Northern hears of sewage concerns

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

March 12, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

More than 35 Northern Township residents sat grim-faced and silent Tuesday night at their annual meeting as James West of KBM Inc. told them they have a potential problem with wastewater treatment in their township.

KBM was hired to conduct a preliminary study of a new township sewer system by the town board following a discussion of wastewater treatment at last year's annual meeting.

Although the presentation was only supposed to be "educational and informational," West said that after studying the area if there wasn't a problem with some of the current septic tanks and draining fields in place in township, there should be.

A particular problem is houses located along the west edge of Lake Bemidji. West said because of several factors, most of the houses will probably need a new system to treat wastewater soon.

In information given township residents, West stated there were four main reasons why the township could see problems in the future:

• In many places there were elevated water tables, meaning the top of the water table was only one to three feet below the surface of the top soil. This means wastewater has an easier time seeping in and contaminating the water table.

• Percolation rates of the soil were low, allowing water to seep through the soil toward the water table at increased rates. "Significant areas of the township have percolation rates of six to 20 inches per hour," he said.

• the pH rate of the township's soil was below the absorption of the area. Dangerous pollutants such as ammonia, nitrates and phosphorous tend to become more soluble below a pH of 7, and some areas of the township had pHs of 7 to 8.4.

• There are areas in the township that have low amounts of organic matter. The less organic material in soil, the easier it is for nitrogen and phosphorous compounds to move freely in the soil, West said.

"It appears that there should be a general degradation of the area waters because of the treatment systems now in place," West's material states. "Also the density of the treatment systems and their degree of treatment could be impacting the potable water supplies. If not now, it will in the future as more systems are built."

West said he could not believe what the information was telling him so he asked the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to verify his findings. But the MPCA would not tell him if there was or wasn't a problem with wastewater treatment in Northern Township, leading him to believe there probably is.

There are two potential solutions, he said, to use a pressure or gravity system to collect the wastewater or treat the waste in small or cluster systems "with an activated sludge treatment system." That would allow the water to be discharged to the watersheds with less amounts of ammonia, nitrates and phosphorous. West told the residents he recommends the latter.

In rough figures, he said the new system would cost a household $6,500 to $13,000 to construct, depending on the size of lots, site and landscaping difficulties.

Using a 5.5 percentage rate on construction money, repaying it in 30 years with a household capitalization of $9,000 to $10,000, West said the new system would cost a household $65 to $75 dollars a month, or $780 to $900 a year.

A current septic system may cost less a year, he said, but it all depends upon how many years of use a household gets out of a system.

The system he is proposing is modeled after a system in Germany where septic tanks, drain fields and lagoons are illegal, West said.

"What I'm proposing would be the first in this country," he said. "There are no chemicals involved. I'm trying to design a system that is totally environmentally sound."

West added that the median income of residents in Northern Township was probably too high to qualify them for a Rural Development Corp. grant to construct the new system, but he added that the RDC, formerly the Farmers' Home Administration, was ready to help with a pilot project "right now."

Owners of lakes homes in Northern Township are becoming concerned over what to do when it comes time to put in a new septic tank because many of the houses are quickly approaching the age at which a new septic system might be needed, Township Clerk/Administrator Mary Israelson said in a previous interview.

But a majority of homeowners would have to find an option other than another septic tank because MPCA rules state any new septic systems must be constructed a specified number of feet from the lake. So the need to look at some kind of sewer system provided by the township is important.

Residents had not discussed the issue as of press time, but Israelson said she believes many are interested in a new system.