The Cole County Commission has ordered a property owner to take care of raw sewage going into a neighbor's property in Osage Bend.
Citing an emergency clause in the county environmental code, commissioners gave approval Tuesday for the Cole County Health Department to serve Rob and Lisa Canale with a letter requiring them to take care of the matter by Friday, or the county would pump the waste out Monday.
Under a previous extension agreement, Canale would have had until May 31 to get a compliant sewage system in place before legal action would occur.
About two years ago, Andy and Brittany Carrender filed a complaint that their neighbors, the Canales, were installing an on-site sewage system (OWTS) without a posted permit on their property in the 12500 block of South Bend Road, Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell said.
The Health Department investigated and learned a plumber had installed the system.
"I talked to the plumber, who was not a registered OWTS installer, and told him that he was not allowed to do that without being registered," Campbell said. "It's a state law, so when he refused to take any action, I turned the matter over to the Missouri Department of Health and Social Services, as they are the regulatory authority for OWTS installers."
Campbell said her office also contacted Canale about the system and let him know it had been installed illegally.
"At that time, the system was not in violation because it was functioning," Campbell said. "CCHD did pursue legal action on the illegally installed system with then-Prosecutor Mark Richardson's office since that office is the the enforcement authority for the county in these matters, but this matter didn't go far in his office.
"Meanwhile, we would receive complaints from time to time from Mr. Carrender about the system failing. CCHD staff would visit, but never saw effluent on the ground or smelled sewage odor."
In January, Campbell said, the Health Department received another complaint from Carrender, and CCHD staff saw evidence of sewage surfacing on the Canales' property and noted an odor was present.
"We met with Prosecutor Locke Thompson, and he sent Canale a letter giving him 30 days to begin the process of bringing the system into compliance or legal action would occur," Campbell said. "This letter was sent around Feb. 1."
During a hearing last week before the commission, Canale said he had a soil evaluation done and is hiring a new installer. CCHD staff told commissioners an engineer would have to review the plans before the installer could work, which would further delay completion of the work.
Canale said he thought he didn't need to get the compliance work done since the property already had a working sewer system.
"That's where we went wrong," Canale told commissioners. "The first plumber I had gave me the wrong information. The septic tank was there, but we added 275 feet to the lateral sewer line. I didn't know it wasn't compliant."
Commissioners then gave Canale the May 31 extension to take care of the matter.
Meanwhile, the sewage reached the Carrenders' property. The couple was upset Tuesday commissioners had given Canale more time to complete the work and wanted something done immediately.
"We were told the Health Department had never had someone fight the issue of correcting this problem like Mr. Canale had," Brittany Carrender said. "All we could do was sit and wait until the Health Department, commissioners and prosecuting attorney held him accountable. An illegal septic system - leaking human waste - should have been enough to have forced some action; however, it didn't. It is outrageous that we've had to keep proving what has been happening for two years."
Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher said he had visited the property and saw what the Carrenders were talking about. Hoelscher said Canale was contacted to see if he would be willing to pump out the system now, but Canale declined, saying he didn't want to go through the process twice.
"I'm fine with doing whatever we can to do something as soon as possible," Hoelscher said. "He can take care of this himself, and I think if we give him a week he should be able to do it."