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| Environmental engineering consultant Matthew Pearson speaks about the mandatory septic inspection program he helped to start during a forum on septic system hosted by the CHA on May 31. CHAD INGRAM/MINDEN TIMES/QMI AGENCY |
They are the No. 1 enemy of lake health in Haliburton County, slowly depleting oxygen levels, lowering fish populations and giving rise to the occurrence of algal blooms. The Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners' Associations hosted a forum on septic systems at the Community Room in Haliburton on May 31. Septic tanks damage ecosystems by dumping nutrients – most problematically phosphorous – into water bodies. While phosphorous is used in many products such as detergents and fertilizers, it's also found in high concentration in human waste. Nutrient levels combined with the effects of climate change are painting a dire picture of the future of lakes in the county.
“What we have found over the past few years has scared the heck out of us,” said CHA president Paul MacInnes as he addressed a crowd of local politicians, municipal staffers and lake association reps. “We never had algal blooms until a couple of years ago.” Algal blooms are large, floating masses of algae that ravenously suck oxygen from their host environments. MacInnes said the average temperature of lakes in the county has risen by some one-and-half degrees. An increase of one degree, he said, can impact fish populations by as much as 30 per cent. “We're certainly not going to have the valuable, cold-water fish that we've had in the past.” Perhaps most disturbing was the recent discovery of three dead zones in Lake Kashagawigamog. A dead zone is an area with so little oxygen that nothing can survive. “No creatures of any kind,” MacInnes said, emphasizing this didn't mean just fish and plants, but also daphnia – microscopic organisms essential to the filtering of lakes. “We don't know how many [dead zones] there are in Haliburton County.”
The day's keynote speaker was Matthew Pearson, an environmental engineering consultant and principal at Goderich-based firm B.M. Ross and Associates Ltd.Pearson's company has developed a mandatory septic inspection program in Huron-Kinloss township in partnership with the municipal government.Huron-Kinloss is located in Bruce County along the shore of Lake Huron.
“We don't dig up your septic system . . . but we do look in your tank,” Pearson said, explaining the program hosts “septic socials,” where residents can come and watch the process, usually at the home of a community leader of some sort. Community-based social marketing – including booklets, outreach, education and followup – has been key in the success of the program. “To me, the inspection part is only a third of the whole program,” Pearson said, adding that all of the program's promotional tools feature images of the lake. “Everything we do connects it back to the lake.”
In the decade or so the program has existed, there have been 2,300 inspections, without any refusals.
“We haven't had to do that,” Pearson said. “We haven't had to make anybody play the game.” Only recently was there a man who didn't want an inspection done, he added. Pearson said there have been some complaints about the $55 fee. The program, which Pearson said is continually evaluated, works on a eight-year cycle.
For the full article go to: http://www.mindentimes.ca/2013/05/31/fighting-the-effects-of-septic-systems
