Looking For Solutions

To the Editor:

I truly appreciated your article "A Wake Up Call" (July Onsite Installer). Before I became an inspector for the Arkansas Department of Health, I had no idea so many in my county might not have the means or the resources to have a properly installed and functioning septic system.

However, we see these situations every day. When we respond to a complaint of a failing septic system and find an elderly or disabled person or other low-income household that has absolutely no means of repairing the problem, it is very frustrating. We could send the case to the prosecuting attorney for enforcement, but that won't solve the problem. We are more interested in solutions than prosecution.

Frustrated by what we were seeing, our health unit reached out to the grants administrator for our county government. She had extensive experience with water and sewer grants. It was her idea to use the Innovative Use Clause of the HUD Community Development Block Grant to assist low- to moderate-income families in repairing their septic systems. In September 2009, the county was awarded $128,700 for our project.

We installed 14 new septic systems with money left over. We were allowed to keep the remaining funds and apply it toward repairing 24 more systems. We are just beginning that process (lots of paperwork). To our knowledge, this is the first time HUD CDBG money has been used to repair failing septic systems in Arkansas.

I really respect and enjoy your publication. I hope to see more human interest stories in the future. They remind us of why we do what we do.

Piper Satterfield

Environmental Health Specialist

Arkansas Department of Health-Benton County