Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 29, 1990 TAG: 9006300417
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES PAGE: SMT-10 EDITION: BEDFORD
SOURCE: SHARON HODGE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He's caught glimpses of Franklin County few other eyes have seen - a fringe benefit of 17 years of inspecting sewage disposal systems.
"It's not a glamorous job," Shires said while summing up nearly two decades as the state health department's head sanitarian for Franklin County. He has been with the department 21 years, and his transfer to a sanitation position in Roanoke means leaving a job with no glamour but much value .
Shires recalled how he grew into the position and unexpectedly stumbled upon a cause he felt compelled to support.
At the time he was hired, "it wasn't that I was so much concerned about the environment, though I've grown to be. I needed a job," said the Franklin County native.
Shires said at first he was not serious about his position as sanitarian. He had been interested in the job because he thought he could tolerate it better than his only other employment option - manual labor.
But as the popularity and population of Smith Mountain Lake grew, so did Shires' commitment to health concerns around the lake communities.
"I've seen some really gross things," Shires said. He spoke of an incident when he watched raw sewage being washed into the lake by an overflowing pit privy. That was in the days before septic permits were required.
Years ago, the lake area was dotted with campgrounds and trailer parks. As the first real estate developments began popping up, he foresaw the worries that now are mounting for Smith Mountain Lake.
He shared his concerns with the Franklin County Board of Supervisors as far back as November 1981.
At the time, lucrative land transactions were beginning to result in smaller lot sizes, making it harder to build septic drain fields. Shires knew that some septic tanks and drain fields installed shortly after the lake was created would be reaching the end of their useful life spans - 20 years is typical for a septic system - thus creating a potential problem for the environment.
Very few lots on the lake consist of five acres, two acres, or even one acre, Shires told county officials at the time. Most subdivisions contain lots that just comply with the minimum lot size required in the county's subdivision ordinance.
The sewage disposal systems that were being installed to serve those developments eventually would fail, Shires said, so his concern was how would those systems be repaired.
Shires urged the board to require new developments to set aside enough land per lot so that there would be enough to create another drain field if the first field reached capacity.
That proposition was heavily opposed by developers. Shires said even today he remains frustrated that he could not convince local authorities that his plan showed foresight that future lake residents would need.
Shires notes that development has brought some benefits, such as extra tax revenue for the county. Unfortunately, where there are a lot of people, there is a lot of human waste.
Shires saved his notes and newspaper clippings on the lake's sewage disposal problem. He'll pass them on to his successor with a hope the plan he outlined almost 10 years ago to set aside land for backup septic drain fields will be given new life. As Shires predicted, as the lake's shoreline development continues to boom, septic drain field failures are beginning to occur at the homes built offshore some 20 years ago, such as Franklin Heights.
Shires warns that all lake residents will eventually face the same problem, depending on what kind of planning county officials undertake. Choices are limited, Shires said. All development at the lake relies on septic tank and drain-field disposal, because sewage treatment is viewed as impractical.
But engineers and planners are becoming creative.
Some developments, such as Windtree, have proposed plans for off-site drain fields. This month, Shires reviewed plans for pumping the sewage inland, away from the residential property. Although pumping is an expensive approach to a problem that won't wash away, Shires notes that the plan has merits. Off-site drain fields preserve the shoreline as well as make prudent use of property that is not on the waterfront, he said.
But the Windtree approach may not be the entire solution to the sewage disposal problem, he added. Franklin County officials have authorized a $112,000 study aimed at coming up with a plan for a septic system maintenance program.
But Bill Shires won't be on the job 12 months later to see if architects Dewberry and Davis and consultants Overman Associates reach the same conclusion he came to in 1981.
by CNB