Technical Advisory Council
for
Onsite Wastewater Treatment
Meeting held June 1, 2006 Michigan State University, Agronomy Farm.
Members and alternates present: Chuck Cousino, Bill Danly, Tony Drautz, Ben Foster, Larry Johnson, Ron Lindsay, Dan Wagner, and Regina Young.
Guests present: Laura Pobanz, Macomb Co., representing Gary White
Review of agenda. Approved.
Meeting Minutes Reviewed. Motion by Bill Danly, second by Ron Lindsay that the minutes of the April 20, 2006 minutes be approved. Approved.
OLD BUSINESS
Website Postings—Ben reported that he has not received the revised order form. Meeting minutes from the March meeting are posted. Chronological order has been edited to latest date order. Ben will look at the links established to the Wisconsin site within the TAC publications section.
Commercial Flow Study – Ron reported that he has not been in contact with Gary White. Laura reported that Gary will be asking her to work on the flow study. Ron will contact Gary to plan to work on the study together. Chuck asked that a realistic goal be set to complete the study and try to have draft by the next TAC meeting.
Concrete Septic Tank Manufacturer’s Association --- Review of tank inspection document. Ben suggested a new photo that doesn’t show a person in the whole for Figure B. Tony has been working on putting document into word and then into a pdf format. Dan will try to get a different picture, change the title and send it out one last time. Tony will finish formatting and send out to everyone. Larry will forward to MEHA for posting to the website. Tony will put on MALEHA listserv. Ben will then post to MOWRA website. Motion to approve documents with noted revisions by Ben F. and support by Bill Danly. Approved unanimously.
Dan reported that NPCA now has implemented their wastewater accreditation program for manufacturers of concrete tanks. Milan Vault is taking steps to be the first to be certified. Preparation includes training for ACI certification, purchasing test equipment, performing tests, obtaining engineering certification of tank drawings, etc. The overhead costs are significant. Dan feels that a company that becomes certified will most definitely make a better tank. Adoption of a regulatory requirement for the tanks to be certified is necessary. Discussion of various methods to incorporate NPCA into regulatory requirements such as the Ten State Standards. Tony will check with the MALEHA President to see if this topic can be added to the MALEHA agenda. Discussion from group about potential MDEQ involvement in implementing through their authority.
Training Center Update --- Chuck is working on the survey for MALEHA regarding the training center. A maintenance work session was conducted last week at MOWTEC. Volunteers ar working on a cut away mound and thinking about adding another aerobic unit. Discussion of the various ATU technologies available.
MDEQ Community Systems --- No MDEQ member was present at the meeting to discuss the response to the community system whitepaper. Tony has inquired with MALAHA President about providing the document to others. MOWRA will be meeting with MDEQ regarding the recent change in interpretation of the Part 22 Rules for systems over 10,000 gpd.
EPA Alternative Systems Database---Regina sent out URL of website to order the TWIST database which in available now on the EPA website. The web address is www.epa.gov/agriculture/tfac.html#septic. Discussion of similar products and NSF’s database. Ron reported that not all of the control panels will be accepted by NSF. This requires additional components. Ben and Ron reported an industry concern regarding regulations requiring access to a proprietary device such as NSF and promoting a proprietary device. It can be projected that there will be multiple databases available that will monitor systems.
NEW BUSINESS
No new business.
Meeting adjourned at 12:20 PM.
NEXT MEETING : Chuck will email date. Looking at the first week of August. Location to be announced.
______________________
Regina Young, Secretary