A complaint in February of illegal dumping by a county contractor that led to an investigation by the state Environmental Protection Division and recent coverage by a Savannah TV station has apparently generated some interest on social media. 

So, I'm working on it for our April 11 paper. 

In the meantime,  if anyone has had their health or well being impacted by this, please contact me at jwhitten@bryancountynews.com. 

Also in the meantime, here's what the officials say.

 And if you're not clear on terminology, a spray field is where treated wastewater from a sewage treatment plant is sprayed. Debris in this case is a euphemism for stuff you'd probably rather not know about. Or maybe not. 

The EPD report:

The EPD report – copied and pasted on the bottom in full -  said a county contractor illegally dumped sewage system debris in or near a county spray field about 200 feet from a county well near Waterways and Oak Level Road. 

The EPD report says once it was notified, the county did what it was supposed to do. 

It does not mention whether there were fines.

Importantly, one thinks, the EPD report said testing showed there was no impact to the 

well.  That well draws water from 700 feet below the surface. 

Now, there are some photos taken at the site in February of items dumped in what is reported to be a fenced in area that is off limits to the public. They're at the top of this page. I don't know who took them. 

The county's side:

The county says that stuff you see in those photos  has to be pulled out to keep the sewer system from clogging and tearing up pumps and other machinery, and then backing up the wastewater treatment system and potentially causing major problems for residents.

So, the trash is periodically taken out to dry, then bagged up and hauled off.

 Until February, it was put in a landfill.

And, Bryan County said in its statement the contractor thought he was operating legally and immediately stopped when told to and changed how it's getting rid of the debris from the sewage system.

Here’s the statement in full.

STATEMENT ON DEBRIS STORAGE DURING DRY-OUT PHASE AT SEWAGE PLANT

In early February, the EPD received a complaint from a Bryan County resident who spotted sewage system debris that had been removed from a lift station upstream from the county sewage plant’s filtration system. It was being temporarily stored during a dry-out phase designed to evaporate all water from the matter so it can be properly disposed of in a certified landfill.

Bryan County's third-party sewer plant operator was operating under the assumption that storing this debris temporarily at this remote location within the confines of an existing county spray field before disposal was acceptable to EPD. This debris -- which consists mostly of household grease and other common household items that may be flushed into the system – must be removed periodically to maintain system operations. If it is not removed, the plant's pump motors could be severely damaged, leading to a catastrophic failure of the entire sewage plant. As a result, property owners and even entire neighborhoods would have to deal with significant sewage back-ups and overflows. 

When the EPD received the resident's complaint about the storage method for the debris as it dried out, they promptly passed along the complaint to Bryan County. The EPD requested that Bryan County deploy a new method for temporarily storing debris during the dry-out phase. In response, Bryan County took immediate action to correct the issue and implemented a new procedure and storage technique. 

Shortly thereafter, the EPD visited Bryan County's sewage plant to ensure the issue had been properly resolved. The EPD signed off on the changes that had been made, and the issue was completely resolved without any environmental impact.

Had the county been aware for even a minute that its pre-disposal temporary storage of debris as it dried out was a problem, the method would have been changed immediately. In fact, that's exactly what transpired as soon as the EPD notified the county that a new system was needed. Bryan County complied and the case was closed.

Here’s the EPD report public copy in full.

Complaint ID 88679 — Public Copy

Report generated on April 5, 2019, 12:22 PM.

Status: Approved/Closed

Date Received

February 4, 2019, 10:00 AM

Assigned Office

Coastal District

Date Complaint Closed

March 25, 2019, 3:53 PM

Review Comments

[Not entered]

Complaint

Dumping solids from screen near lift station on Oak Level Road

Primary Concern

Water Quality Control

Secondary Concern

Comprehensive Solid Waste

Location of Complaint

[Not entered]

City of Complaint

Richmond Hill

County of Complaint

Bryan

Source

Facility ID Number

GAJ020024

Source Name

South Bryan County WWTP - LAS

Source Contact

Kirk Croasman

Source Address

600 Waterways South Richmond Hill, Georgia 31321

Actions

February 5, 2019 — Initial Investigation

This concern was located near the South Bryan County LAS and the concern was that the LAS was taking the head works debris and dumping outside the fence about 150 yards from the entrance of the LAS. The location of the debris was still located on county property however, this was not trash from the headworks of the LAS (see attached photos). With further looking into the source of the trash we found that this was debris from lift stations throughout the collection system and dropped off in this pit to be dried and then removed and sent the a landfill that the county uses for its other trash and debris. So, after a conversation with the operator contracted by the county, he agreed to stop the use of the pit and find other ways to dispose of the waste from lift stations (ie. a WWTF who has a vac truck receiving system within the treatment plant); the possible use of the President Street facility which has a receiving area for such vac truck debris was brought up by the operator.

February 13, 2019 — Follow-Up Investigation

EPD and the county had a meeting/site visit on 12Feb19 to discuss what was going to happen moving forward with the dumping of lift station debris. The debris has be removed and taken to a landfill and this practice is now understood that it is a violation to do so and future enforcement action could occur. The County will take any and all lift station debris and "pump outs" to a permitted receiving station or create there own at the LAS with a permit modification to their existing permit. Also, the following testing of a nearby County-owned drinking water system and a monitoring well for the LAS will be performed and submitted to this office: BacT at the well and distribution system Cl2 at the well and distribution system Ph at the Well Nitrate the Well Conductivity at the GWR U3 of the LAS which is less than 100 ft down from the pit

February 13, 2019 — Notice Of Violation

A Notice of Violation (NOV) was sent to the County on February 13, 2019 for discharge of pollutants without a permit. The Division has requested the following as part of the NOV: 1 - receipts for the ultimate disposal of debris, 2 - a water sample from near by drinking water well, testing for Micro, Cl2, pH and nitrate-nitrite, and testing from a nearby monitoring well for the LAS analyzed for conductivity. These sample locations are down gradient from the pit. Results of requested information is as follows: total Coliform and E. coli(method - SM9223B) -- Absent pH - 8.05 Cl2 - 1.98 Nitrate/nitrite (method EPA 353.2) 0.20 mg/L (MCL = 10) Conductivity of (method EPA 120.1) 169uS/cm These results indicate that the wells were not impacted by the drying pit activity.

March 19, 2019 — Status Letter

The County has responded to the Notice of Violation as requested and established proper disposal methods for the future. The site has been remediated. Recommend no further action, closing the NOV, and closing the complaint.

One more thing: There was an earlier complaint made three years ago. It is similar in nature to the one made in February. It does not mention whether there were any enforcement actions taken against Bryan County. 

Status: Approved/Closed

Date Received

July 28, 2016, 10:30 AM

Assigned Office

Coastal District

Date Complaint Closed

January 26, 2017, 12:00 AM

Review Comments

[Not entered]

Complaint

Primary Concern

Water Quality Control

Secondary Concern

[Not entered]

Location of Complaint

Across from Waterways area of club

City of Complaint

Richmond Hill

County of Complaint

Bryan

Source

Facility ID Number

[Not entered]

Source Name

Bryan Co Water Treatment

Source Contact

[Not entered]

Source Address

Georgia

Actions
July 28, 2016 — Initial Investigation
August 2, 2016 — Follow-Up Investigation
The operator for the wastewater system, Gary Hollingsworth, emailed a response to the complaint and stated, "" ""We cleaned grease from lift stations on 7-27-16. The site in the pictures is a dug out site we are using to dry the decanted grease and we will bag and haul off ASAP. It is on LAS property owned by Bryan County and is not part of the hunting club"" The deposit is a temporary situation and will be hauled to a landfill. I recommend closing this complaint.