Sewage dumping and leakage at two dairies in the Point Reyes National Seashore caught the county’s eye last month and quickly became the focus of environmental health concerns just as the park came under fire from state regulators over its water quality strategy.
Until repairs started last month, four homes at the B Ranch had no working septic tanks and were discharging sewage into an open field, while wastewater was being routed into a manure pond at L Ranch. Park and county officials said they did not know when the problem started, but dairy farmer Jarrod Mendoza, who leases the B Ranch, said the park had planned a repair long before the complaints came into the public eye.
“Our family was actively working with the park service on this very issue,” Mr. Mendoza said. “We were told at that time that the park service planned a new septic system for us.” Earlier this month, he met with park officials to discuss whether the park would fund the nearly completed repairs, but he told the Light that he will pay for the work.
Marin County staff responded to complaints filed early this year about the B Ranch, conducting inspections in February and March that found both the primary farmhouse and three ranch worker homes were not connected to working septic tanks. Mr. Mendoza said the homes, including his own, had old wooden septic tanks that had collapsed. County and park officials installed six portable toilets for ranch employees to use until the last of three new septic tanks was installed on March 18. Soon, the county will approve a leach field to be excavated on the property.
Mr. Mendoza said seashore officials knew about the septic issues years ago and planned a repair but never carried it out. He declined to share specifics with the Light, citing conversations with his lawyer and the park. Based on previous capital improvement projects funded and completed by the park, Mr. Mendoza had hoped the park would complete the work, which so far has cost around $18,000.
Last month, the Light filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Park Service for emailed correspondence between Mr. Mendoza and park officials related to the B Ranch septic repair. The park must respond by April 28.
When asked whether the park ever planned a new septic system for B Ranch, park officials responded in broad terms. “Onsite wastewater treatment systems or septic systems are generally the responsibility of the ranch operator,” said Melanie Gunn, a seashore spokeswoman.
Indeed, Mr. Mendoza’s lease for the B Ranch specifies that fences, buildings, corrals and sewage disposal systems are the tenant’s responsibility to maintain. The lessee “shall repair or replace any loss or damage” to the septic system, the lease reads. Ranchers are responsible for regular maintenance, but the park, as the landowner, has funded long-term infrastructure projects.
County officials also inspected L Ranch, leased by Mr. Mendoza’s sister, Jolynn McClelland, on March 10, and determined that sewage from six worker housing units was being routed to a manure pond on the dairy. The county began pumping the sewage into a temporary septic tank, and last week conducted a site evaluation to help consultants design a permanent new septic system and leach field repair. The park and county staff must then approve the design.
“Environmental Health Services staff did not see any leakage to groundwater or surface water at the time of inspection” at either ranch, said Greg Pirie, the deputy director of the county’s E.H.S. division. But both park and county officials said they were not certain if any wastewater had contaminated streams or the ocean.
At last week’s California Coastal Commission hearing on the park’s water quality strategy, dozens of opponents of ranching in the seashore brought up the sewage issues at the dairies. Superintendent Craig Kenkel told the commissioners that the park was coordinating with the county to eventually inspect all of the park’s wastewater systems.
“There are over 30 septic systems in the park, so we have some work to do with getting an understanding of those systems,” Superintendent Kenkel said. “Depending on the outcome of those inspections, we’ll have high-priority improvements that need to be made.”
Commissioners were clearly moved by public testimony about the sewage problems and other issues. They called the park’s strategy inadequate and pushed for more rigorous requirements for ranchers. At the close of the hearing, they unanimously moved to reject the water quality strategy, and gave the park until September to create a new plan in concert with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.