Property owners learning rules around septic tanks the hard way as landfill halts access
CBC
Ron Nugent says he figures his septic tank is just days away from overflowing. And like many others who are in a similar situation, he says he's coming to realize no one is coming to help.
"I'm losing sleep over it. My stress level is high. I'm nervous about flushing my toilets. I've instructed my family to take two-minute showers," he says.
"This should not be a problem," he adds. "This problem is created for some unknown reason I don't comprehend."
Nugent's septic tank is under the deck at his waterfront property in Wellington, near Fall River.
The problem started when GFL West Hants Landfill advised private septic haulers from the Halifax area that as of June 14, they can no longer accept septic waste.
GFL didn't respond to requests for an interview.
But private septic haulers like Gerrett Murphy, who runs Affordable Septic Services in Lucasville, say the landfill has been operating above capacity.
"They're having problems processing the volume of waste that they're getting," Murphy says. "It means that we're dead in the water. We have nowhere to pump or nowhere to dump, and I can't take anymore until I have a place to bring it to process it."
Murphy says he used to empty his truck at a lagoon on the GFL site.
"Now they have this processing plant and they're having an issue with the capacity going through. It was supposed to be able to handle it, but it can't. So they have to cut their capacity for a while till they get it figured out."
In the meantime, he says he's getting calls from stressed homeowners and business owners.
"We have customers calling that have closings on a home sale and the tank has to be pumped out before the sale can be finalized," Murphy says. "Everybody's in a big panic."
While he waits for word from GFL, homeowners like Nugent say they are desperately looking for a solution before their system backs up inside their homes.
What he's learning is that his septic tank is his responsibility, he says, with no help coming from the municipality or the province.
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