Sewage Lagoon Filled With Problems Residents Say Resort Owner Not Doing Enough To Keep Waste From Lake

The owner of Sandy Beach Resort says he’s doing all he can to keep sewage out of Lake Cocolalla.

His best hasn’t been good enough for some lakeside residents. They believe state environmental officials should have done something by now to fix the long-standing problem of a poorly designed sewage lagoon.

“The lagoon is full to the brim. This sewage has got to be going somewhere,” said Duane Wentz. “When is this ever going to stop?”

Wentz photographed sewage overflowing into nearby Johnson Creek on Dec. 30. The creek flows into the shallow lake, which is located between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint. The lake is often clogged by algae in the summer.

The weed growth is caused by too many nutrients going into the water. One source of that is human sewage. That’s a major worry for Wentz and other members of the Lake Cocolalla Association.

State officials approved construction of the lagoon in 1975, under old regulations. Resort owner George Poore said he inherited the problem unknowingly when he bought the business in 1979.

For the last four years, Poore said, he’s been working to replace the faulty lagoon with a community drainfield. It took two years to find 40 acres nearby with suitable soil.

After buying the property, Poore hired an engineer whose drainfield design didn’t meet state standards. So he hired another engineer.

“In February of last year, we started all over again,” he said.

In recent years, Poore had been draining the lagoon in the summer by spraying wastewater on a tree farm. That left room in the two-thirds acre pond for runoff from winter rain and snow. Disagreements with the landowner kept him from spraying last summer, he said.

The lagoon overflowed in 1991 and 1992, breaking Idaho water quality rules. Maximum fines are $10,000 or $1,000 a day for continuing violations. But the Division of Environmental Quality did not fine Poore, telling him instead that he needed to get cracking and find a drainfield site.

After this winter’s overflow, the state again chose to work with the resort owner, said water quality engineer Gary Gaffney.

“We decided if we could make the owner agree to fix the problem, that it would be more efficient,” he said.

This week the agency sent Poore a consent decree saying he will finish the drainfield by September.

“Hopefully, he’ll sign it,” Gaffney said.

Poore hadn’t yet read the document as of Thursday, but said he is eager to get the job done. Bonner County officials must approve the drainfield before work can begin. A sewer district has already been formed.

The system will serve the resort and probably 50 or 60 houses, Poore said. It will cost $300,000.