NEWS

Engineer argues Y proposed septic system is improperly sized

By Meg Learson Grosso
Staff Writer
Printed in the The Minuteman

He was also of the opinion that smaller amounts of Nitrogen and Phosphorus should be allowed to leave the system than what the DEP might allow. He further suggested that the F.A.S.T. septic system which the YMCA was proposing to use wasn't the most reliable of such systems, but told the commissioners that there were others that were. It was getting late when engineer, Pio Lombardo, spoke and as he still had part of his presentation to give, Lee Starr, chair of the Conservation Commission asked him to come back to finish his presentation at a later date. "Don't rush through it. It's a topic of much importance to us," said Starr. The Commission was hearing the application of the Westport/Weston Family Y to build a 100,000 square foot building with a proposed 34,000 gallon per day septic system on the bank of the Saugatuck River.

Lombardo was asked to speak by Edward Lerner, the attorney for Arthur Cohen, a Westport citizen who is suing the Flood and Erosion Control Board for having issued a permit to the Westport/Weston Family Y. Cohen is also suing the Town of Westport, the YMCA, and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Lombardo introduced himself as an Environmental Engineer with 35 years of experience in the field, registered in 37 states, and a co-author of several EPA manuals.

Gary Dufel, an engineer with Stearns & Wheler, Environmental Engineers, was hired by the Town to critique the Y's application and he had, earlier in the evening, made some of the same points as Lombardo.

Dufel said that it was odd that after having such stringent standards for the town's sewage treatment plant, standards aimed at keeping nitrogen out of Long Island Sound, that the DEP would allow so many pounds of nitrogen to enter the Sound through a private wastewater treatment system. Both he and Lombardo were to urge that no more than 5mg/l of total nitrogen be allowed to reach the Saugatuck River in the Y's case, even though 10mg/l was allowed by the state DEP for a private system. Dufel pointed out that the amount per liter was more than three times what the town treatment plant will discharge when its upgrade is completed. Dufel further added that he thought that official check-ups and reporting on the septic system should be done more than merely twice a month, and he pointed out that the town treatment plant had to report twice a week, even though it is run by professionals.

Lombardo agreed and said that, in most states, discharges were monitored more frequently. The very sizing of the YMCA's system was questioned by Lombardo. He said that the Y had figured its usage by using its June figures, which were lower than its winter figures. He used a comparison of 8,000 gallons per day in June versus 12,000 gallons per day in winter. He said that the Y had figured a 15 percent increase in membership, while the proposed building will have 54 percent more usable floor space. He noted that, furthermore, the Y had not accounted for the need to recycle 5,760 gallon per day of backwash water for the de-nitrification filter as was mentioned in the manufacturer's literature. All told, he thought that the system should be, perhaps, a minimum of 40,000 gallons per day.

Furthermore, he said that many states require system redundancy in an environmentally sensitive area. This would mean having an extra generator and an extra septic tank. When asked, Lombardo pointed out that septic tanks would typically cost $1 per gallon or $40,000 for a 40,000 gallon tank. Lombardo made one of his more startling comments when he told the commissioners that phosphorous from the leeching fields would reach Poplar Plains Brook, and thus the Saugatuck River, in just five years.

When commissioner Morton Silverberg strongly disagreed with him, Lombardo said it was all on his web site, www.LombardoAssociates.com. Lombardo claimed that in six months, the phosphorous would move a distance of 48 feet from the leeching fields, so that in 5 years, it would move the 480 feet to Poplar Plains Brook and after that, every gram of phosphorous would go into the brook and river.

Lombardo said that even the U.S.Geological Survey web site said that if you think that phosphorous is absorbed into soils, think again.

He said that the bio-geo-chemistry in certain soils could cause this and that it had happened to a pond on Cape Cod and a lake in Oregon.

However, the engineer said that it was possible to remediate the phosphorous. One could either monitor the situation and put in a phosphorous removal system when necessary, or put in a phosphorous removal system now.

Lombardo suggested no more than one milligram of phosphorous per liter be allowed to be discharged. Phosphorous, like nitrogen, is a fertilizer and large amounts of it in a body of water will cause a growth in algae. The algae, in turn, use up the available oxygen in the water so that little is left for other plant life or for fish. The Saugatuck River has been found to be "in trouble."

Asked about the F.A.ST. system, and its reliability, Lombardo said that it could be made to work, but that it required more maintenance than some other systems. Dufel had also pointed out that the system had been known to fail.

In a phone conversation with a Minuteman reporter, Lombardo said that there are a number of other systems that require less maintenance. He said the systems that cost less to buy usually were generally higher maintenance and that the more expensive systems were generally lower maintenance.

As to what constituted a "failed" system, Lombardo told the commission, that current regulations require that a treatment plant should meet standards for Nitrogen removal 70 percent of the time. If a plant did not, then it was considered a failed system. He said that he himself, thought that 85 percent of the time was a better standard because, after all, a grade of B was better than a grade of C minus.