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Thompson Hill Sewer Extension: Attorney General’s Alternative Proposal

October 7, 2004
Enclosed, please find a copy of the Attorney General’s letter of August 31, 2004 outlining a proposed on-site alternative to the extension of the sewer line in the Thompson Hill area.

By way of background, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection ordered the Town of Thompson to extend the sewer line from its waste water treatment facility to Thompson Hill in October 1993. The Town and the DEP subsequently entered into a consent order in 1994 which allowed the Town to study the need for such an extension and ways which any pollution problem could be most effectively abated. Over the course of the next six years, two studies were done and both ultimately recommended the extension of the sewer line. The Town has had three referenda to fund the extension of the sewer line (June, 1998; April, 2000; July, 2000) and funding was defeated at each referendum. In September of 2000, after the last referendum, the DEP referred this matter to the Attorney General’s Office for enforcement.

The Attorney General’s Office, rather than immediately suing the Town of Thompson to enforce the consent order, has carefully explored the possibility of abating pollution without the extension of the sewer line. Enclosed is the Attorney General’s proposal for an on-site alternative. You will note that this is an alternative proposal; the Town of Thompson now has a choice rather than the exclusive solution of a sewer line. The Town must, however, make a choice as the Attorney General is willing to enter into a stipulated judgment by agreement with the Town.

If you have any questions in regard to the proposal, please feel free to contact the Selectmen’s Office at (860) 923-9561 or Dennis J. Greci, Supervising Sanitary Engineer at the Department of Environmental Protection at (860) 424-3751.

Very truly yours,
Douglas J. Williams
First Selectman

Text of Letter from Attorney General Richard Blumenthal

State of Connecticut

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Hartford, August 31, 2004

The Honorable Douglas Williams
First Selectman
Municipal Building
Riverside Drive
North Grosvenordale, CT 06255

RE: Consent Order No. WC5129

Dear First Selectman Williams:

Please disregard the letter to you dated August 24, 2004 on this topic and substitute this letter in its stead. Thank you for your continued interest and concern for a reasonable resolution of DEP's order addressing the sewage disposal problems on Thompson Hill. To address your desire for a solution that would not require installation of sewers, the DEP is willing to consider an alternative which only recently became available due to recently passed legislation: a decentralized wastewater management district. This approach, which would be applied to all affected homeowners, would require the upgrade of all sub-standard subsurface sewage disposal systems to either a system meeting a pre-defined set of standards (see below) or to alternative technologies.1

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-247 was recently revised to allow the creation of decentralized wastewater management district. The Commissioner of DEP is willing to entertain a proposal by Thompson pursuant to the revised statute under the conditions outlined in this letter. Thompson must submit an engineering report that compares the decentralized wastewater management alternative to the sewer alternative. In order for the decentralized wastewater management alternative to be acceptable, it must demonstrate that the pollution can be effectively abated with the proposed systems. The report must include, as a minimum, all affected property owners in the Thompson Hill area and must propose an on-site system for every affected property owner. The Town must also secure approval for this approach from the State Department of Public Health (DPH) in consulation with the local Director of Health.

1'All affected property owners" as used this letter means those owners of the property listed on Table 4 of the report entitled "Thompson Hill Area On Site Wastewater Disposal Study, October 1999", prepared by Lenard Engineering, Inc. to DEP for its review and approval.


The proposed decentralized solution must require all properties within the Thompson Hill study area that have subsurface sewage disposal systems that do not meet the current State of Connecticut Public Health Code's Technical Standards (PHC) to improve their systems by installing one of the following:
  1. A subsurface sewage disposal system that meets the PHC without variances, except for setbacks from property lines; or

  2. An alternative treatment system and adequately sized leaching field providing treatment to meet DEP's subsurface sewage disposal requirements, or

  3. A holding tank (including a pumpout program to insure against overflows).

Under the recently modified law, the WPCA and the local health department would have the authority to investigate, evaluate, and order upgrades or replacements of all wastewater disposal systems within the district that did not meet the minimum requirements (PHC). The Town must manage the operation of the treatment systems. Inspections and maintenance (including pumping of septic tanks) must be conducted on a regular basis. The property owner must pay a utility bill on a regular basis that would cover the cost of operation, inspection, maintenance, and any other cost of assuring that the treatment systems perform adequately to protect health and the environment.

Items of special note that must be included in any remediation standard for the decentralized wastewater management option include, but will not be limited to:

  1. Holding Tanks
    a. The operation and maintenance of the holding tank, which includes metering and hauling, must be done by the municipality or by private party under a contract with the municipality.

    b. A notice must be placed on the land records indicating the limitations on waste disposal placed on the property.

  2. Septic Tanks

    a. Any existing septic tank meeting all technical standards including two compartments, inlet and outlet baffles and minimum capacity of Section V of the January 1, 1989 Regulations and Technical Standards for Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems of the Connecticut Public Health Code (PHC), may remain in use provided effluent filters are utilized.

    b. Any septic tank not meeting the standard in "a" above shall be replaced with a tank meeting the current PHC.

    c. Septic tanks with more than 12 inches of cover shall have risers installed over access covers.

  3. Alternative Treatment Units (ATUs)

    The wastewater flows must be based upon the PHC. The leach field size must be based upon a hydraulic capacity analysis with a 24" separation distance between the bottom of the leaching system and the mounded effluent.

  4. Leaching System Layout

    Out-buildings, above-ground swimming pools, decks, trees, stone walls, and any other interference to system installation (septic tanks, trenches, package plants) shall be considered removable and shall not limit subsurface sewage disposal systems design and installation when necessary to comply with all legal, environmental and Public Health Code requirements. All leaching systems shall meet all the requirements of the Public Health Code. These standards must be incorporated in rules and Regulations as required by 7-247 as amended by P.A. 03-6.

  5. Operation and Maintenance

    a. The Town shall be responsible for operation and maintenance of all wastewater treatment systems in the district (both PHC systems and ATU's) in accordance with a schedule agreed upon by DEP and DPH. The Town may enter into an operation and maintenance contract for part or all of the wastewater treatment systems with a qualified individual or company holding a proper wastewater operator certificate issued by DEP. The operator shall keep records of the maintenance inspections and shall immediately report operational problems and system failures to the Town.


    All operations and maintenance records shall be forwarded to the Town not less than annually and recorded in the WPCA database. ATUs shall be installed with telemetry, providing a system malfunction/loss of power status to the Town's management system.

    b. The property owners will be responsible for the cost of operation and
    maintenance of all treatment systems and for granting permanent access easements to the Town to operate, maintain and monitor the systems.

  6. Please be aware that Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-247 as amended by P.A. 03-6 requires the Town to pass an ordinance to designate decentralized wastewater management districts.

  7. Plans for upgrade of septic svstems

    a. Plans for upgrade of conventional septic systems must be submitted to the
    Northeast District Department of Health for review and approval and to DEP for alternative technology units and holding tanks.

    b. Any new subsurface sewage disposal system component installed shall be field located, including elevations and as-built plans. This information shall be submitted to the Town of Thompson.

If you agree to this concept, then the DEP would assist the WPCA in developing the scope of services necessary to develop the on-site treatment alternative.

As you are aware, the Town signed a Consent Order in 1994 obligating it to address the pollution problems. The DEP has referred the Town's lack of compliance to this office with a request to prosecute. We hope the course of action we have outlined will give us the opportunity to address the pollution problem in a way that avoids sewers or a suit to enforce the Consent Order. To resolve this long-standing matter, the terms we have discussed must be incorporated into a stipulated judgment, which can be entered at the time of filing of the suit. In the event, however, that the decentralized wastewater management district is not possible for any reason, the Town must agree to install sewers as required by the Consent Order signed by the Town.


Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

Very truly yours,

cc: William H. St. Onge, Town Attorney


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Q&A for Discussion of the Decentralized Wastewater Management District

Below are several relevant, important questions and answers regarding the Attorney General’s proposal and the status of the Department of Environmental Protection order in general.

Will the Town of Thompson be sued by the Attorney General if affected property owners don’t agree to one of the two choices?

Answer: YES

If the Town passes an ordinance providing for a Decentralized Wastewater Management District, the Attorney General will still file a “friendly” law suit and the Town and the Attorney General’s Office will simply enter an agreed stipulation in court. The terms of the stipulation (dates and performance) would be agreed upon prior to the lawsuit.

What happens if the Town does not pass an ordinance for a Decentralized Wastewater Management District or does nothing?

Answer: The Attorney General will still sue the Town of Thompson in order to enforce the 1994 consent order. This would not be a suit in which the terms were agreed upon (by stipulated judgment) and substantial penalties would be sought by the Attorney General’s Office and the DEP against the Town, payable by all taxpayers.

Will the Attorney General make an agreement ONLY for a Decentralized Wastewater Management District?

Answer: NO

The Town may enter an agreement with the Attorney General for EITHER the Decentralized Wastewater Management District or a municipal sewer line.

Who pays for the cost for repair and/or installation of a new septic system on each property in order to meet the requirement of the Decentralized Wastewater Management District?

Answer: All the costs for repair and/or installation of a new septic system are paid entirely by the property owner. That includes engineering, materials and labor. Grants and low interest loans may be available.

What if the property owner in the Decentralized Wastewater Management District fails or refuses to comply with the District requirements?

Answer: In order to establish such a District, the Town must pass an ordinance which would necessarily include various fines and penalties, potential orders to abate and possibly even remedies by injunction, levied against such property owner in the same manner in which it would be done if a sewer line passed that property. Until paid, there would be a lien on the deed of record.

What are the ongoing (yearly) charges to the 70 properties that would comprise the Decentralized Wastewater Management District?

Answer: Until the actual cost of pumping, package system, holding tanks, as well as maintaining the septic systems are determined, the precise cost per household cannot be determined at this time.

Each of the 70 property owners will pay an annual service / maintenance charge just as properties hooked into a sewer line pay an annual operation and maintenance charge. The charge would be based upon the cost of maintenance of the previously mentioned systems, pumping, etc. and will be subject to DEP approval and will be monitored by the WPCA.


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