United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4504F)
EPA842-F-97-002G
March 1997
&EPA
Buzzards Bay
"SepTrack" Initiative
Demonstrating Practical Tools for Watershed
Management Through the National Estuary Program
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Characteristics:
• The Buzzards Bay watershed includes 432 square miles
comprised of significant portions of 17 municipalities, with
nearly 236,000 people living therein. Approximately half of
the homes utilize on-site, subsurface sewage disposal systems
(cesspools or septic systems) to dispose of sanitary wastes.
• Government in Massachusetts is generally done by "home
rule" through cities and towns. Virtually all decisions related
to on-site septic system installation and maintenance is done
at the local community level by an elected Board of Health.
• Failing on-site systems may lead to contamination of waters
of tributaries to the bay and smaller embayments around its
margins, resulting in the closure of shellfish beds and
possibly other water-contact recreation activities because of
threats to public health.
The Problem:
Local Boards of Health typically lack the ability to efficiently
and effectively monitor septic system permits and inspection
and maintenance information due to insufficient staffing and
information-processing equipment and systems.
The Project:
The SepTrack Demonstration Project was designed to provide
computers and specialized software to communities to allow them
to better manage information related to on-site septic systems,
thereby freeing staff time for better design review and enforce-
ment and helping identify patterns of failure.
The National Estuary Program
and other coastal and marine waters are national
resources that are increasingly threatened by pollution.
habitat loss, coastal development, and resource conflicts.
Congress established the National Estuary Program (NEP) in
1987 to provide a greater focus far coastal protection and to
demonstrate practical, innovative approaches for protecting
estuaries and their living resources.
As part of the demonstration role, the NEP offers funding for
member estuaries to design and implement Action Plan
Demonstration Projects that demonstrate innovative approaches
to address priority problem areas, show improvements that can be
achieved on a small scale, and help determine the time and
resources needed to apply similar approaches basin-wide.
The NEP is managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). It currently includes 28 estuaries: Albemarle-
Pamlico Sounds, NC; Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine Complex,
LA; Barnegat Bay, NJ; Buzzards Bay, MA; Casco Bay, ME;
Charlotte Harbor, PL; Columbia River, OR and WA; Corpus
Christi Bay, TX; Delaware Estuary, DE, NJ, and PA; Delaware
Inland Bays, DE; Galveston Bay, TX; Indian River Lagoon, PL;
Long Island Sound, CTandNY; Maryland Coastal Bays, MD;
Massachusetts Bays, MA; Mobile Bay, AL; Morm Bay, CA;
Narragansett Bay, RI; New Hampshire Estuaries, NH; New York-
New Jersey Harbor, NYandNJ; Peconic Bay, NY; Puget Sound,
WA; San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, CA; San Juan Bay, PR;
Santa Monica Bay, CA; Sarasota Bay, PL; Tampa Bay, PL; and
TillamookBay, OR.
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Introduction to Buzzards Bay
|3uzzards Bay extends for 28 miles between the western
JD shore of Cape Cod and the mainland of southeastern
Massachusetts. Its 210 miles of shoreline provide a widely
diverse habitat of salt marshes, sandy beaches, eelgrass beds,
small embayments and tidal streams, and urban ports. The
waters of the bay are used for shellfishing, swimming, and
boating as well as marine transportation.
Buzzards Bay, as a whole, is still considered a relatively
healthy waterbody. However, the waters of the smaller,
fringing embayments are threatened by increasing amounts of
contamination. Pollution associated with residential develop-
ment and other land uses, indicated by fecal coliform bacteria
and elevated nitrogen concentrations, contributes to a decline
of water quality in some locations.
Cesspools, failed septic systems, and high densities of septic
systems contribute to the closure of swimming beaches and
shellfish beds, contaminate drinking water supplies, and cause
eutrophication of ponds and coastal embayments. For these
reasons, improved implementation of septic system regula-
tions and promotion of better functioning alternatives are
important objectives in the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive
Conservation and Management Plan.
Overview of the Buzzards Bay
SepTrack Initiative
Can computers and software protect the environment and
public health? The Buzzards Bay Project of the National
Estuary Program thought so. In Massachusetts, municipal
Boards of Health are responsible for implementing and
overseeing state regulations for on-site wastewater disposal
systems (septic systems). These boards, composed of elected
volunteers, and sometimes lacking professional staff, are
typically overburdened just keeping up with new permits.
Keeping track of past permits, past orders of non-compliance,
and reviewing pump-out reports submitted by sewage treat-
ment facilities are tasks that sometimes fall to the bottom of
the pile. Add to this workload new state requirements such as
septic system inspections within six months of property
transfer and soil evaluations before system installation, and
Sewage Breakout at
Land Surface
Hydniulically Failing Septic System
clearly Massachusetts Boards of Health face a sizable
information management problem. In some towns, the
problem is especially difficult since records are filed away in
storage boxes and computers are unavailable—even for word
processing. These are the issues the SepTrack project was
designed to address.
Initiative Objectives
Tphe purpose of this initiative was to better enable each
1. Board of Health to track septic system permits and
inspection and maintenance information. The Project's goal
was to reduce information management and retrieval burdens
on Boards of Health, thereby allowing time to enhance
protection of public health and the environment.
Implementing the Initiative
achieve this end, in 1996, the Buzzards Bay Project
provided computers and specialized software to 11
municipal Boards of Health in the Buzzards Bay watershed.
The Buzzards Bay Project developed the concept for a
Windows-based database management software application
and hired a software development firm to produce the
package. Project staff had a clear sense of what kind of
information Boards of Health wanted to track, but to ensure
that the software met the needs of area municipalities, the
Project set up a panel of health officials to test and evaluate
early versions of the software. The outcome of this effort is
known as SepTrack, an easy to use Windows program that
enables health officials to track information on every
property in their community. More than 180 categories of
information are tracked in the database ranging from septic
system design, leachfield type, number of bathrooms,
presence of wetlands, and pumpout frequency—essentially
all the information routinely supplied to towns in building
and health permits, "At a click of a mouse button, data on any
lot will be available to municipal staff, allowing them to be
more responsive to information requests and help towns
process permit applications more quickly. The program has
the ability to display graphics files of site plans and engineer-
ing designs.
To help towns adopt and use the new software package, the
Buzzards Bay Project provided funding for assessors' data in
each community to be transferred into the SepTrack database.
The Project also hired a student intern to work in each town
on a rotating basis to enter old permit information and septic
pumping records. Once this historical information is entered,
health office administrators merely have to spend a few
minutes a day entering new permit data.
SepTrack (Vers. 1.0) was written to run as an application
under the database manager, Microsoft FoxPro for Windows
(Vers. 2.6). However, because this software package is being
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pu^ards Bay Project's SepTrack
File Eidit Database Tools Entry Output Window Help
fc/1
y 0
Hap-Set-Pl-cl-lota-i
General System Information
Lot Location
Other Desc:
Owner Name
(Last Fist Ml):
GPSLacaferc I
isunxer residence
2M5MI
Structure Information
tt Structure::
tt Bedrooms:
(WN/U]
Sewered [S
Town Water: M
Rental
Property
IIFulBalhr I I Ungmd. Tank: M VrRndPAVUl
SHaKBaths: "^™ ^
Reserved
I JfiH.1
Filename:
Type: CESSPOOL Source HOUSE/APT. Permit tt: 95-82 Design Flow:
Special Districts? V Pumpout History installation: B2/1S/77 O&M Req?
SharedSystem? tW12mos. 2 RepairAlpgrade: 02/18/85 TestingDuE
Betterments? N Last 06/12/96 Last Inspection: / / Contract E«p.:
Inj Hum
phased out by Microsoft, the Buzzards Bay Project is now
making available a special, compiled, stand-alone version of
SepTrack (Vers. 1E.O) that can run in Windows even if FoxPro
is not installed. Both versions operate identically, but Version
1E.O is not able to run certain advanced features that are
available through FoxPro. (FoxPro, Windows, and MS-DOS
are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.)
Funding for this work was provided by the U.S. Environmen-
tal Protection Agency as part of a grant to the Buzzards Bay
Project through the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management
Office.
Success Stories of the SepTrack Initiative
/s SepTrack protecting the environment? It may be too early
to tell, but one thing is clear, SepTrack is becoming very
popular. Buzzards Bay towns seem very pleased and enthusi-
astic about the software. Even before SepTrack was installed
in most towns around the bay, the Project was getting calls
from municipal Boards of Health in other parts of the state
wondering if they, too, could receive a copy. Inquiries about
the software increased this fall when the Buzzards Bay
Project's sister Estuary Program, the Mass Bays Program
began helping its South Shore communities implement the
data management system as part of a pilot program. Generat-
ing even more interest in the software was a series of work-
shops around the state by the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection highlighting SepTrack as one of two
applications for boards to manage septic system data (the other
was a spreadsheet application).
Recent revisions to Massachusetts' septic system regulations
bode well for the future, but only if the regulations are
successfully implemented at the local level. The true utility of
SepTrack will be in helping Boards of Health to be more
productive and responsive, and.freeing staff for
much-needed field inspections, enforcement, and
pressing health and environmental issues. In a
very practical sense, SepTrack is allowing
Massachusetts Boards of Health to systemati-
cally track, for the first time, the permitting,
inspection and maintenance of septic systems.
But SepTrack is doing more than just telling
municipal officials if grease traps and tight tanks
are being pumped regularly. A glimpse of some
of the other benefits of SepTrack is provided by
these examples.
Most Boards of Health receive a monthly report
from sewage treatment plants detailing dozens of
pumpouts reported by septage haulers. (In
Massachusetts, septage haulers must report the
source of their septage.) In the past, most boards
have simply filed this information because it is
too time-consuming to search out properties
frequently pumped (often a sign of a failing septic system).
With SepTrack, at a click of a mouse button, towns are now
seeing a list of these frequent pumpers, and the results have, in
some cases, been eye-opening. Surprisingly, in one town, the
most frequently pumped system turned out to be a town-owned
property. Towns are also discovering that septage hauler
information does not always appear to be complete or accurate.
For house renovations, Boards of Health tend to rely on
information provided by engineers on permit applications, such
as number of bedrooms in a residence, presence of private
wells nearby, and other important data. In one town, the staff
person for the Board of Health seldom checked the assessors'
records to see if the number of bedrooms listed was, in fact,
correct because the data were not easily accessible. With
SepTrack in place, the staff person quickly realized that the
numbers of bedrooms reported on permit applications were
often inaccurate (fewer bedrooms means a smaller—and
cheaper—septic system). After these "errors" were consistently
caught, construction firms and engineers became much more
consistent with assessors' records.
The Buzzards Bay Project had been working with one town to
reduce high fecal coliform concentrations in stormwater
discharges contributing to shellfish bed closures. This town
hired a college student to enter public works water and sewer
data into the SepTrack system to complement Board of Health
data. Much to the surprise of the health officials, 200 homes
along one embayment had never been connected to a sewer
line. Most homes in the area were sewered years earlier
because they had cesspools and the water table was high.
Ironically even the residences had been charged a sewer
betterment fee for years, but the homeowners at the time did
not want to pay a $300 sewer connection fee. The Board of
Health is now requiring these homes to connect to the existing
sewer.
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Lessons Learned
For more information contact:
77'arly in its existence, the Buzzards Bay Project learned that
• -; you cannot simply offer computers and software to a town
to solve a problem. Technical assistance and support are also
vital. To ensure the success of this effort, the Buzzards Bay
Project hired an intern to spend time at each town hall training
municipal staff and entering data. Entering old permit data
was an especially important task because Board of Health staff
were reluctant to use the software if the old data were not
present. Perhaps not surprisingly, with the old data in place, the
towns became almost enthusiastic about keeping up with the
entering of new permit data.
Another lesson learned is that a good software program and
computer are not substitutes for good office management. In
one town, poor management and personnel relations have
resulted in the SepTrack computer being relegated to a dark
corner.
The Buzzards Bay Project is making the
software available at no cost to Massachusetts
municipalities. For locations outside Massachu-
setts, to obtain a free copy of the software and
manual, send three 3.5" blank diskettes and a
self-addressed mailer with appropriate postage to
the Buzzards Bay Project, 2 Spring Street.
Marion. MA 02738. For general information.
contact Dr. Joseph Costa, Buzzards Bay Project,
(508)748-3600.
Mr. Bruce Rosinoff
US EPA Region I
(617)565-3546
Overall, the Buzzards Bay Project has found this initiative so
successful that it has begun a similar initiative with municipal
Planning Boards. In the latter case, the Project is providing
computers, training, software, and data layers to the munici-
palities to create parcel-level GIS information to assist with
planning growth, developing open space plans, and protecting
water quality and habitat in the many sub-watersheds of
Buzzards Bay.
Printed on Recycled Paper
Previous Publications in the Demonstration Projects Series
Report Title
Biological Nutrient Removal Project
Buttermilk Bay Coliform Control Project
Georgetown Stormwater Management Project
Texas Coastal Preserves Project
Shell Creek Stormwater Diversion Project
City Island Habitat Restoration Project
National Estuary Program Date
Long Island Sound, CT/NY 1995
Buzzards Bay, MA 1995
Delaware Inland Bays, DE 1995
Galveston Bays, TX 1995
Puget Sound, WA 1995
Sarasota Bay, FL 1995
Publication #
EPA842-F-95-001A
EPA842-F-95-001B
EPA842-F-95-001C
EPA842-F-95-001D
EPA842-F-95-001E
EPA842-F-95-001F
For copies of any of these publications contact:
National Clearinghouse for Environmental Publications
Telephone: (513)489-8190
Facsimile: (513)489-8695
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
(4504F)
Washington, DC 20460
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