What’s New At The Environmental Health Department?
In addition to conducting the regular business of the Ravalli County Environmental Health Department (RCEH) – restaurant inspections, septic permitting and inspection, subdivision review, ground water monitoring and following up on environmental complaints – our department will soon begin a slate of activities intended to help protect the valley’s precious drinking water.
Last January, RCEH was awarded a 319 Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act Non-point Source Pollution section. Administered by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the grant’s main objective is to update and implement an existing source water protection plan for the city of Hamilton.
The $75,000 grant will help pay for well testing in Hamilton’s drinking water recharge area and an education campaign focused on watershed and water quality issues. We will be offering septic pumping coupons, and we already held a successful Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event in May with the help of another $25,000 from DEQ’s Source Water Protection Program.
Water testing
In the next month, we will be contacting homeowners in Hamilton’s watershed recharge area – basically, the area between Fairgrounds Road and Skalkaho Highway, east of U.S. 93 – to offer free well testing. Our goal is to collect samples from 50 wells twice a year for two years – once during the summer, when ground water levels are at their peak, and again in late winter, when ground water is at its lowest level. Samples will be analyzed for nitrates, specific conductivity, total dissolved solids, bacteria and pH.
Testing existing wells will allow us to create baseline data and thereby identify potential problem areas within the recharge area. Such data will also later allow us to assess the effectiveness of our community ground water awareness and septic-maintenance campaign.
We will also pursue future funding to establish new, dedicated monitoring wells within the source water area for long-term analysis.
Homeowners within the Hamilton watershed recharge area should receive a letter soon inviting them to participate in the water testing program.
Septic maintenance
Also in the next couple of months, homeowners in the Hamilton recharge area will receive information about a program offering $75 discount coupons for septic tank pumping. The coupons will be issued by the RCEH Department and honored by participating septic pumpers. Accompanying each coupon will be useful information about proper septic maintenance and safe household hazardous waste disposal.
The goals of the coupon program are to lessen the potential threat of ground water contamination from poorly maintained septic systems and to provide information to the public about the danger of poorly maintained, failed or densely crowded septic systems.
We received funding for 300 coupons, which will initially be offered to homeowners within the Hamilton recharge area. If, after a certain date, not all the coupons are used, we would make them available to county residents living outside the Hamilton watershed recharge area.
Water quality education
Within the next year, and with the help of water quality specialists from DEQ, we will hold a Source Water Protection Workshop to provide useful information to citizens interested in protecting the valley’s drinking water.
In addition, we will utilize the students, teachers and resources of the Hamilton School District to design and create permanent informational signs alerting people to the location of the Hamilton drinking water supply recharge area. Signs will be strategically placed within the source water protection area to illustrate the need to protect our ground water.
We will also print and distribute educational materials from Montana Watercourse to area schools and though community events such as the Ravalli County Fair, local farmers markets and area schools.
Why focus on Hamilton?
People may wonder why we’re focusing so much on Hamilton. After all, our department represents all of Ravalli County.
Last year, the folks from the city of Hamilton approached us seeking help in updating and implementing a Source Water Protection Plan that was done in 2001 and never implemented. A similar plan was also done for Darby and Stevensville.
In response to their request, we targeted our grant proposal to the Hamilton area. We knew that many of the benefits from the project would spill over into the rest of the community – like the countywide Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event! The Hamilton recharge area has a number of potential threats – high water table, high septic density, etc – and needs to be monitored.
In future years, we would like to do similar testing and monitoring all over the valley, and we would consider applying for additional grant funding if community’s request it.
These projects are a departure from the normal and necessary business of the Environmental Health Department, and they represent a desire from our director and commissioners to be more proactive on environmental health issues. We believe gathering solid baseline data and educating the public on water quality issues is a worthwhile pursuit, and we encourage citizen involvement.
In order to help citizens understand more clearly many of the environmental health issues in Ravalli County and the role of the Environmental Health Department in addressing these issues, our department will run a series of weekly newspaper articles titled “Environmental Health Talk.”
In this ongoing series we hope to help raise the community’s awareness of issues such as air and water quality and give readers useful tips on topics like recycling, collecting and disposing of hazardous materials and maintaining septic systems, just to name a few. To this end, we welcome pubic comment. If there’s an environmental health issue you’d like us to address, write call or email the department: RCEH, c/o “EnviroHealth Talk,” 215 South 4th St, Suite D, Hamilton MT 59840. Phone: 375-6571. Email: rdaniel@ravallicounty.mt.gov
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