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to the already enormous amount of moisture the ground is asked to absorb from the effluent, “you’re asking the system to fail,” Mr. Shepherd said.
In addition to the studies addressing the design and siting of the new field, Mr. Shepherd said, the department would want to look at the possible effects of the large amount of effluent on the existing drainfields nearby. “We would probably ask their consultant to address that . . . we want to see the entire proposal.”
The Health Department is particularly cautious, he added, when reviewing proposals in a town like Washington. It realizes there are many old drain fields located on small lots, and if they fail, “correction is difficult because of the lot size and restrictions due to adjacent wells or septic fields.
“We don’t encourage anyone to put in mass drain fields,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons it is so hard to get approval.”
Any time there is that tremendous amount of sewerage and “you’re depending on nature, there are many things to consider.” If a pump stops or a valve sticks, it could cause failure of the system or excessive loading into one part of the field. The design is based on averages, he added. “What happens if those change? What happens if there is a particularly wet spring?”
The approval process for a mass drain field of the estimated size necessary to serve The Inn’s expansion, Mr. Shepherd said, “is a fairly drawn-out process.”
Noting that, to his knowledge, there have been no contacts with the Health Department, he estimated “It they called today and asked, ‘How long?’ I’d say count on six
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