Bill to Require Septic System Improvements Advances

An unsavory problem might soon get the flush in Maryland.

And that problem is the thousands of homes built along Chesapeake Bay tributaries with septic systems that lack any kind of technology to remove nitrogen pollution, which causes algae blooms and “dead zones.”

The Maryland Senate yesterday, by a vote of 24-23, narrowly approved a bill that would require state-of-the-art nitrogen removal equipment in all new or replacement septic systems for homes in environmentally critical areas near tidal waterways.  That’s very good news for the Bay.

In some areas, like Anne Arundel County, the county’s 40,000 home septic systems produce more nitrogen pollution than all of the local sewage treatment plants, The Baltimore Sun reports.

Now the measure is on to the House of Delegates, where the bill is likely to meet continued opposition from the real-estate industry and developers.

Let’s urge our lawmakers to focus on the long-term economic good of a cleaner Bay instead of the short-term costs of installing pollution control devices. After all, these costs would make up only a tiny fraction of the cost of building a waterfront home.

What’s more likely to kill the sale of a new Bay view home?  About $5,600 for building nitrogen removal equipment into the septic system?  Or dead fish on the beach and algae blooms around the docks?

The Chesapeake Bay Nitrogen Reduction Act of 2009 (Senate Bill 554) was sponsored by Sen. Michael G. Lenett, a Montgomery County Democrat.  Under the bill, all new and replacement septic systems in environmentally critical areas (defined as 1,000 feet from tidal waters) must include nitrogen removing technology. The bill includes state financial assistance for the difference between conventional septic systems and the new technology. The Maryland Department of the Environment would cover the cost of replacing a failing septic system with one that includes nitrogen removal technology.  The money would come from a “flush fee” passed by Maryland lawmakers in 2004 (also called the Bay Restoration Fund). People buying new homes within 1,000 feet of tidal waters would have to pay the difference, estimated at roughly $5,600.

To read the bill, click here.

To read the Maryland Department of Legislative Services fiscal analysis of the bill, click here.

To read the Annapolis Capital’s coverage of the bill, click here.

To read about opposition from Frederick area lawmakers and real estate agents, click here.

Save the Bay!  Adding nitrogen removal equipment to septic tanks is an obvious step that we’ve known for years is necessary. But real-estate interests have in the past beaten back this good public policy.  Now it’s time for the Chesapeake Bay’s interests to prevail.

 

Comments

[Peter]

While I agree with the bill, which was passed, I don't necessarily agree with the following from the author:

"In some areas, like Anne Arundel County, the county’s 40,000 home septic systems produce more nitrogen pollution than all of the local sewage treatment plants, The Baltimore Sun reports."

The Sun reporter, Tim Wheeler, states:

"Officials estimate that the 40,000 septic systems in Anne Arundel County, for instance, generate more of the nitrogen getting into local waterways than is discharged by the county's sewage treatment plants."

Who are these officials? Can't we at least know the source? The assumption here is that 80% of septic effluent reaches surface waters - tributaries of the Bay or the Bay itself. The study that came up with that "delivery rate" was paid for by Anne Arundel county and conducted by an engineering firm with clear bias toward wastewater treatment plants over septic systems. Most previous studies assume a delivery rate of 50% or less. Let's just say that the "jury's still out" on this one.

So statements like this really bother me because they aren't based on fact. CBF and the Baltimore Sun should really do better research instead of just assuming that what one Anne Arundel County official tells them is fact.