FL Environmental "Leadership" - Senate Considering Rollback Of Mandated Septic System Inspections

[hatrack]

:dunce:

Lee County is urging state leaders not to abandon mandated septic-tank inspections meant to cut pollution from thousands of leaky tanks. But opponents have panned the law, which had been designed to take effect this month, saying it would force homeowners to spend thousands of dollars replacing functioning systems. The law’s proponents point out that almost all of Florida’s waterways are impaired.

“We’re talking about pathogens, pharmaceuticals and waste — the filthy aspects of our lives,” said Rae Ann Wessel of the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation. “But (those trying to repeal the rules) are saying it’s too expensive to protect the public.”
In a special November session, state lawmakers pushed off the new rules until June, giving the Legislature a look at the regulations.

Lee County commissioners agreed to send a letter to the state Senate’s Environmental Protection committee, which is contemplating a repeal of new septic system regulations. Commissioners want the state to keep an inspection system on the books or allow the county to opt into its own system. “Our position was that it needed some more time for study,” said state Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral. “It’s a balance between protecting the environment and adding another layer of regulation that could be quite costly.”

EDIT

“It’s not too much to have people inspect their septic tanks once every five years,” said Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah. “It’s cheaper to control pollution at the source than to clean it up.”

EDIT

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110128/BUSINESS/110127067/1007/RSS0105/Florida-septic-control-debate-rages-

[pscot]

1. That battle has been raging

in this county for the last two years. It's an issue all around Puget Sound. Non-point-source pollution (failing septic systems) are the main reason much of Hood Canal is anoxic, and a factor in the red tides that poison the clam beds. Of course we all want to clean up the Sound, as long as there is no cost to us peraonally. There's probably some behavioral principle manifesting itself here.

[Nihil]

2. The "Right to pollute without charge" is enshrined in the Constitution don'chaknow?

> “We’re talking about pathogens, pharmaceuticals and waste — the filthy aspects
> of our lives,” said Rae Ann Wessel of the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.
> “But (those trying to repeal the rules) are saying it’s too expensive to protect
> the public.”

> The vast majority of the 100,000-plus septic systems in Lee County are functioning
> as intended, Himschoot said. But some are not, leaching chemicals, microbes and
> excess nutrients into local waterways.
> A state-mandated septic-system inspection every five years — something that could
> cost about $150 for each inspection — could identify nonfunctioning systems that
> need replacement, curbing the pollution.

So ... this suggests that it will cost the owners of fully functioning septic systems
about $30 a year in order that the owners of the polluting systems can be forced to
(literally) clean up their act and stop spreading their personal waste around the
communal waterways.

I was about to ask what the problem is but then I made the mistake of reading some
of the comments below the article ... and now I can see exactly what the problem is.

:banghead:

[Kolesar]

3. The pathogens cause kidney disease in pets, wildlife, children, and the elderly

This issue played out in Ohio a few years ago.