San Juan County officials mount septic tank safety awareness, education campaign

FARMINGTON — Even for veteran first responders who have witnessed a little bit of everything over the years, calls in which a person is reported to have fallen into a septic tank are among the worst anyone can field.

That’s according to Capt. Shay Aurnhammer, wildland coordinator for San Juan County Fire & Rescue, who is overseeing the department’s new Septic Safe Spring campaign.

“Typically, we’re averaging about one a year at this point,” Aurnhammer said of such occurrences. “This kind of incident is devastating not only to the family itself, but they’re really, really hard on our agency.”

Aurnhammer said five such incidents have taken place in San Juan County over the last five years, with three of those resulting in fatalities. In another case, a child was left with permanent complications, and in another case, a woman was pulled to safety after falling into a septic tank while trying to rescue a dog.

“I’ve been part of after-action reviews (regarding such cases),” Aurnhammer said, describing the lingering grief and frustration first-responders feel after working such incidents, especially those involving children. “It has affected everybody across the board.”

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David Vega, the chief of San Juan County Fire & Rescue, described his first-hand experience in working such an incident during an April 4 presentation to the San Juan County Commission.

“Having responded to one of these incidents myself, I will tell you that for the remainder of my days I will always remember the face, the shoes and the clothes that the child was wearing when we pulled his small, lifeless body out of a septic tank and began resuscitation efforts that were not successful,” he said. “It is an image you never forget and a heartbreak that no family should have to experience.”

The Septic Safe Spring campaign has been launched in an effort to raise awareness among those who have a septic tank and encourage them to take steps to make sure the lid is secure. The campaign has its own website at SepticSafeSJC.com in addition to being featured on the county’s website, on the San Juan County Fire & Rescue website and on the social media accounts of various county agencies. County officials also have provided local septic tank pumping companies with fliers promoting the campaign, and first responders will be handing the fliers out when responding to calls, Vega said.

A news release from the county indicates there are approximately 30,000 active septic tanks in the county, though there may be even more that have been abandoned or are unmaintained.

“People don’t realize this is a problem,” Aurnhammer said. “They don’t know what they don’t know.”

The worst thing about the situation, county officials say, is that such incidents need never take place.

“They’re 100 percent preventable,” said Devin Neeley, the county’s spokesman, who been part of the effort to develop the campaign.

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“This is a very, very easy solution,” Aurnhammer said, referring to a list of precautions the county has developed to help septic tank users keep themselves and their family members safe.

That list includes never leaving an open tank unattended, securing the lid at all times by making sure it is locked or secured with safety screws, promptly replacing damaged lids or covers, teaching children not to play on or around a septic tank opening, utilizing a secondary septic tank lid safety device, installing a modern tank riser that can accommodate a catchment device and upgrading legacy tank risers to accommodate modern safety features.

Neeley said nearly every instance in which the emergency dispatch center has received a call that ended up being about someone falling into a septic tank began as a missing child case. It was only when first-responders arrived at the scene and traced the missing child’s footsteps to an open septic tank that they realized what had happened and initiated efforts to retrieve the child.

By then, it frequently is too late to save the child, he said.

Part of the county’s awareness campaign focuses on encouraging parents to discuss the dangers of septic tanks with their children, Aurnhammer said, noting that the tanks can serve as a magnet for unsuspecting young people.

“Those green lids look like playground equipment they can jump on,” she said.

Aurnhammer said she didn’t know if other communities around New Mexico or the country experience septic tank incidents at the same rate as here, but she doubts that San Juan County is alone.

“I can imagine we’re not the only ones in this position,” she said.

Nevertheless, San Juan County may be the first entity that has launched an awareness and education campaign to battle the problem.

“Nobody else that I’m aware of is taking the initiative and be proactive to prevent it from happening,” Aurnhammer said, explaining that she believes the program is unique.

Vega, who was appearing before commissioners to introduce them to the campaign and to ask their support for a resolution declaring this spring Septic Safe Spring in San Juan County, said the idea for the campaign came from a phone conversation he had with then-Chief John Mohler after the last such incident took place last year.

“We kind of had the same thought,” Vega said, explaining that they both hit upon the idea of the county being proactive about the problem. “ … We said, ‘This can’t happen again in San Juan County.’”

Vega said the county’s campaign and materials would be shared with officials from other communities if they express an interest in them.

In response to a question from Commissioner John Beckstead about what kind of financial assistance might be provided to septic tank owners who cannot afford to take steps to make their lids safer, Vega said many of the septic tank companies the county has enlisted to help with the campaign have offered to make new, reduced-cost lids available to customers who need them.

Representatives of those companies are being asked to identify and take note of legacy septic tanks they service that are not in compliance with safety standards, Vega said. But there is no enforcement mechanism in place for making sure that active septic tanks are safe, he said.

Vega expressed the hope that the county might be able someday to create a fund to help owners replace legacy septic tanks that are especially dangerous.

“These are all avenues we’re exploring,” Vega said.

The Septic Safe Spring resolution was approved unanimously by commissioners.

Vega said his department would be promoting the campaign at the San Juan County Fair in August at McGee Park, while Aurnhammer said the campaign would be promoted at this weekend’s San Juan County Home & Garden Expo at the Farmington Civic Center.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com.

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This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: County has had five instances in five years of people falling in tanks