed Klein's findings and issued violations. In addition to the Marley Run violation in June, MDE also verified violations at both facilities in July 2008 and again at Calvert Gateway in June 2009.

Klein and Apple Greene Civic Association President Marshall Coffman both raised their concerns to Attorney General Doug Gansler during his recent audit of the Patuxent River.

"Marley Run and Calvert Gateway have just eroded our community's confidence," Coffman said.

When he was first hired by the association in June 2008, Klein viewed drip-irrigation as a "pretty good" technology and did not think the community had much to worry about. That was until he visited the county's two existing systems and found the drip fields "saturated." While partially-treated, the ponding sewage is not completely disinfected, Klein said. The technology is designed to drip partially-treated wastewater onto grass covered fields, where the remaining nutrients in the water are absorbed and filtered out, he added.

"It really bothers me that such a promising technology can't be made to work properly," Klein said. While not necessarily doomed to fail, drip-irrigation systems do require regular inspections, Klein said, adding that the state is so short-staffed that often ordinary citizens, such as himself, are the ones left reporting violations to MDE.

In addition to the three existing drip-irrigation facilities, a dozen permits have been issued for similar systems throughout the state, MDE Groundwater Permit Division Chief Ching Tien said, adding that drip-irrigation proposals will be permitted so long as they meet state criteria. Recent permits have included more conditions to guard against any problems, which "to me, can be corrected," Tien said.

"This is one of the good options for water reuse," he said.

While Klein and the community are grateful for the changes that have already been proposed by Marrick – one of the drip fields and the holding pond were originally set to be 30 and 50 feet, respectively, from the nearest yards – it is still not enough to comfort residents.

Of particular concern, Klein said, is the possibility of high winds creating an aerosol from ponding sewage and carrying it to nearby homeowners. Insects feeding and breeding in the holding pond or on the fields could also pose a risk and spread disease if located too close to homes, Klein said.

The community would like to see both the Marley Run and Calvert Gateway facilities work properly for three to five years before signing off on a similar system, but it also realizes that Marrick is not required to comply with its requests.

"We want to see something that will give these 161 families some assurances that their health will not be jeopardized by these facilities," Klein said.

jnewman@somdnews.com