I agree with Skip Augle (Letters, June 6) about the county’s septic system inspection program.

First, it burdens homeowners disproportionately for no good reason. All homeowners with “alternative” systems (aerobic treatment units, sand filters, sand-lined trenches, etc.) and some homeowners with “conventional pressure” systems must have annual professional inspections, beginning July 1, 2009. Most “conventional gravity” systems must be inspected every three years, beginning July 1, 2010, but owners can “train” to inspect their own systems. This means that some people will be soaked more than $200 every year, while others will get by with a $62 filing fee (the highest in the state) every three years.

Second, it relies on voluntary compliance. If anyone falsifies a self-inspection report on a failing system, the Health Department will learn of it when a neighbor calls about the stench. “Successful voluntary program” is an oxymoron.

Third, the inspection criteria and intervals don’t make sense. A newer system may not need inspecting as often as an older one, no matter what type. An alternative system used by a couple of adults may not need inspection as frequently as a gravity system stressed by a family of eight. Much depends on how a system is used and maintained by its owner.

The only fair solution that has a chance of preventing a failure is to professionally inspect every system once to establish a baseline, and schedule it for subsequent inspections based on the inspector’s professional judgment of its condition, age, and level of use.

Contracting all inspections by the county to professionals would result in increased efficiency, lower per-unit inspection cost, uniformity, accuracy, confidence and ease of filing (lower fees); and distributing the total cost equally over all the owners would be more equitable.

James Bruner

Oak Harbor