What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. The Erie County Health Department claims the assistant director of the state health department, an expert on sewage systems, intentionally tried to skirt the laws when he failed to obtain a permit when he changed his residential sewage system on Kelleys Island.

Erie County health commissioner Pete Schade says that Martin Tremmel has created a “public health nuisance” and obviously must know better.

“I’m not going to remain quiet over it,” Schade told the department’s board. “That was done maliciously as far as I’m concerned.”

Aerial photographs of Tremmel’s residence at 117 Ward on the north side of the island shows he moved his sewer system while doing work on the site. The work, apparently carried out last spring, was illegal because Tremmel must obtain a permit from the health department before making changes in his septic system, Schade said.

Moreover, any changes in the system trigger the health department’s right to demand upgrades of the system to bring the technology up to 2011 standards, said Bob England, director of the Erie County Health Department’s environmental health division.

Typically a person carrying out construction contacts the health department, England said.

“This is very rare that something like this happens,” he said.

The health department found out about the situation when a complaint from a Kelleys Island resident was passed on to the department, England said.

Schade said he intends to force Tremmel to comply with state sewage codes and modernize his system.

“This is a public health nuisance,” Schade said. “This effluent is going into the waters of the lake.”
Tremmel denies trying to evade the rules.

He said Wednesday he did not realize he had violated any rules until Erie County’s health department contacted him a few weeks ago. He said he had understood contractors working on his home either had obtained a permit or been told it wasn’t necessary.

Tremmel said when an addition was done on his home a year ago, it became necessary to move the aeration unit in front of the house to comply with rules on how close the sewer system can be to the house. A contractor moved it 20 feet, he said.

Once the issue was brought to his attention, Tremmel said he immediately paid the fee for making an alteration and arranged a meeting between the health department and the contractor.

He said he did not know the health department wanted him to upgrade his system until the Sandusky Register told him.

“We’ll be glad to have that conversation,” he said.

England confirmed he met with the contractor, but said he needs to be shown a design to bring the system up to code.

“They have not committed to anything,” he said.

Tremmel has had a home on Kelleys Island since 1999.

Gov. John Kasich’s predecessor, Gov. Ted Strickland, named Tremmel assistant director in 2008. Tremmel began his career as a health educator in Erie County and served as the health commissioner in Seneca, Huron and Union counties before accepting the state post.

State health department minutes posted online show that Tremmel served as a member of the department’s Sewage Treatment Systems Technical Advisory Committee.

Schade said Tremmel’s service on the TAC makes it odd he didn’t follow the rules.
“If anybody should know, it should be this guy,” Schade said. “What credibility would I have if I didn’t do anything?”
 

Related File(s): 

Letters sent to Martin Tremmel