HomeMy WebLinkAbout240124_Tharinger Septage letter
Phone (360) 385-9100 Fax (360) 385-9382 eeisenhour@co.jefferson.wa.us
Heidi Eisenhour, Commissioner District 2
1820 Jefferson Street
PO Box 1220
Port Townsend, WA 98368
www.co.jefferson.wa.us
January 24, 2024
Representative Steve Tharinger
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Dear Steve,
As we’ve talked about, counties around Western Washington are seeing increasing issues related to
handling septage include oil and grease. I have also had a couple of conversations with Kevin about
this issue. In 2022 Jefferson County undertook a telephone survey of 15 entities to assess septage
management constraints that were being encountered (Pacific, King, Clark, Thurston, Benton /
Franklin, Snohomish, Whatcom, Grays Harbor, Clallam, San Juan, Island, Kitsap and Skagit Counties,
City of Tacoma and Bio Recycling in Mason County).
In our conversations with other jurisdictions we heard a wide array of constraints they were being
confronted with especially around the disposal of FOG (Fats, Oils & Grease) primarily collected
through grease trap servicing in food service and hospitality establishments. It was striking that King
County had multiple issues with disposal of mixed waste and grease. Another theme from at least a
third of our conversations was WWTPS (wastewater treatment plants) bumping up against their
permit or capacity limits. Additionally, in the past haulers have relied on WWTPs in neighboring
jurisdictions but in some cases that practice has been curtailed due to those jurisdictions only being
able to handle their own septage now because of growing populations in their boundaries.
A specific example of this that occurred just this past summer was Clallam County WWTP notifing
haulers they would be closed for 10-20 days for maintenance. When they reached out to the Port
Townsend WWTP (the only one in Jefferson County currently) they were informed that it was closed
to anyone outside of Jefferson County due to capacity issues.
This week, I asked for an update from our local septage hauler, Goodman Sanitation, in preparation
for reaching out to you. Here are the key points I heard:
The total volume we are able to dump (county wide) 6,000 gallons a day the equivalent of
six homes or potentially one or two LOSS (large on-site septic) systems.
Wait time to enter the local facility. Due to single road entry and exit share with solid waste
transfer station. We sometimes wait up to an hour.
The city facility sometimes can’t open until 9am or later or receive waste after 3pm. This
really limits our ability to respond to emergencies or maximize the longer summer days.
We cannot take the Porto-potty waste or vault toilet waste to the local facility due to waste
strength. There is no place in the county to discharge it. Though, these units are required at
every permitted job site. And necessary for outdoor recreation.
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Representative Steve Tharinger
January 24, 2024
Page 2 of 2
Grease interceptors in septic systems still have to be pumped by out of county parties and
hauled great distance, (I’m honestly not sure who is doing this for area businesses) since no
place will take the grease from our region.
In the spirit of being solutions oriented we have worked with our county colleagues on an ask. We
are asking for your leadership in securing a $250,000 appropriation for the next two years for the
Department of Ecology to work with us to study this problem. Here is our proposed proviso:
$125,00 of the general fund - state appropriation for fiscal year 2024 and $125,00 of the general
fund - state appropriation for fiscal year 2025 are provided solely for the department to contract
with the Washington State Association of Counties to conduct a Septage Capacity and Risk Analysis
for Washington State. The study will determine how much current wastewater treatment capacity
exists in the state to treat and dispose of septage, conduct a risk assessment to ensure that
Washington has proper wastewater treatment infrastructure in the future to accommodate
development growth using on-site septage system, and must report to the appropriate committees
of the legislature policy recommendations by October 1St, 2025.
You and I have talked about how this is an issue that has the potential to impact the lives of every
single resident, and visitors alike, to the regions impacted. Now is the time to undertake this study
and develop solutions. I can guarantee you that in the two years we have been talking about this
issue, it hasn’t gotten better.
Sincerely,
Heidi Eisenhour
C: Senator Kevin Van De Wege
Representative Mike Chapman
Rich Doenges, Regional Director, SW Washington, Dept of Ecology
Paul Jewell, Washington Association of Counties
Jaime Boden, Washington Association of Public Health Officials
Megan Moore, Washington Public Health Association
Pinky Mingo, Jefferson County Environmental Public Health
Amanda Grace, Goodman Sanitation
Kelsey Hulse, Strategies 360