The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance voted on Wednesday to help Rural Resources sponsor a program on alternative septic systems for residences located in areas unsuited for traditional septic tank and field line systems.

Sally Causey, executive director of Rural Resources, told Watershed Alliance members during a noon meeting at the Greene County Office Annex that she is applying for a Tennessee Department of Agriculture “319” grant to fund a demonstration of an alternative septic tank system that uses above-ground tanks filled with peat moss, rather than below-ground field lines, to filter wastewater.

No peat-moss-based waste systems currently are in use in Tennessee, according to Causey, who noted that she understands such systems are in use in Alabama and North Carolina.

She described the peat-moss wastewater treatment system as a “heavy-duty” plastic tank that is divided into several compartments that are filled with peat moss.

“It’s like an above-ground septic system that is buried in a mound,” Causey said, indicating that such alternative wastewater treatment systems could be used in areas where the water table it too high to permit the use of traditional septic tank and field line systems.

Their use, she said, possibly could help help protect the quality of water in Greene County streams that are being polluted by runoff from faulty traditional septic tank systems.

If Rural Resources is successful in winning the state grant, she said, people from all across the state, and possibly from other states, will be invited to attend the demonstration event.

The Watershed Alliance voted to help sponsor the demonstration program and to commit $300 to Rural Resources to help fund the program. That financial commitment could be increased later, Watershed Alliance members indicated during the meeting.

During a brief interview after the meeting, Causey said a date for the demonstration program had not yet been set.

Wetlands Issue Discussed

The Wednesday meeting of the Watershed Alliance had been scheduled to inform newly elected members of the Greene County Commission about efforts to improve a wetlands area in western Greene County near the Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

Due to conflicts with “9/11” ceremonies and a meeting of the county commission’s budget committee, however, only recently elected Commissioner Brenda Grogan was able to attend the entire session.

Veteran Commissioner Betty Ruth Alexander attended part of the presentation.
The program included an audio-visual presentation about what the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance is and what its goals are.

The presentation indicated that the Watershed Alliance grew out of a May 2000 meeting sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The presentation also indicated that the Watershed Alliance’s vision is to “improve and protect all water resources in the Middle Nolichucky Watershed by involving people and organizations through public and private partnerships.”

Among the group’s 2002-03 goals, the presentation listed continued development of the “Wal-Mart Wetlands project.”

After the meeting, Watershed Alliance President Fred Kaufmann said Greene County has an obligation to bring some 40 acres of wetlands near the Walt-Mart Distribution Center “up to proper specifications.”

Kaufmann, who also is president of the Greene County Fishing & Hunting Club, said the Watershed Alliance is trying to help out with the project.

“As the Watershed Alliance, we’re here to help out as much as we can,” he said. “There’s a problem right now of access to the property. Once we get the access, there should be no problem because the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and a number of other organizations are involved, and we do have a plan for how to bring the property up to specifications.”

Kaufmann explained that the property basically is a wetlands in name only at present.

“Probably a hundred years ago it was a wetlands area, but it was drained,” Kaufmann said. He noted that initial efforts were made to turn the property back into wetlands by building a dam that has since fallen into disrepair.

The wetlands area was created by Greene County as part of the package put together to encourage the Wal-Mart Distribution Center to locate in the Midway community several years ago.

Construction of the massive distribution center destroyed a small, then-existing wetlands area, and the 40-acre site was created to offset the loss of the smaller wetlands area.