ORDERS:
DECISION AND ORDER
STATEMENT OF CASE
This matter comes before me pursuant to the South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control's (DHEC) denial of the Petitioner's sewage treatment and disposal system
permit application for property located on Gator Walk Road (Lots 55 and 56) adjacent to the
Edisto River at Givhans in Dorchester County. A hearing was held on October 25, 1995, at the
office of the Administrative Law Judge Division, 1205 Pendleton Street, Columbia, South
Carolina. I find that DHEC properly denied the Petitioner's application because the property is not
suitable for an individual sewage treatment and disposal system.
FINDINGS OF FACT
Having observed the witnesses and exhibits presented at the hearing and closely passed upon their
credibility, taking into consideration the burden of persuasion by the Parties or Protestants, I
make the following Findings of Fact by a preponderance of evidence:
1. The Petitioner applied to DHEC for an individual sewage treatment and disposal system permit
for property located on Gator Walk Road (Lots 55 and 56) adjacent to the Edisto River at
Givhans in Dorchester County.
2. Pete Dunlap, Dorchester County Supervisor of DHEC's Environmental Quality Management,
went to the Respondent's property on May 31, 1995. There he conducted three soil borings. An
evaluation of those borings reflected that the seasonal high ground water table was six to eight
inches from the natural ground level. Based upon that evaluation Mr. Dunlap denied the
Petitioner's application because the soil texture was inadequate for an individual sewage system.
4. The Petitioner appealed Mr. Dunlap's determination to DHEC. Leonard Gordon, Septic Tank
Appeals Review Officer for DHEC, visited the property on June 22, 1995. At that time, Mr.
Gordon conducted two soil borings. An evaluation of those borings using the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Munsell Soil Color Chart indicated the seasonal high water table was less than 12
inches from the natural ground level. Mr. Gordon also found that no system approved by DHEC
will work upon this property.
5. DHEC approves basically three individual sewage treatment and disposal systems. A
conventional system requires that the maximum seasonal high water table for the proposed site be
at least 29 inches below the natural ground level to accommodate the system. DHEC also may
approve a modified or alternative system which requires the maximum seasonal high-water table
be at a level established by DHEC, 12 to 23 inches below the natural ground level, to
accommodate the system. The final option for this property was DHEC's experimental system.
The experimental system consists of a 35 by 30 foot absorption trench (leach pad) and a 40 foot
buffer surrounding the pad. In addition, an experimental system requires a minimum setback of a
150 feet from bodies of water.
6. None of the systems approved by DHEC will work upon the Petitioner's property because of
the combination of the water table height, the proximity to the bodies of water and the soil texture
found upon the property.
7. There are properties adjacent to this location that have individual sewage systems. However,
those properties would not be approved for an individual sewage system permit under the
Department's existing standards, and the Department has not issued a permit in this area in the
past 10 years. In fact, the Petitioner was informed by the Department before he purchased the
property that the location would not "support" an individual sewage system.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Based upon the above findings of fact, I conclude as a matter of law the following:
1. The Administrative Law Judge Division has subject matter jurisdiction in this action pursuant
to S.C. Code §§ 1-23-600 (B) and 48-1-50 (Rev. 1986 and Supp. 1994).
2. S.C. Code Ann. §44-1-140 (11)(1976) provides the authority for DHEC to promulgate
regulations relating to individual sewage treatment and disposal systems. Those regulations are
promulgated in S.C. Code Regs. 61-56 (1976). The Petitioner's property is located on Gator
Walk Road (Lots 55 and 56) adjacent to the Edisto River does not meet minimum site conditions
or requirements for an individual sewage treatment and disposal system under Regulation 61-56.
ORDER
Based upon the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, It is hereby:
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the septic tank permit application of James L. Higgins be
denied.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
__________________________________
Ralph King Anderson, III
Administrative Law Judge
Columbia, South Carolina
Decmber 29, 1995 |
