Joe Duvall doesn’t want a clogged drain to cost him upward of $30,000.

But the Craig Bar owner faces the possibility of not only having to put in a new septic system at a minimum price of $30,000, but also the fact that he could be forced to abandon that system in a few years if the town of Craig decides to create a community septic system.

It appears that Duvall and the Lewis and Clark County Health Department may be able to come up with a solution that protects the public’s health and doesn’t cost Duvall a lot of money, Kathy Moore, environmental health division administrator, said on Thursday.

However, she’s quick to note that other home and business owners in Craig may soon find themselves in similar situations, without the short-term fix possibly available to Duvall.

“His option may or may not be available when the next system goes belly up,” Moore said. “His situation highlights what could happen to almost anyone who lives in Craig. There’s very little room for any new (septic) systems, and those existing systems are aging and will fail.

“And as the systems age, their ability to treat the wastewater diminishes, and the wastewater is going into the groundwater that people are drinking,” Moore said.

Uncle Joe’s

Duvall purchased the Craig Bar in 1985 and testified at a recent district court hearing that it’s one of the few businesses in the small town along the Missouri River between Helena and Great Falls to remain open year round. As such, it’s a de facto community center, a gathering place known to locals as “Uncle Joe’s,” where potlucks are held on a regular basis during the winter, as well as on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The food on its regular menu consists of three items — microwaved polish sausage, chili and pizza — but it’s not the cooking that invites the regulars and strangers alike inside; it’s the opportunity to catch up on what’s happening in the neighborhood and maybe make a new friend.

“They come in for coffee and to gather and chat,” Duvall said during the hearing before Judge Jeffrey Sherlock. “It’s an important part of the community.”

Duvall, 72, hasn’t been able to hang out at the bar much lately due to health problems. But about 9 p.m. Aug. 21, bartender Michele Wells called him to say that the bar sink’s drain was clogged. Duvall told her to close the bar early, which she did at 10 p.m.

Wells called Carp’s Drain Cleaning Service on Aug. 22, and its employees worked all day to try to clear the pipe using a high-pressure water system.

Duvall’s attorney, Kristi Blazer, said that during the work on the clog, it was discovered that the bar sink didn’t drain into the septic system to the north, but instead led out of the bar to the west in a separate system. In the manner that was commonplace years ago, the pipe ended with a series of holes that dispersed the wash water into gravel underground.

Carp’s wasn’t able to clear the clog, so the workers decided to break the pipe and get after the clog that way. But they weren’t able to fix the problem, and left about 7 p.m.

Sewage concerns surface

A sewage leak was reported to the state Department of Environmental Quality on Aug. 23, and a site inspection was conducted at 9 a.m. Aug. 24 by Jason Fladland with the county health department. He reported seeing what he termed “sewage” in the hole dug by Carp’s, and drafted a notice of violation.

“In the trench was a foot of gray water from the wastewater system,” Fladland testified, noting that the state and county make no distinction between gray water, which typically drains from a sink, and black water, which comes from flushing a toilet.

Blazer countered that at the hearing, Frank Preskar, an environmental health specialist with the county, testified that black water is more dangerous than gray water.

“It’s not that gray water isn’t a concern, but it’s very common for people to treat gray water from a sink differently” than black water, Blazer said. “I’m not saying it’s not dangerous, but it’s not as dangerous.”

Preskar added, though, that laws prohibit gray water from surfacing because rodents, insects and people can come into direct contract with it, and the water can transmit biological pathogens.

Moore said the Legislature recently passed a bill that would allow the state to consider gray water separate from black water.

“However, the state is not rushing into that,” Moore said. “There’s been some research done suggesting gray water can be just as bad as black water. It kind of depends on how you define gray water.”

Well-water woes

What particularly concerned other state and county health officials is that the trench — which had the gray water in it — dug in the attempt to repair the clog was within a few feet of the bar’s public drinking water well.

The reason for the close proximity of the well and the drain pipe is symptomatic of many small communities. When towns were laid out or platted decades ago, the lots were fairly small so people were restricted as to where they could install septic systems and wells. Subsequently, they were placed closer together than what regulations currently allow.

On Aug. 24, Luella Schultz with the state Department of Environmental Quality issued a boil order for the bar.

“We were concerned regarding the close proximity to the well,” Schultz testified. “Because of the digging that had occurred … the disturbance made it extremely permeable to contaminants.”

The bartenders bought ice from a nearby store and took other steps suggested by Schultz.

Blazer said a water sample taken from the bar Aug. 23 and tested the next day had no signs of contamination.

But on Aug. 28, Laurel Riek, a county health specialist in the disease prevention division, served Duvall with a notice of violation, asking the bar to shut down immediately until the problem was solved.

“If you don’t have a clean water supply, the public is at risk for contracting a disease,” Riek said. “I asked them to stop operating the business until the sewage was contained.”

Riek noted that the drinking water and the wastewater systems were two different violations to the county.

Preskar said he visited the bar Aug. 29 and ordered a soda, then used the bathroom, which in his view meant Riek’s “cease and desist” order wasn’t being followed.

Blazer argues that the bar was closed to the public, but people were allowed to enter because the business needed to tell suppliers not to deliver products.

“It may have appeared to some people that the bar was open, but it was not,” Blazer said.

One day later, Judge Sherlock issued a temporary restraining order — or TRO — to prohibit operation of the bar.

The bar’s been closed ever since, but Blazer and Duvall are trying desperately to get the restraining order lifted.

Duvall is worried he could lose his liquor license if he’s not using it, and Blazer adds that the closure is putting people out of work as the community ends the busy tourism season.

“September and October are huge for fishing,” Blazer said. “And frankly, he needs to be open for the community.”

She believes that the TRO shouldn’t have been issued anyway, since it was based on the health department’s assertion that the wastewater treatment system failed.

“The TRO was obtained on the basis of misinformation and an inadequate investigation,” Blazer said in court documents. “The septic system at the Craig Bar is a working system. … Continued closure of the bar is a drastic and unnecessary measure which will result in irreparable harm” to Duvall, his employees and the town of Craig.

Safe, yet sufficient?

Old wastewater systems are “grandfathered,” meaning they can be used until they fail or are modified; at that time, they have to be brought up to state and county code. Even if a system is altered even slightly, it needs to come into compliance with current regulations.

As far as Lewis and Clark County is concerned, Duvall’s sink drain pipe and wastewater pipe were all part of the same septic system. Since the drain pipe was broken, the system became noncompliant and for it to continue to be used, the whole system had to be brought up to standards — including adequate separation of the water and wastewater systems.

That would cost a minimum of $30,000 according to Blazer, who maintains that the two drain systems are separate.

Moore argues that even if they are using two separate systems, the county regulates the disposal of any wastewater — black, gray or otherwise — and that the water from the bar’s sink shouldn’t be discharged right next to the well, especially when the public may be consuming water from that well.

Still, she understands Duvall’s dilemma, and the county is trying to come up with a solution so he doesn’t have to make a significant investment, only to have to abandon it if Craig voters decide to create a community-wide septic system. (See related story.)

One possibility is for the bar to install a tank for the gray water to run into, and pump the tank occasionally. But the pipe still would have to be moved farther from the well, and that could be difficult since it goes from the bar sink directly into a concrete foundation.

In addition, Blazer said a memo from Moore states that this solution would only be good for 120 days. With a ball-park figure of about $10,000 for the tank, Blazer would like to see it be used at least until the community system is installed.

“Our position is we should pump it every two weeks … for three years, and review it at that point,” Blazer said. “That’s the time frame during which this sewer system would be put in place.”

Another option is to drill a new well farther away, or to hook into a nearby existing public water supply, Moore said.

“I think we’re working pretty hard to find something for them that’s economically feasible and reasonable, yet still meets public health requirements,” Moore said. “I think fortunately, once we get the paperwork and bureaucracy knots untangled, he can reopen.”

But Blazer says this dispute isn’t about the well, and it shouldn’t be drawn into the problem. It’s all about a sink’s clogged drain, and if the drain issue is dealt with, the well should be left alone.

“Our position is that there’s nothing wrong with the existing well,” she said.

Reporter Eve Byron can be reached at eve.byron@helenair.com

or 447-4076.