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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Natural Resources Committee
October 12, 1999
The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m. by Committee Chair Connie
Hoag in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
Also Present: Absent:
Kathy Sutter None
Tom Brown
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
1. DISCUSSION REGARDING PROPOSED PURCHASE OF OLD GROWTH
SPRUCE PROPERTY (AB99 -390)
Brown stated it has been several months since the County voted to purchase
this property. A timber cruise has not been done and he wanted to know why.
Sutter stated it is up to the administration to carry it through.
Brown suggested drafting a letter to ask the administration why it is taking
so long. He speculated there were two Land Trust members that talked to the
gentleman who owned the property and told the gentleman he had to provide
certain concessions or the sale wouldn't go through.
Sutter asked if they could include that information in the letter.
Brown stated they could.
Hoag stated they could include in the letter the concern that the Land Trust is
demanding extra considerations.
Brown stated he wanted to know what the Land Trust's involvement is.
The committee concurred to write a letter.
OTHER BUSINESS
William Goff, Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District Advisory Committee
member, spoke on the update on the Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection
District (AB99 -091) from the September 21 meeting. He referred to Task One,
Objective Three of the Implementation Strategy and Water Recovery Plan matrix
regarding on -site septic systems. The committee received testimony there were 54
Natural Resources Committee, 10/12/99, Page 1
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failed systems around Drayton Harbor, and one had been sent to the Prosecutor's
Office for prosecution. That one system was repaired. The owner didn't go to the
Health Department to get a permit. He repaired it himself. The Health Department
wouldn't say that it had been repaired because they tried to force him to get a
permit. The Health Department tried to force him to get a design engineer to
engineer the drain field. The implication is that, because they found 54 failed
systems surrounding the area, the failed systems contributed fecal coliform and
caused the closure of Drayton Harbor for shellfish harvesting. This is not true. No
one understands the separation of this. When the survey was done, they flooded
systems with dye and announced they saw dye coming from the drain field. As
such, it became a failed septic system, which is different than a failed septic tank.
He asked the Health Department person who took the tests on the systems and the
State Department of Ecology (DOE) if they ran fecal coliform measurements on the
failed systems to determine if the septic tank was failing or if there was just a
swamp effect on the drain field. He got no answer other than there would be some
fecal coming out of the tank. He asked his attorney to send a letter to the Health
Department. They responded on October 4 in a letter and said that the field
procedures used in the survey did not include fecal coliform measurements for any
of the failed on -site sewage (OSS) tank systems. Therefore, the conclusion is that
the failed septic tanks didn't have any measurements indicating any contamination
from Drayton Harbor. The measurements from Drayton Harbor that created the
closures are from the dock areas, not the shorelines around Drayton Harbor. He
received a copy of the Whatcom County Health Department's study of the septic
systems in Drayton Harbor. There was a major improvement in the California
Creek area. There is a housing development in the area. Loomis Trail Golf and
Country Club hooked into an added sewer line from Birch Bay Water and Sewer. It
eliminated a problem in California Creek. Frank Merriweather, DOE, testified about
the contamination in Drayton Harbor when the initial closure was declared. He
described the separation, not the break, of the sewer line under the harbor. It has
been said that the bay was closed because of the pipe break and because of failed
septic systems. However, he received data from the DOE Marine Survey Division
who has done testing in Drayton Harbor. The data is from 1973 to the current
date. Their sample site is in the middle of the harbor.
Sutter questioned the scale used to measure the amounts of fecal coliform.
Goff stated it is based on one per 100 ml. This data doesn't show a great
amount of fecal coliform in Drayton Harbor. It shows occasional jumps now and
then. He did research into the past and found an old news article from 1973
regarding the separation of the storm and sewer systems in Blaine. According to
his records, the sewer has been overflowing for a long time. The engineering
company that did the comprehensive plan on those systems in 1973 stated the
sewer treatment plant at the end of the dock was satisfactory, but they have to get
rid of the storm sewer. He has seen sewage coming out of the storm sewer
discharge. The Cain Creek pipe is the storm sewage discharge referred to in the
news article. At that time, it was both sewage and stormwater discharge. That
news article says they authorized the expenditure for the separation. He has not
found that it had been done. He believed the State gave Blaine money in 1997 to
disconnect the storm discharges to its pipe. They laid new pipe north of Blaine. He
also downloaded all of the rain data from 1950 from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Blaine was a recognized station and that
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information was recorded. He is ascertaining the amount of rainfall and if they
correspond to fecal coliform counts, now that he knows there are still problems with
the sewer systems. On a four -day rain, the sewage raises and begins to come out
of the manholes. In 1993, they were told to shut the bypass valves off in the
sumps. Since they have done that they have had manhole overflows. Stuff like
this probably came out of sump and went directly into the mouth of the harbor.
During the last district meeting, he asked why they are talking about this. He has
no numbers that support closing Drayton Harbor, but it has been done on the
premise that failed septic systems have contributed fecal coliform to the pollution of
Drayton Harbor.
Hoag stated they don't close it on a premise. They have had a certain
number of tests of the shellfish sites that show failing results. Goff stated the
testing has been done inside the mouth or inside the marina.
Hoag stated to close a particular shellfish bed, there has to be 30 consecutive
tests that failed on a particular bed. Goff stated he didn't see failures in the beds,
only at the mouth of the harbor.
Brown stated the assumption was that the septic tanks were a cause and
farming was also a cause. There were a number of small problems that were
targeted. There was no specific point source. He didn't believe that the failed
systems were causing the amount of pollution that they said existed.
Sutter stated, as far as septic goes, no one said the septics are causing the
problems. They said they were a potential source of a problem. Regardless of the
amount of contribution, they need to be fixed anyway. No matter where failing
septics exist in the county, they need to be fixed.
Goff stated two studies were done for East Blaine Annexation. One is
continuing. That study stated the problem with a leaking septic tank is with the
immediate property owner and no one else because the fecal will die off. Also,
another study said the fecal would come out as seepage, because it dies in the
course of the route. The third item is that fecal coliform will die within 24 hours in
water.
Sutter stated fecal coliform is just a marker. There are possibly other
contaminants that are not tested for. If there is raw sewage lying on top of the
ground, one potentially has a number of contaminants that are harmful to human
health. If the failing systems are close to the water, there is a high water table,
and there is a little bit of rain, then any fecal on the ground will go to the lowest
point, which is directly into the bay. The argument that they weren't contributing
to the problem is not accurate. Failing septics do contribute to the problem.
Goff asked how long fecal coliform survives in the bay.
Sutter stated that was not the point. If they find high levels, they will close
the shellfish beds.
Goff stated Blaine's sewer treatment plant has a diffuser. Merriweather
advised that within 1,000 yards of a total failure, it wouldn't make it into Drayton
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Harbor as a health hazard. He is taking into consideration all trace elements of
infectious materials.
Hoag stated that point is hotly disputed and not every one agrees. His point
about septic tanks is well taken. However, the point is that they tried to solve what
they could and are still trying to find the sources of the on -going problems. Now
that the septic tanks are fixed, it is one less thing to worry about.
Goff stated Dr. Hrutfiord, newly appointed to the Drayton Harbor Shellfish
Protection District Advisory Committee, is a Ph.D. at the University of Washington's
Environmental Health Department. They talked about the rebuild of the failed
septic systems. Dr. Hrutfiord commented that he didn't understand, because
gravity would pull it down rather than evaporate.
Sutter stated if the dye is coming up, then the effluent is coming up also.
The water table is very shallow.
Goff stated they closed the area in 1995. The tanks and systems have been
repaired, and the entire Bay was just now closed.
Sutter stated they are not saying the septics were the only problem. There
is the potential there are other causes that also need to be fixed.
Hoag stated the closure should be based on the numbers over the beds. She
asked for any data he may have on the data over the bed. Goff stated the
information from the DOE Marine Survey Division indicates there is no problem.
Sutter stated the results the Council has received shows testing done all
around the bay. Goff stated the DOH has not tested the mouth of the creeks. They
have tested at the harbor mouth only.
Brown stated in the last two reports they received, it has been acknowledged
that California and Dakota Creeks are not the cause of the shut downs. The
problem is somewhere within the harbor. There are a number of tests going on in
there. The County cannot lift the ban. He is skeptical about inland causes, but they
still receive a series of test results that shows contamination. The Port is also
taking tests.
Hoag stated she understood the Washington State Department of Health
(DOH) is required to test where the shellfish growing beds are located. Their focus
is whether there are sanitary conditions for growing shellfish. If they close all
shellfish beds in the harbor, then the entire harbor is closed to shellfish harvesting.
It doesn't mean they've tested every spot in the harbor and that every spot in the
harbor is technically closed. It means there are no more open shellfish harvesting
stations. She asked Goff to bring forward any tests that do not justify closing those
stations.
Goff stated the last series of test have been done inside the marina.
Hoag stated that is not the only place they have been testing. Those are just
the locations that are showing very high counts.
Natural Resources Committee, 10/12/99, Page 4
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Goff stated the sampling stations don't go very far past the harbor mouth.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
ATTEST:
Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Connie Hoag, Committee Chair
Natural Resources Committee, 10/12/99, Page 5