To the Editor;
Marion septic system owners and developers planning new projects are in for a shock when they see the cost of new septic regulations adopted by the Marion’s Board of Health. The nub of this Board of Health regulation is to control nitrogen emissions from septic systems. This regulation applies to new systems, expanding capacity, and failed system replacements. The new requirement based on junk science developed to promote a special interest political agenda regarding Buzzards Bay water quality is significant, expensive, and burdensome. There are no federal or state requirements or mandates that septic systems meet the new Board of Health nitrogen regulation. The Board of Health responsibility is to the Marion community public health and not the Buzzards Bay Coalition, the province of federal and state regulatory authority. The Board of Health-adopted regulation was clearly a politically motivated event. Simply stated, it was a cram-down for Marion septic owners. The decision was made without broad-based community input. The Marion community did not have effective opportunity to voice opinions or vet the substance of this regulation. This regulation was opportunistically railroaded through by the Board of Health during the time of significant adverse national issues and conditions of a quarantine pandemic, and political and racial disorder. There was no emergency requiring urgent action here. The pandemic should have been the sole focus of the Board of Health, not unnecessary septic regulation. The Board of Health would have been better used in learning and meeting with sewer commissioners as to locations of sewer lines and extensions. The remote Zoom public meeting was a sham – nothing more than a Board of Health politically motivated technical public meeting “blow-by” for a nonessential regulation. This regulation is expensive, significantly increasing costs for new, modified, or replacement of failed systems. The cost estimates for the new systems can be expected to range from $18,000 to $20,000. Annual operating, including electrical and biannual inspections for new systems, are additional costs added to the periodic “Honey Wagon” pump-out costs estimated at $1,200 to $1,500 per year. The nitrogen systems are mechanical, requiring repair, maintenance, and periodic replacement. These systems are noisy when they kick into operation. When town sewer availability is extended, homeowners will be required to abandon their substantial septic investment, incur costly sewer hookup fees, and sewer usage payments. The Board of Health does not have a good record of picking political health issues to fight. The poster child was the Board of Health opposition to the Elizabeth Taber Statue holding a pipe, which the Board of Health considered as an encouragement promoting juvenile smoking.
Respectfully,
Sherman E. Briggs, Marion
The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.