July 23, 2007 (LPAC)--As the population grew 60 percent over the past seven years in Loudoun County, Virginia--in the commuter belt of Washington, D.C.--thousands of newcomers were housed in sprawl areas, without centralized town sewage treatment service, nor standard rural septic drainfields. The fortunate got "hook-ups" to nearby urban treatment systems. But others, in the housing bubble developments out in former cornfields or woodlots, have homes with individual "non-conventional septic systems" installed on their lawns. Over the past three to five years, these have begun to fail. Residents of McMansions on former cattle pastures, have been shocked at the sudden appearance and smell of fecal matter in their front yard. Area streams are showing sharply rising fecal bacteria counts, including E.coli.

The official Loudoun County failure rate of these non-conventional systems, over that of standard septic systems, is 1.5 higher times during the 2003-2007 period, but actually could be eight times higher, according to public health officials. This is because "official" figures rely only on data reported to the County Health Department by the homeowner. Hundreds of homeowners seek not to report their problem. The cost of replacing or repairing a non-conventional septic system runs between $10,000 and $50,000.

One poor sod homeowner is stuck with seven tons of toxic peat moss and a non-functional system. Sean Kennedy recently moved into Beacon Hill--the ritzy development on a former farm outside the County seat of Leesburg, and the "non-conventional system" he took over from the former owner, failed. It will cost Kennedy $50,000 to rebuild the drainfield. At present, Kennedy is paying $350 every three weeks to have his household sewage hauled off his property. He is willing to pay the $6,000 it would take for dumptrucks to haul out the seven tons of contaminated peat, but so far, Kennedy can't find a landfill willing to accept it.

"If treated with lime, it won't smell," while it decontaminates itself by baking in the sun, suggested one Superviser at the July 16 County Board meeting. "Then let's use your lawn," retorted another Supervisor, exasperated with the mess.