Part 3 - Prevention
25th Anniversary Series
By Al Frechette, Environmental Health Manager
(Originally written for the Scott County SCENE Newsletter in 2003)
This is the last of a three part series on the history of the Scott County Environmental Health Department, which observed its 25th Anniversary in September of 2003. In the first part of this series we covered the program start up and some major environmental problems facing the County 25 years ago. In this second part I focused on Scott County's unique approach toward managing solid waste. In this final part of the series I will describe the County's environmental regulatory programs as well as our public educational emphasis.
If you missed a previous part of this series you can find the entire article on the County's Website at www.co.scott.mn.us. You will need to select "Departments & Offices", then "Community Development" to find the Environmental Health Department.
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Benjamin Franklin said that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". This is the basis for establishing regulations. Regulations are intended to prevent something from happening that would result in greater cost and misery to correct than the regulations are to comply with. The country, in the 1970s was beginning to experience the overwhelming cost for cleaning up our land, water and air. |
While all of the waste facility efforts described in the previous article were going on, Scott County was also collaborating with the other metropolitan counties, the MPCA and regional businesses in the development of the nation's first business hazardous waste regulations. Those regulations were adopted by each of the seven metropolitan counties in 1980 and followed a year later by the MPCA's adoption of similar statewide rules and several years later by federal Environmental Protection Agency rules. The standards debated and developed by the local businesses, the seven metropolitan counties and MPCA helped form the groundwork for the national standards. The numerous meetings those of us working on the hazardous waste regulations held were often very stressful as we were blazing new trails on how to solve the problem of proper management of hazardous waste by businesses. The county regulations have been changed over the years to coincide with the ever changing federal and state standards to ensure a consistent approach, though the regulatory efforts applied still vary around the country. The hazardous waste program, also mandated by state law, started out with licensing of about 30 businesses in 1980 who generated hazardous waste in Scott County. The program has grown to over 400 businesses that are licensed and inspected to ensure that the hazardous waste they generate is properly stored and managed. The primary concept of the regulations was to establish a means to track hazardous business waste from point of generation to final burial or incineration (cradle to grave). When the program started, businesses had very few options for proper management of their wastes. Fortunately, most businesses in Scott County were storing their wastes, though a few had actually buried or were burning their wastes. The Scott County program focused on education and assistance to local businesses rather than heavy handed prosecution and this approach has proven to not only achieve the desired goal but also to build a strong positive working relationship with local business leaders.
In 1981, the MPCA adopted the state's first comprehensive on-site sewage treatment system rules and Scott County became one of the first counties to subsequently adopt those provisions into an ordinance. We also established one of the first programs to set standards for individuals who designed, installed, pumped or did soil testing for on-site sewage systems and a licensing process, which has since been taken over by the MPCA. Scott County supported and facilitated the transition of this program to the State as a more efficient and consistent approach. Scott County's Individual Sewage Treatment System program continues to be a premier program in Minnesota, which is a leader in this area in the nation. In 2001 new standards applying to community systems were adopted and in 2002 Barr Engineering was contracted by Scott County to develop a computer model to improve system design.
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Scott County's ISTS program has been shaped by many different staff over the years. Originally under the Planning and Zoning department, Michael Rutten, now an Environmental Supervisor with Dakota County provided the training and direction that established a strong foundation for the current program, working closely with Carver County's William Dilks to coordinate licensing and training of professionals. |
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Jack Cates, the County's first fulltime Building Official also inspected many of the sewage systems in the County until his untimely death in 1983. Between 1983 and 1986 Peter Schmitt and I, amidst the other program responsibilities assumed most of the sewage treatment system responsibilities. In 1986 Jeff Peterson, was hired and he assumed primary responsibility for the program and largely shaped it into the program we currently have. He helped transition the licensing requirements to the MPCA, eliminating the fragmented approach that had grown with individual city and county programs and started the computerization of records. Jeff was followed by Terry Neff and then Brent Matter who is our current ISTS expert. The ISTS program remains a primary focus of the Environmental Health program, now with over 9,000 systems in the County and emerging community sewage treatment systems for rural developments.
Also in 1981 we worked with the Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS) to develop the nation's first county wide geological atlas that presented in visual format the hydrology and geology of Scott County. Other counties have realized the value of this information and many have subsequently worked with the MGS to develop their own atlases. We are currently pursing a digital upgrade to the atlas to allow this information to be used more widely in decision making related to geology and especially ground water resources.
One of the other major program activities that we have pursued since the beginning has been public education. The Environmental Health program has been involved with local community showcases since most of them began, as well as various other event type programs. Our early major focus was articles in local weekly newspapers and an occasional local radio call-in show. Then in 1988, we started the "Scott County Environmental News Educator" (SCENE). That newsletter was and continues to be funded (in part) by State solid waste surcharge funds provided by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance. Several years ago the County recognized the value of this format for communicating to residents and the SCENE has evolved to meet that need. Over the past few years, the County's Website has also become a major focus for our programs educational efforts. The Environmental Health Department material on the Web comprised almost 80% of the content on the County's site when it was converted over to its new format last year. The environmental information on the County's Website will continue to be a strong focus for our public educational efforts.
Other program areas include water well and radon testing services, public health nuisance investigation, and preparation of environmental review documents for large developments in the townships. Scott County's Environmental Health program, (with the exception of the $5.00 - $6.00 annual special assessment for the HHW facility) is - unlike any other environmental health program I am aware of - not supported by local property taxes. One of my goals early on was to develop a self-sustaining program, where our regulatory costs would be paid by fees associated with permits and licenses rather than local taxes. We also receive some state matching funds as all counties in Minnesota do. Our funds are used primarily for the HHW facility operation, public education and public health nuisance response, and some administration.
I wanted to mention the other staff, elected officials and volunteers who have helped to shape our Environmental Health Program over the years and had made a positive influence on making Scott County a safer place to live, but the list would be very long.
So where do we go from here? There is still a lot of work to be done. We are improving our ability to understand the surface water/ground water relationship and will be doing some computer modeling of the groundwater system on the east side of the County this summer and fall to better plan for future development in this area. We may look at taking on the food and lodging program as well as regulation of private well construction, though there are no immediate plans to do so. A lot will depend on what happens with these programs as state funding cuts affect the ability of the Minnesota Department of Health's programs. We will be proposing a reduction in the number of businesses that are required to obtain annual licenses to generate hazardous waste. About half of the businesses generate less than ten gallons of hazardous waste per year, or only low risk wastes. Those businesses that have good track records would no longer need to be licensed. This would reduce staff demands related to inspections and paperwork considerably while not presenting a significant risk to the environment. We are also seeing a move toward community sewage treatment systems instead of large lots with individual systems. This will result in long term improvements in management of on-site sewage systems and save some staff time as well. The Environmental Health program has been a leader among county departments with the use of technology to help us meet growing demands without concurrent staff increases. I envision that we will be moving toward internet access to many services, permit applications and data sharing in the near future as the County has made a strong commitment in this regard. It has been a thrilling 25 years for us who have worked to serve Scott County in the area of environmental health. Speaking, I am sure, for all the people who have worked with me over the years, we wish to thank the people of Scott County for giving us a wonderful opportunity to make a difference with our careers.