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Directories Int'l Realty US Realty
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Mobile Homes Must Be Properly Connected To Sewerage Disposal Systems Stuart Lieberman, Esq.,
The location: Prairie City, OregonRecently the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality assessed this penalty against the owner of several mobile homes and recreational vehicles. Raw, untreated sewage was reportedly discharging from these vehicles onto the ground. The discharge was located near several irrigation ditches which ultimately ran into public water bodies. Does this sound unusual? Does this sound like something that can only happen somewhere else? If you think so, think again. In many parts of this country, human waste is still not properly disposed of. Many pipes are leaking and of course many septic systems are failing. Vehicles that are in theory mobile, such as for example mobile homes and recreational vehicles, need some kind of mechanism for the transportation and ultimate treatment of their sanitary waste. Sometimes, appropriate arrangements are not made and scenarios such as that described above occur. It is always a violation of the law to allow human waste to be discharged onto the ground. It is also a violation of the law to allow human waste to go untreated into ditches. Appropriate methods of human waste treatment include sending the waste to a public treatment works facility and treatment onsite through an approved septic system. Ditches are not septic systems. Septic systems are state of the art onsite treatment systems which affect a bacterial breakdown of the waste rendering it acceptable for discharge into the ground and ultimately the groundwater. Simply discharging untreated waste into a ditch does not provide for this kind of breakdown to occur resulting in a dangerous situation. Untreated human waste can cause illness to humans and to animal life. If the waste contaminates water, the water may be consumed resulting in widespread illness. This is something still often found in what we call third world nations. But it also happens here, in the US. Sometimes people use recreational vehicles in remote out of the way places and feel that they can get away with improper human waste treatment. But that is wrong and it should not occur. Everybody is responsible for the appropriate treatment of his/her waste and improper treatment is illegal and harmful. Of course, flagrant violations such as these aren't the only problems. All over the country health departments are confronted with the problem of failing on site treatment systems, most often conventional septic systems. When septic systems fail, the tend to cause a pooling effect where patches of moisture and sometimes even solids can be detected on the ground. This is just as harmful as the direct discharge of waste onto the ground. Reports of improper human waste treatment should be made to local health departments. Generally, they are the first responders to these kinds of complaints. If for whatever reason you live near an offender or group of offenders and the health department is not responding, you may be compelled to seek legal counsel. This is not just a nuisance, it is also a real health threat. A failing septic system, or in many cases a neighborhood of failing septic systems, can threaten drinking water supplies of neighbors who live near the offenders. Vegetable plants may be impacted, and bad odors can also result. Since replacing a failed septic system can cost thousands of dollars, some try to "hold off" as long as possible. Which is unfair. It is isn't working, it needs to be promptly repaired.
The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.
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