Help please! Getting conflicting info from Health Dept and laws.

[Dargo]

I purchased an older home on a dead end street where the lots generally are about 50' X 60'.  My lot happens to be a whole 50 X 120'.  The previous owner was a widowed lady who lived there by herself for the last 26 years until she passed away.  When I bought the home the septic tank failed as soon as I put renters in.  When I dug up the tank there was about a foot thick solid mat of tiny roots holding you know what across the entire tank.  The pump truck driver literally walked across the mat with the lids off.  I cut a hole in the mat and had him pump all out that he could under the mat.  I then used a gaff hook (to keep the sections from dropping into the tank) and a hand saw and cut all the roots away from the old brick tank.  Surprisingly enough, the tank was in great shape under the mat.  The pump driver was 72 years old and said it was the best looking brick tank he'd seen in about 50 years.  I formed up the sides and concreted the top of the edges to give the lids a flat surface on which to sit and covered the tank.

About a week later my renters called again and said the drains wouldn't drain.  This time I dug up the old clay pipe and laterals and found them solidly filled with hardened waste.  The city refused to issue a permit for new laterals or any field bed due to the size of the lot.  A "perk" test seemed to show nearly pure clay soil that greatly resisted absorption of liquids.  All I could do then was to put in a straight trench (the yard slopes down in the back where the tank is located) from the tank, fill the bottom of it with some pea gravel and put a perforated pipe in, fill more pea gravel and cover.  However, like every yard in the area, I had to stub the pipe out above ground.  I was told that I could not dump the contents directly on the lot behind me and had to leave 30' from the end of my pipe to my property line.  So, that is what I did.

Now, I have one neighbor (who has the same setup except she dumps her discharge directly on the property behind us) calling the health department on me several times per week.  I called the owners of the property behind me to ask if they allowed pipes to discharge on them and, obviously, they said "No way!".  The city is to put in sewers within 2 years, there are 6 homes to the west of this complaining lady that have no tank at all and only discharge waste directly into the wooded area behind these homes yet I'm having to deal with complaints every week from this next door neighbor.  What can I do???  Suggestions?  Keep in mind that no permit can be issued.  I'm really getting tired of this one woman (divorced living alone) creating a problem constantly.

I can only think to call the owner of the wooded area behind us and let them know that there are about 20 total homes dumping raw sewage on them and let the city and offending neighbors deal with it.  I feel that I'm in a bind and my patience is being worn thin.  To aggravate me worse, this lady complaining is having some remodeling work done to her home and she has no permit for the work.  Do I turn her in for that too?  Help.

[Stuart Meade]

Drago,

Where are you posting from (City, State)?

Sewage to the ground surface is considered a very serious and unhealthy situation.  The health department said it cannot be fixed??  This doesn't sound right.  Typically, health departments will bend over backwards to find the best option for an existing house.

[Dargo]

I'm replying from Evansville, IN.  Absolutely no permit will be issued for any work and I originally was told that I had to stop my pipe 30' from any property line to allow most all of the liquid to evaporate or be absorbed before leaving my property.  That area is constantly covered with lime and there is no odor.  I realize this isn't the best solution, but that is what I was directed to do.  It certainly has to be better than dumping completely raw sewage on neighboring property.  Literally, those homes have a 4" PVC pipe that runs from their homes and empties directly into a wooded area behind the homes.  I think it's painfully clear what the source of the smell is.

I'm really stuck in what to do.  The owners of the wooded area say absolutely not to dumping on them.  I don't blame them.  The head of the Vanderburgh County health department just said put some limbs and other "stuff" over the pipe and hide it where it comes out on their property.  Unbelievable!  I'm not going to do that.  Talk about opening myself up to lawsuits, especially when I called them to ask permission.  Unfortunately, the Health Department has broad authorities and is threatening me.  If they do so, I will be forced to hire an attorney and either have all the other homes condemned or have their illegal order reversed.  I don't understand why this one woman has nothing better to do than call the health dept. on me several times per week, especially when I can prove she installed a system without a permit!  I showed her raw sewage, literally feces with toilet paper being dumped by all the homes to her west and she still doesn't think that is the source of the smell even when we have winds out of the west 90% or more of the time.

I really don't know what to do.  I tried to do everything right and call all the proper authorities before I did anything and then only did precisely what they told me to do.  Now they want me to break the law to suit this crazy woman.  I really don't know what to do.  I have a 50' roll of black pipe I could easily slip over my pipe and run the liquid coming out of my system onto the wooded area behind me, but besides being morally wrong, I feel I'd be set up for a law suit from them; justifiably.  I've never seen government bureaucrat BS this bad.  Any ideas?  Is there a state authority I can contact and go over the local health department?

[Stuart Meade]

You can appeal any decision/directive by your local health department to the local health board.  They are essentially the boss of the local health sanitarian.  You can also look for help from the Indiana State Department of Health's field representative for your county.  Find out who that is by calling 317-233-7177 (I think it's either Deb or Steve).

http://www.in.gov/isdh/23283.htm

[Toxic Avenger]

I agree that you definitely should contact the Indiana State Department of Health, if your local health department is not doing their job.  Their job is to PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH and if what you say is true, they are not!  Another issue is do you have well water or municipal water?  If you have wells in your area, then this is a SERIOUS health hazard.  That much septic effluent dumping onto the ground surface over that length of time may have contaminated one or more wells in that area.  You may be drinking water that is full of bacteria, viruses, antibiotics, hormones, chemicals and other compounds hazardous to human health.  

If you have city (municipal) water then your drinking water is fine, but it is still major health hazard.