07/05/2005     

Too much sewage flowing into Vermilion: Water samples studied since 2001
By RICHARD BURGESS, Acadiana bureau
rburgess@theadvocate.com

Advocate staff photo by Bryan Tuck

Bayou Vermilion District employee Joany Boudreaux conducts a water quality test on a section of Bayou Tortue near the Vermilion River. Waterways that flow into the river are routinely checked for water-quality factors.

LAFAYETTE -- More sewage is flowing out of toilets into the Vermilion River than is considered safe, according to a report that concludes the waste poses a "health hazard" that should be addressed by stricter regulation of home sewer systems in Lafayette Parish. The study, prepared by the Bayou Vermilion District, is based on water sampling data compiled since 2001, and looks at water flowing into the river from the 11 major drainage coulees that empty into the Vermilion.

The research found that average levels of the bacteria fecal coliform -- an indicator of sewage -- were more than eight times higher than the safety limit for "primary contact recreation" -- swimming or skiing. The problem is not limited to Lafayette.

Bayou Vermilion District Kerry Collins said he hopes that Lafayette will join areas working to address the issue. Collins said it has long been known that fecal coliform counts are high in the Bayou Vermilion -- which isn't recommended for swimming -- but the study is effort to pinpoint the problem.

"It's easy to prove there is a problem. It's (harder to prove) who's responsible," he said. The answer, based on samples taken along the coulee system, is malfunctioning home sewer systems, Collins said. There are between 15,000 and 20,000 private septic systems in unincorporated areas of the parish, and if Lafayette Parish follows statewide trends, as many as half of those could be malfunctioning, Collins said. The state already sets standards for home sewer systems, but the Louisiana Office of Public Health generally inspects those systems only when the units are installed or when there is a complaint.

Collins said complaints are rarely made until a system fails, sending foul-smelling raw sewage flowing into a roadside ditch. "The state cannot handle the magnitude of the problem," he said. "This really needs to be addressed on the local level." Collins said he plans to present the report to Lafayette Consolidated Government later this year in an effort to get strict local regulations on the permitting and inspection of sewer systems. 

A few parishes have already made the move, including nearby Calcasieu, which passed local home sewer system regulations in 2003. "It was becoming a health problem, and still is," said Wes Crain, assistant director of planning and development for Calcasieu Parish. "We found that there was raw sewage coming from these sewer systems. People just weren't maintaining them." Crain said the parish hired its own sewer inspectors and sends out notification letters asking residents to fix or replace malfunctioning systems.

If the problem isn't addressed, the parish repairs the sewer system and bills the resident for the work, he said. Crain said most residents, when given notice, are not aware that their sewer system is not working. "It's out of sight, out of mind. If the toilet flushes, they don't care," he said.

The level of sewage pollution in the Vermilion River is not unusual for water bodies in rural areas, said Jan Boydstun, an environmental scientist with the state Department of Environmental Quality. She said rural areas have more home sewer systems than urban areas and also have pasture land, which is also a source of fecal coliform when rainwater washes away animal waste. Boydstun said education programs have been helpful in reducing pastureland runoff into the Vermilion.

Farmers have installed fences to keep cows away from the water so their droppings aren't left too close to the bank, and farmers have planted vegetation buffers to filter runoff, she said. And the fecal coliform counts for the river have been declining -- from an average of 4,904 "colony-forming units" per 100 milliliters of water in 1998 to 1,767 cfu per 100 milliliters in 2004, Boydstun said. The safe level for swimming and skiing is 200 cfu per 100 milliliters. "We still need about an 88 percent reduction," she said. "Even though we have a ways to go, we are making progress."

Collins said the sewage problem is one of the final hurdles in cleaning the river. He said major sources of industrial pollution were addressed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and municipal sewerage systems that discharge into the river have largely cleaned up their act. Collins said he plans to suggest a $35 permit fee for home sewer systems that would be paid every three years, raising at least $175,000 per year to hire three home sewer system inspectors.

"I definitely think it sounds like something worth looking at," said Randy Menard, chairman of Lafayette's consolidated council. Menard, though, said he was not familiar with the problem.

"That's why we did this report," Collins said. "Before we can ask someone to take action on this, it's incumbent on us to demonstrate that there is a problem, and I think we have."