Fallon County officials clash with DEQ reviewers over golf-course wastewater permit

Fallon County staff brought a completed DNRC pre-application and permit package to the commission and the panel approved signing a Form 600 (pre-application) so the county can submit the file to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

But a longer presentation by county project staff turned into an extended dispute with state reviewers that centered on whether updates to the county’s wastewater ponds and the planned addition of a UV disinfection unit require a full irrigation-system design under DEQ Circular 2, chapter 120.

County project staff said the scope was initially limited to lining a pond and adding UV disinfection to lower total coliform levels so the county’s reuse practice would meet current standards. The staff member told the commission: “I am not redesigning the irrigation system. I do not intend to sign off any design that I did not complete.” The presenter said most documentation that DEQ is asking for already appears in the operation-and-maintenance (O&M) manual but that the reviewer now wants a design report for the irrigation system—material the county did not plan to produce because it is not building a new irrigation network.

The project lead told commissioners the county had performed soil borings that showed sands near the site and that DEQ directed the county to consider a liner because of potential seepage into groundwater. The project lead said the county’s position is that, absent a finding that the discharge does not meet effluent standards, the pond should not need a liner. “If our water is tested and it meets effluent discharge standards, I would argue we should not have to line the pond,” the presenter said.

County staff described a pattern of requests from DEQ that have shifted as the county has moved toward compliance: first the O&M update, then a new pond liner and a UV disinfectant, then a claim that the irrigation system is “unapproved” and needs a design report conforming to chapter 120. Staff said the O&M manual contains much of the information DEQ wants and that the department’s review has broadened to treat the golf-course irrigation as part of the wastewater treatment facility.

Commissioners and staff repeatedly questioned the reviewer’s reasoning and asked for clarification from DEQ. The presenter said she would draft a response asking DEQ to explain why a system that has operated for decades and for which the county has historical inspections is now considered “unapproved” and to indicate exactly what design documentation is required for the limited scope the county proposes (lining and UV disinfection).

Commission action during the item included approval to sign and forward the DNRC Form 600 pre-application so the county may proceed with the DNRC process; the commission voted to approve that form during the meeting. Commissioners also directed staff to draft a formal response to the DEQ reviewer documenting the county’s technical position and asking for clearer direction on the chapter 120 items that the reviewer says are necessary.

Why it matters: The debate affects whether the county can legally continue to use treated lagoon water for irrigation without undertaking a broader redesign that staff say was never intended. Requirements now being applied by the reviewer could add engineering, water-rights, and design steps that would delay corrective work the county says is needed to reduce coliform counts and bring the system into compliance.

What’s next: Staff said they will transmit the signed DNRC pre-application, send the county’s requested clarifying letter to DEQ, and continue to coordinate with KLJ engineering and other consultants on the O&M and monitoring work. The county will also track whether DEQ will accept the O&M material as the design justification or insist on a full irrigation design report.