BOARD OF HEALTH
Meeting Minutes
April 9, 2007
Memorial Town Hall
MEMBERS PRESENT: Martha Waite, Mary Ricker, Mark Johnson (5:15 P.M.)
OTHERS PRESENT: Joyce Crouse, Agent, Randy Mizereck, Consultant
The Board of Health Meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM
OUTDOOR WOOD FIRED BOILERS:
5:00 P.M. – Capt. Bruce McKay addressed the Board regarding the number of complaints he has received for outdoor wood fired boilers. They received about 20 last year but noted we experienced a mild winter. He said that Holden is not unique to this problem. There are approx. 5 -7 wood boilers in town at this time. After some discussion about temperature inversions and the possible causes of lingering smoke, the Board thanked Capt. McKay and said that they would be contacting the State and reviewing the current requirements.
FAILED SEPTIC SYSTEMS:
20 North Street: Jim Morin, RS, of Holden Sanitation met with the Board to review the failed system at this address. M. Waite asked that Mr. Rod Beittel explain the problem he has been having with his system. R. Beitell explained that he has had an ongoing problem of water pooling at the SAS. He first noticed this in March 2006. After August 2006, the field dried out and in March became saturated again. Holden Sanitation was contacted, inspected the site and took samples. He has not had any comment from them on what the problem is and had not heard from them since the Fall of 2006 until the site inspection of March 23, 2007. HS provided equip. and labor on that date and soil samples were taken, the tank was pumped, and discovered infiltration was
occurring. He hired a camera and discovered that water was infiltrating the tank about 10’ from the tank. J. Morin said the first step would be to fix the infiltration problem. There was also the problem of the effluent filter which was clogging too soon. They gave him a new filter with instructions on its use. He also noted that they had stripped wallpaper with ZIFF and felt that could have affected the microbes in the SAS. He asked if J. Crouse had results of slime test taken on the 23rd by DEP. J. Crouse said that no results were available at this time. R. Beittel said that after six months there is no clogging of the filter, and the well water has been tested and meets the acceptable criteria. J. Morin noted that the tank is located at the top of the watershed and that this could be a perched water table. He noted that the soils consist of outwash plain before you get to the watershed. He said
that he had never seen a situation like this before where you find a lot of water on top.
M. Johnson asked about the possibility of collecting it and diverting it back to the perimeter drains. He added that the break in the line needed to be fixed. He asked where the perimeter drains go to. R. Beittel said he did not know where they went. He said that there was a 6’-4” corrugated drain to daylight but you can’t see where that is coming out.
J. Morin asked what the DEP protocol was for collecting a sand sample from a system in place to be tested. J. Crouse said she would contact DEP. J. Morin asked J. Crouse to give him a copy of the protocol.
M. Waite said that she was unclear as to where we are with the other systems and asked J. Morin to outline his intentions for the three failed septic systems
J. Morin said that for 20 North Street he would repair the infiltration problem this week and allow the system to have time to dry out. He agreed that the SAS needed to be replaced, but he wanted to have the results of the “slime” test from DEP before moving forward at this location.
R. Beittel said he felt that the SAS should be replace by Holden Sanitation and that the connection to the septic tank was done improperly and HS should be responsible for that as well.
J. Morin said that he felt he did no wrong. He has provided the equipment and the tools for further investigative work. He did not intentionally purchase a bad product. He was told that the sand he purchased was good. He said that the mottles were good. He wanted to be assured that the repair was for what the actual problem was since he didn’t want to be doing repeated repairs to the system. He said that he would need a release from the Board once the agreed upon work was completed. M. Waite reminded J. Morin that this is a health issue.
J. Morin said that for 450 Sterling Rd., his intention was to repair the front row of chambers which was collapsed. He said that he has replaced the broken cover at 786 Princeton Street and will repair that system within the next several weeks. M. Waite said she felt we should be further along than this. J. Morin stated that he has been cooperating with the Board as evidenced by his presence this evening.
He said that he would repair the pipe at 20 North St. this week. If there is nothing to report from DEP on the slime test, then 2 weeks for the repair of the system, but the weather could affect this time period. This would all be at no cost to the owner. At 450 Sterling Rd. he will replace the collapsed chambers within the next 2 weeks.
For 786 Princeton St. he noted that a vent could be blocked as well. He said that this is an anomaly, since there are many problems here. J. Morin said that he would like to conduct a smoke test since this was not done as a part of the investigation. He would need to check the draft with the homeowner’s permission to see if there is a belly or break in the line. This would be done via the d-box back thru the house through each line. He said that he is trying to be thorough here and noted that he has been called upon in the past as an expert witness in many of these types of cases. J. Crouse said that the sewer dept. has the ability to perform dye tests, but was unsure of the smoke test. She will talk with R. Swigor and get back to J. Morin. This repair would occur in
the next 4 weeks.
R. Mizereck noted that the homeowners are under an order to repair the systems and that the Board can not keep making extensions. M. Waite stated that it becomes an issue between J. Morin and the homeowner. She noted that there are no other failed systems in town at this time. The Board is concerned about Holden Sanitation’s installations and license, and continuing to put more systems in town and then two years later end up like this.
M. Johnson said that the burden is upon him to prove that the system is okay. He suggested checking another system which was done during this same time period and testing the soils there.
M. Johnson said that at 20 North Street he wanted J. Morin to pump the tank down after repairing the infiltration problem, find out what the testing of fill specifications is and at what depths to be taken. J. Crouse could ask Yankee Engineering about this as well. An additional sample could be taken at the D-box. He noted that if the repair of the pipe corrects the water infiltration problem, that a 30-day extension be issued for the Order.
J. Morin asked that for future meetings, the Board prepare their questions 3 days ahead of the meeting and give them to him so he can prepare his answers for that meeting.
OTHER BUSINESS:
· The Board signed the revised plans for Mixter Road/Lot 2.
MEETING MINUTES;
· February 5, 2007: Tabled for May 2007 meeting
· March 12, 2007: Tabled for May 2007 meeting
Next Meeting: May 7, 2007 at 5:00 PM
M. Waite motioned to adjourn the Board of Health meeting. M. Ricker seconded. All in favor.
Meeting Adjourned at 6:15 PM.
April 9, 2007 meeting minutes approved: June 11, 2007
Joyce Crouse, Agent
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