State works to keep sewage systems in line

State officials are working with Iowa counties to ensure proper proceduresare in place for dealing with sewage waste in newly-constructed housing”subdivisions.” Brent Parker of the Iowa Department of Natural Resourcessays too many contractors are getting county approval to build housing”subdivisions” without any plan for sewage disposal. Parker says about 90 percent of the new houses being built in Iowa areconstructed in an area which has no connection to a city sewage system.Parker says septic tanks are often the only option for that perfect home inthe country.In southwest Iowa, a lawsuit has been filed against Mills county, charginglocal officials didn’t properly inspect developers’ applications for septictank permits and allowed installation of tanks too small to handle a home’ssewage.