Neighbour not happy with plan to dump sewage on nearby field

Kara Dannenhold's position is simple: She doesn't want the owner of a septic company to be allowed to dump sewage on a field less than two kilometres away from her home near Mt. Brydges. 

"We're all on well water here, I feel that the health and safety risks are immense," said Dannenhold. 

But permission to spread untreated sewage over a farm field in the rural area is exactly what Dwayne Wilson is seeking. 

Wilson owns The Stool Bus, a Glencoe-based company that cleans and repairs septic systems. In business for about 20 years, Wilson has applied for permission to dump untreated sewage on a 4.6 hectare parcel (about 11 acres) of land he owns on Falconbridge Road.

The application, details of which are posted here on the ministry's website, would allow Wilson to spread untreated sewage over the surface of a field on the property. It's something Wilson points out that farmers often already do to get rid of animal waste and fertilize fields. 

According to details of the application filed online, Wilson would have to report any spills to the ministry. 

The company would also be required to ensure that "no unnecessary off-site effects, such as vermin, vectors, odour, dust, litter, noise or traffic, result from the operation of this site." 

The rules also say dumping wouldn't be allowed when the ground is frozen or snow-covered. 

Worries about lack of oversight

None of these requirements give much comfort to Dannenhold, who sees the written rules as vague.

"I'm worried there won't be much oversight," she said. 

Wilson, however, has legally surface-dumped sewage before at another Strathroy-Caradoc site, but had to stop doing it when the owner of the land decided to return the property to crop production. Wilson says surface dumping can be done safety and will have no noticeable ill effects for neighbours, including smell. 

He said most of the waste he collects is already partially decomposed because the solids in septic systems need to be pumped out every five years on average. 

"Almost every person who is on a septic tank now has a well no more than a few hundred feet away," said Wilson. 

However, a similar application he submitted for a property near Glencoe was denied by the ministry in 2018. The only reason given on the ministry's website is that the site "was not appropriate for hauled sewage disposal."

Wilson has in the past trucked the sewage to London where it's put into the municipal wastewater system for treatment, but that costs 16.05 cents a cubic — or about $150 for a typical truck load. Also, Wilson says rates have risen sharply in recent years. 

Along with higher diesel prices, he says those extra hauling and dumping costs get passed on to customers who rely on periodic sewage hauling in areas with no municipal sewers. 

Wilson said he won't know how much waste he'll be allowed to dump at the site unless and until it's approved. He said the maximum would likely be about 20,000 litres a day, five days a week. 

Wilson said increasing dump costs mean the disposal aspect of his businesses barely breaks even. However, it's an important part of the business because it allows him to inspect septic systems on properties and flag problems for property owners, including potentially dangerous leaks. 

"About 20 per cent of septic tanks in operation aren't functioning properly," he said. 

Dannenhold is preparing a submission to the province she says will outline her concerns about everything from the potential for environmental damage to concerns about the effect on her property value.  

She said Wilson should be required to put the waste where it will be safety treated, regardless of the cost to him in time or labour.

"It's unfair to expect rural residents to forsake our own health and the health of the farmers' livestock for his convenience," she said.

The application for surface sewage dumping on the Falconbridge Drive property is currently in a 45-day comment period. It concludes on April 16 and will be followed by a ministry's decision.