The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned five states that they aren’t doing enough to reduce nitrogen in Long Island Sound. EPA proposed new strategies to reduce nitrogen in a letter to officials in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. Besides continuing to upgrade wastewater treatment plants, EPA said nitrogen targets for each state would help reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the Sound from other sources such as storm drains, septic systems and lawn fertilizers.

Colorado

Illegal dwellings are popping up all over Colorado as people look to cash in on the state’s new legal marijuana industry. It’s not known how many people are living off the grid with no running water, sanitation or proper heating systems. One fire chief in Park County said he counted 287 illegal homes in a single 50-mile drive, including RVs, campers, tents and makeshift structures. The county has hired two additional code enforcement officers and are updating zoning codes to make sure local ordinances properly regulate the dwellings.

Hawaii

With a new tax incentive program to encourage people to replace cesspools with modern septic systems, several legislators have asked Gov. David Ige not to approve strict rule changes to ban all new cesspools. Hawaii is the only state that still allows new cesspools, with about 3,000 approved every year. In a letter to Ige, lawmakers say a proposed rule that would require all cesspools to be replaced would cost $1.5 billion on the Big Island (Hawaii) alone, which has more than 50,000 cesspools. They say a new septic system runs from $20,000 to $30,000 in Hawaii, while a cesspool costs $2,000 to $3,000.

The tax credit has been available since January, offering up to $10,000 to replace cesspools located within 200 feet of a shoreline, perennial stream, wetland, or within a source water assessment program area over the next five years, with an annual cap of $5 million in credits.

New York

The Chautauqua County Board of Health began inspecting all private onsite wastewater systems within 250 feet of its five lakes in May. The inspections will focus on two lakes in 2016, with the project expected to take a few years to complete as the county reduces phosphorus reaching into the lakes and contributing to algae blooms. The county will be looking at systems more than 30 years old and those installed before permits were required.

Property owners will not be charged for the inspections but will have to pay the cost of uncovering the system and the cost to have it pumped for inspection. Local health officials will conduct a visual inspection and dye testing to determine the capacity and structural integrity of systems. The Environmental Health Department will work with owners of failed systems to determine actions needed to repair or replace them in order to meet sanitary codes.

Officials in Astoria, New York, say it will be 2019 before a popular park’s bathrooms can be reopened. Last spring, it was discovered that the bathrooms for Astoria Park pool and playground were draining directly into the East River for decades because of an outdated septic system installed in the 1930s. Portable restrooms are being used in the interim as repairs go through the community’s design and procurement process.