Date: Fri 02-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Meadowbrook-Mobile-home-sewer

Full Text:

Mobile Home Park Plans A Sewer Hook-Up

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

To rectify chronic septic system failures, which pose a public health hazard,

Meadowbrook Terrace Mobile Home Park at 55 Sugar Street is planning to connect

to the municipal sewer system.

Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's consulting engineer, has been hired by

Meadowbrook's owners to design a sewer line to connect Meadowbrook to the

sewer system, Public Works Director Fred Hurley said Monday. Meadowbrook will

be linked to the sewer system by a low-pressure sewer extending about 2,000

feet eastward to the sewer system at the intersection of Sugar Street and West

Street.

The sewer line will be designated for Meadowbrook's exclusive use and will not

be available for use by the several other properties along its route, Mr

Hurley said. The sewer line will be powered by multiple grinder pumps,

providing a waste disposal system which functions as if it had a miniature

sewage pumping station, Mr Hurley said. Meadowbrook has about 60 mobile homes.

Meadowbrook's connecting to the sewer system will be subject to submission of

plans to and approval by the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA). Such

plans will explain how Meadowbrook will pay for sewer line construction and

maintenance.

Sewage Outbreak

The seriousness of the chronic septic failures which Meadowbrook has

experienced is illustrated in a March 3 letter from Martha Wright, the town's

senior sanitarian, to Meadowbrook's owners William Henckel and Penelope

Barrett.

Ms Wright wrote, "On March 2, 1999, I inspected the septic system disposal

area... Behind Trailer #43 there was a large puddle [approximately eight feet]

of apparent sewage effluent with a [toy] bucket in it as though a child had

been playing in the sewage. Sewage was also surfacing in the top of the last

trench in the newer leaching section. To allow sewage to surface to such an

extent that children play in it is unconscionable and a serious public health

risk."

In the letter, Ms Wright urged that steps promptly be taken to eliminate

serious public health risks until sewers are put into service.

Ms Wright said Tuesday Meadowbrook is dealing with the septic system failure

by having a septic contractor pump out its septic tanks, as needed; by

monitoring the condition of its leaching fields; and by prohibiting access to

areas that pose health hazards.

In a March 9 letter to Mr Henckel, William Coleman, a state Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP) sanitary engineer, wrote that the well-known,

continuous failure of Meadowbrook's septic system was obvious and posed severe

health risks to children who use the area as a yard. "The only logical

solution to this problem is connection to the town sewer system," Mr Coleman

wrote.

Mr Coleman told Mr Henckel to notify residents to stay off the leaching field

and to fence it off. Several vacant trailers in Meadowbrook must remain

unoccupied until sewers are extended to them, Mr Coleman added. Also,

providing sewer service to Meadowbrook will be a condition of any future sale

of the property, Mr Coleman wrote.

"An (pollution abatement) enforcement action has been initiated and will be

pursued if it is found that the connection to the sewers is not proceeding in

a timely manner," Mr Coleman wrote.

In a May 14, letter to Mr Hurley, Mr Coleman wrote "It is the department's

position that the long-term solution for sewage disposal is... connecting this

facility to the Newtown sewerage system. The well-known and documented failing

septic system at this trailer park presents a health threat to residents."

Mr Coleman noted that Meadowbrook has been taking temporary measures to

minimize health risks, but added "These measures will minimize exposure but

will not stop the problem."

History

According to DEP documents, the septic failure problems at Meadowbrook date

back at least to 1984. DEP issued orders to Meadowbrook in 1984 and 1990 to

correct pollution problems. But despite the measures taken, more septic

failures occurred in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

More than a year ago, on May 8, 1998, in letter from DEP sanitary engineer

Gary Leavitt to Mr Henckel, Mr Leavitt wrote the only viable option to correct

problems is to connect Meadowbrook to the sewer system. In that letter, Mr

Leavitt noted the septic system continued to fail and Meadowbrook had violated

the terms of its septic waste disposal permit from DEP in that it failed to

monitor its treatment system for the past nine years and had made alterations

to the system without obtaining DEP approval.

Mr Leavitt then urged the WPCA to allow Meadowbrook to connect to the sewer

system noting that the soils on the site are severely limited and several

attempts to repair the system and manage wastewater flows had proved

unsuccessful.

Attorney Robert Hall represents Meadowbrook's owners. "If there's any property

in town that needs a sewer hookup more than the Meadowbrook Terrace Mobile

Home Park, I don't know what it is," Mr Hall said Tuesday.

Mr Hall said he expects it will cost somewhat more than $200,000 for

Meadowbrook to extend a sewer line to the town sewer system. Design work is

now in the preliminary stages, he said, adding, though, that it is unclear

when Meadowbrook will be connected to the sewer system.

"It's been improved a great deal," Mr Hall said, noting much septic tank

pumping has been done to deal with the problem.

Mr Hall said that it is unfortunate that Meadowbrook was not included in the

original sewer system construction project.

The town built the municipal sewer system between November 1994 and September

1997. It serves more than 800 properties in the Borough, Sandy Hook Center and

Taunton Pond North where numerous septic system failures caused groundwater

pollution.