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Lincoln County health department briefs commissioners on mercury cleanup, septic permits and shelter services
Summary
The county health department reported on a recent mercury incident and response, septic-permit activity, expanded early-childhood funding, animal-shelter needs and several small grants for wildfire‑smoke and respiratory‑illness preparedness.
Lincoln County Health Department staff gave a broad update Dec. 10 covering environmental health, behavioral health, public-health outreach and shelter operations.
Environmental and hazardous materials: staff described an after‑action review of a recent mercury incident and said the contaminated structure was removed; the county is coordinating with the EPA and landfill operators to store and consolidate mercury‑containing materials before shipment to a secure facility. The department reiterated that residents can safely bring household mercury items to county landfills for proper holding and eventual disposal.
Septic permits and land research: the department reported receiving 232 septic permit applications this year and issuing 208 to date, with 192 for new systems and 34 for replacements; nearly half required local review. The department said it has 552 land‑research requests in its tracking system and is working to place permits online (permits since 2013 are already available online).
Animal shelter and community services: health staff outlined animal‑shelter caseloads and efforts to secure spay/neuter capacity (foster numbers and transports to Bonners Ferry were discussed), and described CDBG planning grant work on a proposed shelter design that may be phased because the architect’s initial proposal exceeded preferred size and budget.
Grants and preparedness: staff previewed a $20,000 pilot for wildfire‑smoke and community‑building clean‑air preparedness and a $10,000 federal fund for respiratory‑illness season to cover public‑health nurse time and immunizations. Behavioral‑health staffing: the department said a behavioral‑health employee will start Jan. 5 and that contract changes submitted Nov. 26 are pending final state approval.
Code enforcement and operations: staff noted drone support to document property‑condition complaints, challenges locating some property owners for enforcement, and plans to refine ordinance language to provide clearer legal authority for abatement in enforcement cases.
Next steps: staff will return with draft policy and fee schedule changes where fees apply, continue mercury after‑action planning and pursue the pilot grant work on indoor clean‑air outreach.
