A disagreement over a septic system and the supply line was back in court Friday.
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

JAY – A septic system in North Jay still sits over the North Jay fresh water supply line.

It’s been five months since an arbitrator ruled that the town and North Jay Water District were responsible for replacing a residential septic system. The system sits directly over an 8-inch fresh water main that feeds water customers in North Jay.

The less than 10-foot separation between the system and the main violates both the Maine Drinking Water Act and the Maine Subsurface Waste Disposal rules. There is no dispute that a rupture of the main would pose some risk of contaminating the public water supply with sewage pathogens, according to the arbitrator’s award.

All parties involved were back in court Friday in regard to the binding arbitration issued in October, this time before Justice Joseph Jabar.

Though the court’s authority in the case is limited in binding arbitration, Jabar listened to all sides. Jabar said he could remand the decision back to the arbitrator but made no decision Friday.

Water District Attorney Ed David said the arbitrator never addressed abating the nuisance to the drinking water system. The district wants it abated.

The town’s attorney, Mark Franco, claimed the arbitrator stepped over his bounds when the burden was on the town of Jay to arrange a design, do a site evaluation and other things the homeowner should be doing.

Franco also noted that a licensed state evaluator said he cannot design a system that would fit on the lot. Another option would cost more than allotted, he said.

A $60,000 move

Moving the water line would cost about $60,000, it was noted.

Homeowner Clover Johnson York’s attorney, Andrews Campbell, claimed that attorney’s fees should be paid because of a civil right’s violation involving a racial slur against his client that was a count in York’s countersuit.

Campbell said his client has been willing to go along with the arbitrator’s decision. Cambell said there are 260 families in North Jay in jeopardy of drinking polluted water if the line breaks.

Last spring, the water district filed an injunction request in court to stop York and her eight children from using the septic system at her Maxwell Road residence.

York countersued the district, town and state. She had bought the house in Jay in 1996 and took advantage of a state septic system replacement grant program in 1997 when her septic system failed.

She was responsible for $650 and the state picked up the remaining 90 percent of the project. The town administered the grant money for the state.

One of the prerequisites for the initial replacement system was a variance that required the municipal water line to be reset. But the line was never reset.

The arbitrator’s award called for the water district and the town to split the cost of removing the existing septic system and installing a new one at York’s Maxwell Road residence. It was estimated at a maximum to cost $8,000, with the district and the town’s insurance each paying $4,000.

However, the arbitrator’s decision also noted that if the feeder line has to be relocated, the water district would be fully responsible for those costs.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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