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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM061208JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, June 12, 2008 2:30 PM — 4:30 PM Board Members Staff Members Phil Johnson, County Commissioner District #1 Thomas Locke, MD, Health Officer David Sullivan, County Commissioner, District #2 Jean Baldwin, Public Health Services Director John Austin, Chair, County Commissioner, District #3 Andrew Shogren, Environmental Health Director Chuck Russell, Hospital Commissioner District #2 Julia Danskin, Nursing Services Director Michelle Sandoval, Port Townsend City Council Sheila Westerman, Vice -Chair, Citizen at large (City) Roberta Frissell, Citizen at large (County) Chair John Austin called the meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:30 PM in the Masonic Temple, 1338 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, WA. Members Present: John Austin, Sheila Westerman, Roberta Frissell, Michelle Sandoval, David Sullivan, Chuck Russell Members Excused: Phil Johnson Staff Present: Jean Baldwin, Dr. Thomas Locke, Andrew Shogren, Julia Danskin, Susan Porto, Neil Harrington, Angela Pieratt, Michael Radford, Cathy Avery A quorum was present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Austin recognized a motion to approve the agenda and a second. The motion to approve the agenda, as written, was passed by unanimous vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 15, 2008 Corrections to the Minutes of May 15, 2008 were noted. The minutes were amended to correct the spelling of Michelle Sandoval's name and Jill Buhler's name. A correction was made to page 3, last paragraph, that clarified the formation of the Jefferson County Board of Health to read, `which includes the three County Commissioners, an elected representative from the City of Port Townsend, an elected Jefferson Healthcare Hospital Commissioner and two citizen members'. David Sullivan made a motion to approve the minutes as amended; the motion was seconded and passed by unanimous vote. Page 1 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008 PUBLIC COMMENTS Comments from the audience included: • Forming a stakeholder committee was suggested to address issues regarding homeowner inspection of on-site sewage systems raised at the meeting at Chimacum High School. • Boat owners have received bad press about polluting the bays. Boats manufactured in the U.S. are required to have holding tanks and most boats in those bays are sitting empty. Fines are very strict and the Coast Guard has jurisdiction. • Duke Shold offered his 45 years of experience in septic installation in Jefferson County to assist with development of a homeowner inspection program. • The requirement for having this inspection program WAC 246-272A-0270 is bad law. • Focus on an area that we know is a problem; municipal sewer operations. How can 8 million gallons of raw sewage that is dumped into Ravena Creek, by the city of Seattle, which makes it way in to Union Bay, not be a significant problem, when that amount of raw sewage equals approximately the amount of raw sewage in every single OSS system in Jefferson Count? How can leaking or failing OSS systems in Jefferson County pose a major problem? When they leak, they are a problem at that particular site but is it a region -wide problem? • Realtors in the community have been working in conjunction with the County and have been doing inspections at the point of sale. It is a requirement of one who sales a piece of property or one who has an installed septic system that it be inspected. The realtors have worked very effectively with the health department. • Before restrictions are put on the homeowners about their responsibilities let's go back to the professionals in the business of working on and inspecting these systems. Let's make sure they are doing their jobs correctly. • Errors were found in the January and February Board of Health minutes; Commissioner Johnson was reported being at the January meeting when he was absent and February meeting was supposedly being held in two different places. • The county should have a phone number for the public to call to have someone respond to septic problems. OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Hood Canal Clean Water Proiect Newsletter Dr. Locke noted that this is a newsletter that is produced by Jefferson County Public Health. It touches on a number of themes that will be addressed at today's meeting. Susan Porto briefed the Board on the process of determining if an on-site system has failed and how proceed in getting it repaired. She noted that the Environmental Health Department keeps updated lists of licensed Septic Installers and Designers. Letters re: Mats Mats and Mystery Bays' Water Qualitv Andrew Shogren, Environmental Health and Water Quality Director introduced himself. He stated that Jefferson County Public Health received a letter from the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association concerned about the recent downgrade of Mats Mats and Mystery Bay by the Washington Department of Health. Andrew pointed out there is a federal definition of what Page 2 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008 constitutes a marina; anything more than 10 boats. This is triggering agencies to look at Mystery Bay, with a recent count of over 70 boats. It was clarified that Department of Natural Resources manages the tidelands and the Department of Community Development issues permits for mooring buoys because they are considered a structure. The Department of Health is the agency concerned with the number of boats moored in the bay. The water quality is still excellent at Mystery Bay and meets state water quality standards. JCPH is working with other agencies to come up with solutions for Mystery Bay. In Mats Mats Bay it was downgraded to "threatened" because one side of the bay tested with elevated levels of bacteria. JCPH recently received a new water quality project grant from the Department of Ecology that will allow for work done in Mats Mats Bay. EnviroStars Award: Uptown Dental Clinic The Uptown Dental Clinic was given the EnviroStars Award and recognized for their efforts to reduce waste, save energy, reduce water use, and increase recycling. NEW BUSINESS Guest Presentation: Andy Brastad, RS, Clallam County Environmental Health Director: Clallam County On -Site Sewage Management Plan Andy Brastad, Environmental Health Director from Clallam County presented the Board with an overview of the Clallam County On-site Septic System Management. Mr. Brastad spoke about Clallam County's experience of trying to implement these new regulations. He noted it is a challenge to homeowners, industry and to the local jurisdictions and that it was a slow process. In 2005 the State Board of Health mandated that the Marine Counties of Puget Sound develop a management plan relating to impacts of on-site sewage systems. That plan was due by June 30, 2007. New regulations put the responsibility on the homeowner to maintain and inspect their septic systems. Inspections are required once every 3 years for a conventional systems or once every year for an alternative system. The regulation mandating those regulations went into effect July 1, 2007. Concurrently the state legislature came up with its own legislation for local health jurisdictions requiring counties with marine shorelines, where there are potentials or proven problems with water quality that can be traced by to septic systems, to consider creating a Marine Recovery Area (MRA). Legislature was responding to problems in the Hood Canal with oxygen depletion and taking a look at areas that are affected by increased nitrogen levels. Clallam County decided to involve citizens, industry and other stakeholders in trying to figure out what the best and most reasonable way to proceed and do it in an approach that would be acceptable to the public. They formed an On -Site Septic work group and hired a highly qualified facilitator. The group consisted of lending institutions, realtors, citizens, city officials, state agencies, tribes, public utilities, Olympic National Park, OSS professionals, Conservation District, and Clallam County Environmental Health Services staff. The work groups met over a 7 month period, meeting monthly in the beginning and towards the end of the process meetings were held twice a month. Some of the recommendations that came out of the plan were: Homeowners should have a choice of either hiring a professional or doing the inspection themselves. It was decided that if you were going to do-it-yourself, you should have some training, therefore the county should set up some type of approved training program, which is currently being worked on. Page 3 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008 The workgroup also decided that a Marine Recovery Area (MRA) should be established since there was already a shellfish downgrade in effect for Dungeness Bay and commercial beds in Sequim Bay were potentially threatened. It was recommended that within an MRA the first inspection should be done by a professional. Subsequent inspection could be done by the homeowner if they had received county -approved training. Mr. Brastad responded to a question on quality control of inspections, stating that it comes down to oversight capacity. The main source of revenue that the county receives to support the regulation of on-site sewage systems comes from septic system permits. This permit revenue funds employees who evaluate and approve on-site sewage permits, perform field inspections, and work with the public to resolve problems with these systems. This funding is not sufficient to allow environmental health employees to look over the shoulder of private sector professionals and directly supervise their work. In order to encourage homeowner compliance with new regulations, the work group suggested focusing on incentives and education with penalties being the last resort. Reporting requirement should be kept simple and when issuing permits or with transfer or sale of property, the inspection should be done by a professional. The work group decided that it didn't matter how many inspections were done by the individual that had training. The industry representatives were supportive of trained individual performing inspections for others but felt they should not be allowed to charge a fee and the County needed to make sure to get the records. The homeowner is responsible for filing the necessary reports. There also needed to be some sort of agreement between the person doing the inspection and the property owner to address liability issues. The County is not getting involved with that aspect. The group's recommendation for financing was a stable funding source with financial assistance and low interest loans where appropriate. There needed to be an assessment or a fee for all OSS owners and felt it was feasible at a rate of $10-$20 a year. The Implementation Plan, if funding is available, will be to develop and conduct outreach and education, develop inspection and compliance programs, establish a stable funding source, begin to identify OSS in the MRA, and enhance record-keeping and notification abilities, train inspectors and homeowners, track inspection activity, and determine the best system type where nitrates are an issue. Mr. Brastad summarized what Clallam County has accomplished from 2004 through today. Starting in 2004 Clallam County applied for and was awarded the Centennial Grant to do on-site septic system management planning from Department of Health in 2005. Work started in 2006. Most of the work was data mining, determining how many permits were sitting in storage and getting that information in a GIS format. A work group was convened and a facilitator was hired. DOH provided funding for general implementation of the management plan with specific funding for implementing projects within the MRA. The work group is still meeting, using the facilitator, working on the data base and outreach and education. There were unspent funds from the DOH grant, so the Washington On-site Sewage Association (WOSSA) was hired to conduct a training session for homeowners to learn how to inspect their own system at no charge to the public. There are 6 classes scheduled. WOSSA charges the county $120 per person in each class. Class is limited to 20. Field trips are included. The work group was adamant about a test at the end of the course which needed to be passed in order to get certification. Certification expiration dates are still being worked out. Page 4 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008 Plans for the next two years include putting together a proposal for a pilot project that any county can use. Funds will come from the DOE Centennial Grant Funds to put together a training curriculum and train volunteers. The County will audit their inspections. The County will also audit their records which will be completed online. The records will go to a company called E - Onsite, they extract the information they need then send the records electronically to the county. E -Onsite reporting will begin in 2009. Mr. Brastad stated that Clallam County spent approximately $50, 000 in the first year on facilitation of the stakeholder group and development of the ODM plan. The $50, 000 was part of an approximately $100, 000 grant from the Department of Ecology. Jefferson County On -Site Sewage Code: Review of Homeowner Inspection Programs in 6 Washington Counties and Proposals for Jefferson Countv Homeowner Inspection Program Before the presentation Dr. Locke commented that we have heard from the public and staff regarding the many ideas brought up about convening work groups and other ways to proceed with the Inspection Program. Forming community work groups has many merits but it is important to be aware of the significant costs and how long the process takes. It is hoped that Jefferson County can learn from the experiences of other local health jurisdictions and avoid some of these costs. Angela Pieratt, Environmental Health Specialist, presented the Board with a summarized account of the Operation and Monitoring programs for six counties, including Clallam, Island, Kitsap, Thurston, Mason and Skagit Counties; each county has a different approach for meeting state requirements. Angela explained that while Jefferson County has had an Operation and Monitoring Program for over 20 years, many counties did not, and have been prompted to develop inspection programs with the July 2007 changes to WAC 246-272A. She walked the Board through the different programs for each of the six counties. Angela noted that in the past many of the programs only provided education, these counties are now beginning to implement programs that include inspection requirements. Some of the key elements she commented on for these counties included the inspection frequency, funding sources, requirements in MRAs and Homeowner Inspections Programs. Special attention was paid to the homeowner inspection programs & training; Island, Clallam (during the pilot program), Henderson WPA, and Skagit Counties offer training at no cost. Angie will continue this presentation at the next Board of Health meeting in July. Member Westerman asked for more detailed information on the Kitsap program; when did the homeowner inspection program begin that proved to be problematic and what problems did that county face that precipitated the new program requirements? Member Sullivan asked for more clarification on taking the certification class and whether or not that would give the individual the ability to inspect systems other than their own either personally or professionally? Availability of Grant Supported Hepatitis C Testing, Hepatitis A and B Vaccination, and HPV Vaccination for Women Aged 19-26 Jean Baldwin reported that JCPH was awarded two grants for vaccine. One grant is for HPV vaccine, which will include vaccination to women from age 19-26 for a period of approximately one year. JCPH will be doing intensive outreach and education. JCPH is doing a pilot as a government agency and have given 31 vaccinations this month. The other grant is for Hepatitis C Page 5 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008 testing. Hepatitis C destroys the liver and most people who have Hepatitis C don't know they have it. It's often times asymptomatic. The grant is a short term grant that will allow for testing those at high-risk. JCPH is offering Hepatitis A & B vaccine for high-risk people. Outreach is being done on both of these programs. Hepatitis C outreach is being done through the Syringe Exchange Program, the Family Planning Clinic and through information distributed to the doctors in the community. Dr. Locke reported that we just got the toxin test back on Lake Anderson and it is off the scale. The scale goes up to 6,000 and Lake Anderson tested higher than that in the scum layer. Now we have confirmed not only the presence of the algae but the toxin it produces. Anatoxin is a potent neurotoxin and can kill in a matter of minutes. Dr. Locke reported that other lakes are affected outside our area, but no lake in this state appears to have as severe a problem as Lake Anderson has. This toxin is contained within the algae cells and shouldn't pose a problem to ground water. Neil Harrington commented that JCPH is doing a major sweep of nutrient testing of area lakes through a grant from the Department of Ecology. ACTIVITY UPDATE AGENDA PLANNING Appeal Hearing for Solid Waste Continuation of Review of Homeowner Inspection Program ADJOURNMENT Member Westerman moved for adjournment. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Chair Austin adjourned the meeting at 4:35 PM. Page 6 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH WJAustin, hair z Roberta Frissell, Member Excused Phil Johnson, Member Michelle Sandoval, Member Sheila Westerman, Vice Chair Chuck Kyssell,, Me er oe �/';" David Sullivan, Member Page 7 Jefferson County Board of Health June 12, 2008