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July 19, 2005Health risk from septage plant failure said minimalByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY -- Health officials said they are satisfied the risk is minimal from a 150,000 gallon spill of partially treated septic tank waste at the Grand Traverse County seepage treatment plant. "There doesn't seem to be much (contamination)," said Fred Keeslar, director of the Grand Traverse County Health Department. "But you would think there would be and we wanted to be sure." The plant is designed to treat septage -- the human waste pumped out of septic tanks. The plant opened in mid-May and a tank collapsed less than a month later, releasing the partially treated liquid. The health department spread lime over areas where the liquid sank into the ground. The lime, coupled with dry, sunny weather, neutralized any threat from potential pathogens, officials said. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality requested the county take soil borings in the area of the spill. John Arevalo, a DEQ analyst, said the septage liquid was absorbed in the top two feet of the soil and went no further. The main concern was that the overload of nitrates might contaminate residential wells and be a risk to human health, officials said. The tank that burst was one of two parallel aeration tanks. The DEQ tested the nitrate level of the material in the remaining tank which went through the same treatment process. The results were well below the safe drinking water level, Arevalo said. "It showed the treatment was working, which was to denitrify the septage when it came in," Arevalo said. "My opinion is there is minimal or no threat of nitrate contamination." See Related Stories: Septage plant repairs tagged at $2 million - July 19, 2005 Well owners near GT County's septage plant fear contamination - June 25, 2005 GT County's septage treatment plant may reopen - June 22, 2005 Septage plant 'structural failure' is investigated - June 21, 2005 Burst tank rocks GT County's new septage plant - June 19, 2005
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