EPA Targets Nitrogen Reduction in Five Eastern States

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned five states they aren’t doing enough to reduce nitrogen in Long Island Sound. EPA proposed new strategies to reduce nitrogen in a letter to officials in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. Besides continuing to upgrade wastewater treatment plants, EPA said nitrogen targets for each state would help reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the Sound from other sources such as storm drains, septic systems and
lawn fertilizers.

Colorado

Illegal dwellings are popping up all over Colorado as people look to cash in on the state’s new legal marijuana industry. It’s not known how many people are living off the grid with no running water, sanitation or proper heating systems. One fire chief in Park County said he counted 287 illegal homes in a single 50-mile drive, including RVs, campers, tents and makeshift structures. The county has hired two additional code enforcement officers and are updating zoning codes to make sure local ordinances properly regulate the dwellings.

New York

The Chautauqua County Board of Health began inspecting all private onsite wastewater systems within 250 feet of its five lakes in May. The inspections will focus on two lakes in 2016, with the project expected to take a few years to complete as the county reduces phosphorus reaching into the lakes and contributing to algae blooms. The county will be looking at systems more than 30 years old and those installed before permits were required.

Property owners will not be charged for the inspections but will have to pay the cost of uncovering the system and the cost to have it pumped for inspection. Local health officials will conduct a visual inspection and dye testing to determine the capacity and structural integrity of systems. The Environmental Health Department will work with owners of failed systems to determine actions needed to repair or replace them in order to meet sanitary codes.

Officials in Astoria, New York, say it will be 2019 before a popular park’s bathrooms can be reopened. Last spring, it was discovered that the bathrooms for Astoria Park pool and playground were draining directly into the East River for decades because of an outdated septic system installed in the 1930s. Portable restrooms are being used in the interim as repairs go through the community’s design and procurement process.



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