Nogales council pauses decision on cityseptic dumping after state and international regulators raise sampling requirements

The Nogales City Council debated whether the city should continue to accept hauled septic waste after regulators proposed new sampling and reporting requirements that could increase city administrative and testing costs.

City management said draft conditions from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) would require sampling and more detailed tracking of hauled waste. "The city shall sample and analyze each discharge of hauled waste at the point of discharge," the city attorney and staff summarized from ADEQdraft language provided to councilors during the meeting.

City Manager Mr. Kramer told the council that ADEQ and IBWC had signaled willingness to work with Nogales on operational details, but that the new requirements would add staff time, testing expense and recordkeeping. He said the city and regulators were discussing an approach where the city would hold samples and forward them for lab testing only if downstream monitoring indicated a problem.

Council members expressed sharply different views. Councilman Doyle said the city is exposed to legal and financial risk and argued the city should stop accepting septic waste rather than inherit potential liabilities tied to contaminated discharges: "The risk outweighs the benefit," he said during debate. Other council members urged caution and asked for a full cost estimate and more consultation with the county and haulers before taking action.

A motion to discontinue city acceptance of hauled septic wastewater was made and seconded in the meeting, but the second later withdrew amid additional public comment and council discussion. After an executive-session discussion with legal counsel, councilors agreed to table a final decision and to ask city staff to return with precise cost estimates, proposed fee structures and the exact regulatory obligations indicated in the draft ADEQ/IBWC language.

City staff told the council that ADEQ's draft also includes condition triggers that could lead the city to develop a pretreatment program if tests identify industrial-type discharges. The auditors and council noted that the county manager had told city staff the county would not take on septic-acceptance responsibilities at this time.

What's next: Council directed staff and legal counsel to continue discussions with ADEQ and IBWC, to model costs of continued acceptance (including sample collection, storage and lab analysis), and to return with a report and recommended fee schedule before any final change in policy takes effect.