A 2015 report that has been called an audit of the local health department was a voluntary review of septic system permitting documentation, a state official says.

The “OSS Program Review” document that has been circulating online in recent months was not spurred by any concerns or complaints, Indiana State Department of Health spokesman Ken Severson said.

“OSS” stands for “onsite sewage.”

Severson said the review was requested by health department employee John Kennard because the local health department wanted to be able to issue permits for small commercial septic systems.

Right now, businesses go to the state for approval; residences go to the local health department. Brown County Health Officer Dr. Norman Oestrike said there had been delays for some customers needing commercial systems.

A records review was one part of that local “delegation” process, Severson said.

“This program review was conducted at the request of the local health department to identify instances in which the documentation was not complete, which has no bearing on the system that was actually installed,” Severson said.

“It was in no way an indication of a septic system’s rating.”

Brown County had not had a review before, Severson said. In the last three years, six program reviews have been conducted in other counties, in addition to the one for Brown County, he said.

Brown County Health Board President Jim Zimmerly said to his knowledge, the people whose septic systems were involved haven’t been notified that those permits were under review two years ago.

Zimmerly said a recent closed-door meeting of the health board was about possible lawsuits or personal liability the board feared could arise because of this report. As of last week, no lawsuits had been filed or threatened in writing related to it, he said.

“It was a paperwork file review of how the records were documented in Brown County as compared to how they wanted them documented for commercial work,” Oestrike said. “The obvious response is that we don’t keep it the way they want it. It does not say that our work wasn’t done right,” he said about the functioning of the systems in question.

Kennard said trailer courts are considered commercial septic systems; so is the Bill Monroe Memorial Music Park.

Those could be two of the biggest sewer customers if the Bean Blossom area eventually gets a central sewer system to replace individual septic systems.

But so far, the Bean Blossom sewer project has not progressed to the point of applying for state funding; and on May 2, three of the five sewer board members resigned after pointing out a series of problems they saw in the health department during their sewer board meeting. One of them was the “failed audit.”

What the report said

News of the state report first surfaced in a March 14 work session of the Brown County Commissioners and Brown County Health Board when they were talking about revising the local septic ordinance.

Brown County Commissioner Jerry Pittman asked for a copy of “all state audits of the local health department for the past three years and any related correspondence to and from the state in reference to those audits.” He asked specifically for documents related to onsite sewage systems from the state board of health.

Office manager Judy Hess said she wasn’t sure what he meant by “audits.” Kennard told Pittman that he had the results of the report he was talking about and to put his request in writing.

“Do the commissioners need to put that in writing?” Pittman asked.

“Everybody does,” Kennard said.

Pittman asked the health board if they had seen the “audit reports,” and health board members said they had not been aware any existed. “That’s interesting,” Pittman said. “Maybe you should take a look at them.”

Zimmerly said he was given a copy of the report at that meeting by a person who was “eager” to share it.

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The state reviewed 16 of the most recently granted septic system permits as of May 19 and 20, 2015. Those are the dates that state health department training officer Denise Wright met with Kennard, according to her report.

Wright looked at phases of the process to permit and install a septic system in Brown County: interpretation of the soil report, review of installation plans submitted by septic system designers, and final inspection of installed systems.

The 16 files she studied included “oversight throughout various stages of the process by various BCHD staff members,” the report said.

Wright gave all 16 soil interpretations a “good” rating. The report said most were done by April Reeves. She no longer works for the health department after she moved out of state.

Wright gave all 16 case files a “poor” rating on “plan review.” The procedures for reviewing septic system plans vary greatly between department staff members and there is no standardized checklist to document that a thorough and uniform review has been conducted, she wrote.

Plans are submitted by septic system installers.

Some of the details that should be checked and documented during that review include where north is on the plan, where wells are in relation to the septic system and where certain parts of the system are.

Wright marked 11 of the 16 files “poor” on the final inspection. Different forms were used among the cases and not all of them included 18 points of detail, such as the depth of the soil absorption field, the site and soil conditions and the components used in the system.

Fifteen of the 16 files did not show where the observation port is to inspect Presby septic systems; and one final inspection was dated before the plan to build it was submitted, her report said.

Wright marked these as “issues that are of concern and should be addressed promptly with the BCHD staff.”

Repercussions?

Zimmerly said last week that the health board hadn’t asked for any additional training for the health department but that the board would be requiring that staff undergo different “procedural steps” based on their performance and involvement in that report. The board’s next meeting is May 16.

He said the board “is wanting to have closer oversight or coordination” between Oestrike and Kennard to improve the septic files.

He also said the board has asked the state to do another review of files from the first part of 2016 to see if changes were made after the health department was made aware of the paperwork problems.

Kennard has worked in the health department, primarily under septic system oversight, for nearly 20 years. He plans to retire in August 2019.

He said last week that he wasn’t embarrassed by anything in the state report, but now, two years later, he could not be sure that he ever shared it with his boss. He thought it might have been on his desk for two years.

Zimmerly said he wasn’t sure if Oestrike, the health officer, needed to sign off on septic permit paperwork, but “if he became aware of problems, he would be held responsible for making sure that job’s work was done according to protocol.”

A large portion of the health department’s budget is already set aside for legal issues, including one lawsuit in federal court, Zimmerly said.

That one was brought by Tom Westgard, a former Chicago lawyer who said he lived in Brown County until recently. The lawsuit challenges the legal authority of the health department to enter private property to conduct an inspection.

It names Kennard, Oestrike, Prosecutor Ted Adams and Sheriff Scott Southerland personally and professionally, and State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams in his official capacity.

At a recent public meeting, Westgard passed out handbills which list a website, bcsepticlaw.com, and encourage people to “read the facts and documents withheld from the public” and “confidentially offer your story or experience.”

The homepage invites viewers to “view their failed audit” and links to the 2015 OSS report.

The site also invites people to “tell us your experience with John Kennard and the Brown County Health Department.”

Oestrike said it also was discussed at the closed-door health board meeting that there are no written complaints about Kennard. If anyone filed a complaint about someone in his department, he said he would be responsible for investigating it and taking it to the health board.

Health board members have said during recent work sessions about the county septic ordinance that they want to see written standard operating procedures for how the health department handles septic system issues, so there is a uniform procedure for everyone.

Zimmerly said no time frame has been set for when the health department will have those written.