. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. state legislature to define the respon- sibilities of the local health depart- ments. New housing patterns in the coastal area, he says, are making the rules obsolete. "There are places in the state where the interpretation is that you can have as many living units in an area as you like, so long as each unit doesn't exceed the 3,000 gallons," Benton says. "In some places on the barrier islands, there are fifteen to twenty living units per acre. That's up to fourteen thou- sand gallons per a
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. state legislature to define the respon- sibilities of the local health depart- ments. New housing patterns in the coastal area, he says, are making the rules obsolete. "There are places in the state where the interpretation is that you can have as many living units in an area as you like, so long as each unit doesn't exceed the 3,000 gallons," Benton says. "In some places on the barrier islands, there are fifteen to twenty living units per acre. That's up to fourteen thou- sand gallons per acre per day of un- treated ; Benton and others point out that because coastal sands are porous, sewage can drop through the soils so quickly that almost no treatment oc- curs. As long as the effluent doesn't rise to the surface, few people notice the system is failing. Finding out just how much sewage finds its way into drinking water in beach communities is extremely complicated. Benton says his division's density guidelines are none too strict for the water-laden soils of barrier islands, where most of the drinking water comes from the freshwater "lens" form- ed when rainwater is trapped under- ground in a container of heavier salt water. "Twelve hundred gallons per acre per day of untreated sewage is equal to about half the amount of rainfall, per acre, that it takes to recharge the drinking water on the barrier islands," Benton says. "Do you want to drink one-third sewage and two-thirds water?" Benton does not regard septic tanks on the islands as providing sewage treatment— only disposal. He says sewage in sensitive coastal areas should be fully treated before it is released from the system. And he criticizes the methods of some sanitarians, who approve the systems, he says, by "going out to the site, and stamping their feet in the dirt, and saying 'okay, this is approved.' " But the Division of Health Service
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
