Iowa will require septic tank inspections before the sale or transfer of homes starting July 1, 2009. Gov. Chet Culver signed the bill after it was passed by the state senate on Feb. 25. About 20 of the state’s 99 counties already require such inspections. Systems that don’t pass the inspection must be brought into compliance before the sale is completed. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will certify inspectors.
Speaking at the Iowa Onsite Waste Water Association annual conference in January, Rich Leopold, director of the Iowa DNR, said suburban subdivisions account for more than half of the state’s septic systems. Of the state’s 200,000 private onsite septic systems, Leopold said half have permits.
Michigan
The Traverse City Record-Eagle newspaper reports that losses at the troubled septage treatment plant there — which partially collapsed about a month after opening in 2005 — could triple with the loss of a key customer.
According to newspaper accounts, CMS Energy paid $454,000 to the facility last year to dispose of contaminated water from an old cement factory. CMS has now received state and federal permits for a new method of disposing of the water and intends to stop using the plant by the end of 2008. However, the permits have been appealed.
Losing CMS as a customer would increase the annual loss at the septage plant from an average of $225,000 per year to more than $675,000 per year beginning in 2009, according to the newspaper. A total loss of $1.3 million is projected through 2011. The plant is receiving about half the septic tank waste that was projected.
The $7.8 million plant was crippled in June 2005 when a holding tank collapsed.
Missouri
The Department of Health and Senior Services is considering changes to requirements for installers, soil evaluators and percolation testers. The proposed changes include fee increases, a reduction in continuing education requirements for renewed registrations, and new standards of practice. Changes could become effective by the end of September. Visit www.dhss.mo.gov/Onsite.
