“Solids downstream”

Nearly a dozen residents spoke during a public hearing involving a local nursing home’s wastewater treatment plant. 

Madison County residents have voiced concerns about the Aroda-based Mountain View Nursing Home’s (MVNH) sewage situation. The facility is currently undergoing a renewal of its Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit which is required for any treatment facility that discharges into a public body of water or has an outfall that reaches a public body of water. The permit is issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) which held a public hearing on the matter after it was requested by county residents.

Under the terms of the permit, the nursing home discharges into an unnamed tributary of Great Run which is considered an intermittent stream by the government agency even though data shows it has flows of zero gallons per day. The renewed permit would continue this allowance, with updated and more restrictive limits for the removal of BOD from influent to effluent and ammonia levels. Monitoring for e.coli would increase from four samples per quarter to four samples per month. A new section would address forever chemicals (PFAs), along with the requirement of a plan to prevent the discharge of unused medications. The new monitoring restrictions for BOD and ammonia would be phased in through the use of a compliance schedule including milestones and regular compliance reports and must be completed before a subsequent reissuing of the permit in the future. 

“We realize meeting these takes time and [the system] can’t be updated overnight,” Ben Cunnigham with DEQ said. “[There would be] a compliance schedule and time to install new treatment technology before the issuance of the next permit. This ensures water quality while also giving a reasonable path forward.”

Ryan Hoover, administrator of MVNH since 2019, said the long-term nursing care facility specializing in late life and dementia care strives for excellence in all aspects of care including the care of the community and its waterways. He said the facility is committed to complying with the law and the terms of the permit, stating while some mistakes have been made in the past there have been attempts to correct those. He said pharmaceuticals are never flushed and the facility empties into a small stream, not a dry ditch as residents have said.

“We value the health of the plant and we work hard to maintain it,” Hoover said. “We have zero desire to pollute Virginia waterways. We’re committed to fully complying with the applicable law and to be good neighbors.”

Mountain View’s attorney asked that DEQ issue the permit subject to its usual procedures.

Charlotte Chumlea disagreed. She said no surface flow can exist in an unnamed tributary with water levels residing 40 and 25 feet below the ground. That was in 2003, she said, noting the static water level must be even lower since MVNH has drawn 100 million gallons from the water table since that time. She said the facility regularly exceeds its limit of 15,000 gallons per day.

Chumlea also pointed to past notices of violation that have been issued from DEQ to MVNH. The most recent resulted from a February inspection. The nursing home was sent a request for corrective action in early April following the results of a Feb. 26 inspection conducted after a neighbor complained about the situation. That inspection found an excessive quantity of rags in the septic tank; poor settling in the clarifier; solids overflowing the weir of the clarifier; the presence of scum on the surface of the chlorine contact tank; a full sludge holding tank and a full greasy trap. Staff also observed “unreported solids in the receiving stream downstream” of the outfall. Effluent limitations were also exceeded. A notice of violation from the same inspection was issued May 12.

“How many violations must occur before DEQ refuses a new pollution permit,” Chumlea asked. “Mountain View Nursing Home has had over 20 years to comply with their previous pollution permit and they have failed to do so in multiple areas of compliance. The ditch is no more a stream than the rain gutters on your house.”

Jim Alexander said the nursing home has a poorly run system maintained by an absentee license holder. 

“Zero flow means zero flow, a dry ditch,” he said. “This type of system is intended to be on a perennial stream, not a dry ditch or intermittent stream.”

Alexander said the law, regulations, facts and circumstances all “lead to the inescapable conclusion [this system] can’t continue at this location meaning the permit cannot be reissued.”

He said the law requires mixing and dilution at the point of discharge which doesn’t exist in Mountain View’s case and therefore becomes an unlawful concentrated pollution.

“We’re done accepting Mountain View Nursing Home throwing human excrement and sewage pollution down a dry ditch on top of residential properties,” Alexander added.

Brent Huntsinger with Friends of the Rappahannock said the recent violation notice emphasizes the “facility’s lack of ability to maintain the facility adequately.”

Evans and Janine Jensen Oakerson said they are one of the many families affected by the nursing home’s system which Evans said is poorly staffed by poorly trained employees. He said back in 2020, he received a grant to keep livestock out of the stream.

“How ironic we’re keeping cows out, but the nursing home is dumping human excrement down,” Oakerson said. 

Paula Snellings, who also lives in the area, said she has smelled human waste outside her home. She said knowing the nursing home’s wastewater system is behind her home is very unnerving. She plans to have her water tested.

Although the public hearing has concluded, written comments are still being accepted through June 11 and can be emailed to NRO.VPDESPermits@deq.virginia.gov. Once the public comment period ends, a summary of comments and responses will be created with a second hearing scheduled after which time a final decision on renewing or denying the permit will be issued.