State Dept. of Health sends letter of support of Regional Sewer Dist. to County Commissioners

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 3:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

This week, the Marshall County Commissioners, Regional Sewer Board member Jay Stone, County Health Officer Dr. Byron Holm, and Faith Freed from the County Health Department received a letter from the Indiana Department of Health regarding the creation of the Marshall County Regional Sewer District.

The letter states that the State Health Department has been supportive of the project since it was first proposed in 2022 and continues to support the extension of sanitary sewers to all thirteen areas identified in the plan. The letter states, “A community approach for collection of wastewaters to a central or decentralized treatment system is the optimal approach when circumstances such as those in Marshall County impact the public health and safety and protection of the environment.” It goes on to say that the areas in the plan are “negatively affected by failing on-site sewage systems and the lack of suitable conditions to replace antiquated, undersized, discharging means of sewage disposal.”

The Indiana State Department of Health states that unfavorable site conditions are exacerbated by the density of development, private well locations, small lots, restrictive soils, seasonally high-water tables, and the potential for flooding. The letter states that, in many cases, these site conditions preclude the possibility of meeting standard well separation distances from individual on-site sewage systems and pose a threat to private well water and recreational waterways.

The state’s letter states that delays will continue the existence of a potential health hazard, hinder further development in the area, and increase project costs for property owners due to inflation.

Based on the state’s review, the opportunity to correct current and future problems with individual on-site sewage systems is severely limited by the factors previously indicated in the letter. It states, “The safest, most economical, and proactive approach would be to continue the original goal of the Regional Sewer District and the vision of the Marshall County Water Task Force by providing sanitary sewer to the areas identified in the plan.

The letter was from the Indiana State Department of Health, Director of the Environmental Public Health Division.