U.F. to allow, regulate use of alternative septics
System owners to pay permit, registration fees
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Alternative septic use in the township will soon be monitored.

The Freehold Area Health Department (FAHD) has agreed to send a final draft of a proposed alternative septic ordinance to the township's Board of Health for review.

The Board of Health unanimously decided to ask the FAHD for a final draft of the ordinance at its June 12 meeting. The board has been discussing the use of alternative septics in the township since last year.

Board of Health Chairman Dr. S. Perrine Dey said there have been three applications for alternative septics in the township. One was for the Papp residence on Meirs Road. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved that application because the municipality did not yet have an alternative septic ordinance. The other applications are for buildings that are currently unoccupied, Dey said.

FAHD official Margaret Jahn said her office must legally co-sign for the use of such systems. She said the lack of a township ordinance means her department and the township do not have the appropriate tool to regulate the new systems.

Jahn said that alternative technologies could fail and affect the environment. With a conventional septic, homeowners are aware of any backup, but an alternative system may not produce outside overflow, she said, adding, "No one will know."

The FAHD may not become aware of such a situation unless a monitoring system picks it up, she said.

Alternative systems have monitors and service contracts, according to Jahn.

Without a township ordinance, "the owner could stop paying the contract and we wouldn't know," she said.

Jahn said that if homeowners do not renew their septic system service contract, and the FAHD finds a failing component in the system, they could be declared public health nuisances.

Jahn said the DEP likes the new technologies, but responsibility for them lies with the homeowners.

"The question is, how do we oversee them?" she asked.

Her associate, Jeff Palantini, said problems could occur if homeowners are completely ignorant of what is going on with their systems.

Jahn proposed collecting $300 permit fees from individuals with alternative systems. She said homeowners would register their systems with the FAHD every three years for a $100 fee.

"We want to see they have an active, legitimate service contract and are maintaining it," she said. "The bottom line is that the systems are here, and we're still on the hook."

She continued, "The FAHD is asking you to give us a tool we need to do our job."

Board member Dr. Curtis Byrnes asked if anyone in the room would like to live next door to an unmonitored alternative system.

"It comes down to a comfort level," he said. "Personally, I would like to know that something is being watched that could be harmful to me or my family."

He compared registering a monitoring system to sending in a renewal for a dog license.

"It's a license, but a failed septic will likely affect more people than a dog that doesn't get a rabies shot," he said.

Jahn said there are very few failing conventional septics in the township. She estimated that about 1 percent of all systems fail annually, and said the data has been consistent over the past few years.

Based on the number of residential units provided by the tax assessor, and excluding the Four Seasons and Heritage Green developments, which have sewerage, there were about 20 out of 1,798 septic systems in the township that needed repairs last year.

The percentage of failing systems in 2006 was 1.1 percent. Of those that failed, according to the data, 14, or 70 percent, of the systems were more than 15 years old. One of the failing systems was between 10 and 15 years old, and five, or 25 percent, of the systems were less than 10 years old.

In 2005, when there were 1,647 systems in town, 12 systems were recorded as having a system failure, which amounts to .73 percent. Seven, or 58 percent, of those that failed that year were more than 15 years old, two were between 10 and 15 years old, and three were less than 10 years old.

In 2004, when there were 1,487 septic systems in town, 12 repairs were recorded, for a failure rate of .81 percent. Again, seven, or 58 percent, of those that failed were more than 15 years old, three, or 25 percent, were between 10 and 15 years old, and two, or 17 percent, were less than 10 years old.