Twp. pushes alternative septic issue into next year
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD — After months of discussion, the township’s Board of Health has still not decided whether it should support an ordinance permitting the use of alternative septic systems.

Although the board’s attorney said it is too late in the year to move forward with an ordinance that would regulate alternative septics, the issue may come up again in January.

At the board’s Dec. 12 meeting, board member Nancy Amontis reported that Board Attorney Granville Michael Magee believes that an individual who would like to install an alternative septic system could get permission to do so from the state without the township having an ordinance.

Other than the Heritage Green and Four Seasons housing developments, all residential properties in town rely on septic systems.

According to Board Chairman Dr. S. Perrine Dey, resident Alan Papp, who waited two and a half years to get his Treatment Works Approval for an alternative system from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started the board’s discussion regarding their use in town. Dey said Papp paved the way for other residents who desire using alternative systems.

Dey noted that alternative systems are already being used for repairing nonfunctioning conventional septics. He also said that the good ground in the town has been used up, that developers now come before the board having to dig as much as 22 feet for the septics and that alternatives could be cheaper.

Former Mayor John Mele, a wastewater professional who attended the meeting, said, “For some reason, we embrace conventional septic systems as the best thing since sliced bread, when it is a system that may fail in eight to 10 years.”

Mele worked with alternative septic technology in Massachusetts, he said.

“In my opinion, there are a lot of different technologies, and they are all beneficial to the environment,” he said. “That’s why I think we should not be walking away from them but embracing them.”

Mele said that some of the newer systems work better than others, with certain ones requiring more maintenance. The only problem he sees with alternative septics is that “every Tom, Dick and Harry” can have one, but someone needs to regulate them.

Mele suggested that the board invite the use of new septic technologies into the town under new guidelines.

“As we get more development near streams, stormwater detention basins and environmentally sensitive areas, the [new] technologies can be very beneficial,” he said.

Mele said it is better for the board to be in a position of control rather than in a reactive state should a developer come in with a large subdivision and plans to use alternative systems.

Board member Dr. Curtis Byrnes said that alternative systems would ultimately be installed in town, and that if they fail, they would do so in a shorter time period than it would take conventional systems to fail.

“We’re not going to know it’s a problem” without an ordinance, he said.

Mele said, “It is better to control them and know there are ‘x’ number of [alternative systems] in Upper Freehold, and you know where they are.”

He added that the township may not have a clue that there are already 10 or 15 alternative systems in town because it doesn’t have an ordinance that regulates them.

Board member James Rosenbauer said Geographic Information Systems (GIS) could keep track of where and what kind of systems are installed.

“Twenty years from now, we may have 50 of these out there,” he said. “If they fail, we have a problem. We need a way to track them.”

Freehold Area Board of Health Officer Margaret Jahn said manufacturers of alternative systems claim that the main reason alternative septic systems fail is due to their positioning on a piece of property, and New Jersey has much stricter criteria in this regard than other states.

Byrnes said the Board of Health relies on Jahn and her office to review septics, but without an ordinance that regulates the new septics, it is not giving her the proper tools to work with.

While Mele said he does not like the idea of extra governmental costs for oversight of the alternative systems, he does like the idea that their use improves water quality. He said he would like to put an alternative system on his property before his septic bed fails. He noted that a properly installed aerobic system could last forever.

Besides embracing alternative systems, Mele also said he wants to see the town regulate the conventional systems that homeowners use now. He would like the township to require proof that residents are pumping them out at least every three years.

“I can tell you horror stories,” he said.

Mele said that if something goes wrong with a conventional system, the township is usually unaware of the problem unless it becomes a big enough issue.

In addition, he said that there needs to be more public education about the use of all septic systems since most people are not familiar with them or their maintenance needs. When he served in office, he said it was not unusual for new homeowners to call town hall to ask why they had not received a sewer bill.

“To know that people call asking about their sewer bill is an indication to me [that] they have no clue about the things they are dumping in their drains,” he said.

He said homeowners have to learn that they cannot dump grease down their sinks or flush personal items down their toilets when there is a system in their backyard handling wastewater.

Mele said the septic tank is “an easy thing” to understand, with problems mostly arising in the septic field when something stops wastewater from permeating and absorbing into the ground.

“Fields fail, [but] rarely a tank fails,” he said.

Since the Planning Board is currently revising the township’s master plan and is considering designating certain areas of the municipality as village centers that will contain more development than other areas of town, Mele said officials should consider the use of community septic systems.

“To go from septic systems to a package treatment plant is 100 stops in between,” he said.

Although the Board of Health cannot make decisions about lot sizes or zoning in the township, Mele said it can make decisions regarding the sewage disposal in general as it affects public health.

After the discussion about alternative septics, engineer Greg Barkley went before the board with a client who would like to install an alternative system for two buildings to use in the Hornerstown section of town.