A Clear and Present Danger

By Charles O'Dell, Ph.D.

OPINON

Nick Ramus has been caught in a problem of his own making by constructing a non-compliant on-site septic facility (OSSF) for his proposed restaurant (Texas Heritage Kitchen), and Hays County Environmental Health Department OSSF Programs Manager Tom Pope is failing in his duty to enforce state and county OSSF Rules.

Over a period of five years, Ramus and Pope have ignored state and county OSSF rules to the detriment of county taxpayers, and the public health, safety and welfare if commissioners’ court fails to have the illegal non-compliant OSSF removed without expense to the county taxpayers. Required permit application information, criteria for a compliant OSSF, and basic calculations are identified in this article.

Challenging the Official Line

When the public reads about Nick Ramus suing the county because commissioners' court revoked his so called commercial OSSF "permit," many are led to believe that the county treated Ramus unfairly. Not so. It is Ramus who has treated the public unfairly.
Ramus knowingly failed to comply with the state and county OSSF rules that protect our public health, safety and welfare, and public officials responsible for enforcing those rules actively went along with the Ramus violations.

Following The Rules

There are three basic steps to installing an OSSF in Hays County: (residential or commercial)

1. Make an application
2. Receive an Authorization To Construct
3. Pass a final Inspection and receive a permit to operate the OSSF

Making An Application

An applicant must contact the local permitting authority where the OSSF is located. In Hays County this is Tom Pope, OSSF Program Manager in the Environmental Health Department.
For Pope to have legally authorized Ramus to even begin installation of an OSSF, Ramus would have had to provide specific information that Pope could review for compliance with specific health and safety rules. Ramus should have at a minimum included the following in his application:

1. Acreage (Ramus must have sufficient acreage for his home and a restaurant.)
2. Easements and set-backs (areas that are subtracted to establish usable acreage)
3. Soil type (Ramus has clay soil that requires a state approved proprietary OSSF)
4. Number of proposed restaurant seats (Ramus claims 100 seats, and serving lunch and dinner plus catering)
5. An OSSF design for sewage treatment and effluent disposal system
6. An OSSF maintenance contract with a licensed maintenance provider

Based on this information Pope should have determined the following:

- Texas Heritage Kitchen would produce 8,400 gallons of wastewater daily.

A. 100 seats x 35 gallons per seat x 2 meals per day = 7,000 gallons of wastewater per day.
B. Plus 20 percent of 7,000 for catering = 1,400 gallons of wastewater produced per day (8,400 total gallons of wastewater produced per day)

So Ramus would need to construct an OSSF that was legally capable of treating 8,400 gallons of wastewater each day and have sufficient acreage to legally dispose of the treated effluent. (Any OSSF with a capacity of 5,000 or more gallons per day can only be permitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Hays County is only authorized to permit an OSSF treating less than 5,000 gallons per day.)

Based on the Hays County rules for On-Site Sewage Facilities,

- Ramus’ restaurant requires: 8,400 gpd/350 gpd (see source below) = 24 net acres for treated effluent disposal. (Ramus - THK, LLC own a total of only 2 acres)
- An additional acre is required for the Ramus residential septic system.
- Bluebonnet Electric and Crystal Clear Water Supply both have easements that must be subtracted from the available acreage and state law prohibits driving across an OSSF disposal field.
- Ramus also failed to observe set-back requirements from property lines or set-backs from easements.

Authorization To Construct

When the initial application is deemed to be in compliance with the OSSF rules, the applicant is then permitted to begin construction of the approved designed OSSF. A maintenance contract is to be provided at this time, and an affidavit to the public filed at the County Clerk’s Office under the systems legal owner’s name. No soil should be disturbed until an Authorization To Construct has been issued. Photos show that Ramus violated all of these requirements and Pope allowed it.

Final Inspection

When the approved OSSF has been installed by a licensed installer, a maintenance contract that was approved with a licensed maintenance provider is in place, and the OSSF passes a final inspection, then and only then can a permit to operate be issued by the Hays County Environmental Health Department. (EHD) Pope and Ramus both knew his OSSF was illegal.

The Ramus OSSF

The state legislature enacts laws and commissioners’ courts adopt them locally. Enforcement of the adopted OSSF Rules is not optional, it’s required.
Ramus didn't comply with any of the OSSF requirements and yet Tom Pope created official documents claiming that Ramus did. Why would Pope not enforce the OSSF Rules? Why indeed, but the evidence speaks for itself.

Ramus, working in concert with OSSF Programs Manager, Tom Pope created the problem and both need to be held accountable, and not at the expense of county taxpayers.

Source: Hays County Rules for On-Site Sewage Facilities Section 10 Amendments, 10.1 Facility Planning, (a) Land Planning and Site Evaluation, (3) Business, Commercial or Industrial, (B) Have a surface acreage of at least one (1) acre for each living unit equivalent (LUE) per day. An LUE is defined as three hundred and fifty (350) gallons of sewage per day.

Comments: codell@austin.rr.com