Holland Lake sewer might have long standing problems

The wastewater system near Holland Lake Lodge might have been leaking since 2005, and photos show large rips in parts of the lagoon's liner from last year, according to letters and photos requested through the Freedom of Information Act by the nonprofit Save Holland Lake.

The nonprofit shared several obtained photos and correspondence between Forest Service engineers and technicians working on the two-cell lagoon roughly 1,000 feet from the Holland Lake Lodge.

Meanwhile, Missoula County told the Pathfinder that the Forest Service did not inform officials of any maintenance required on the lagoon, which a Missoula Public Health Division Director said is breaking county code.

One handwritten note from Forest Service Engineer Patrick Siers said the lagoon was likely leaking in 2005.

"I asked (Vince Chappell) if Holland Lake Lodge had a leak and were they pumping groundwater," Siers wrote in the September 2005 letter. "(Chappell) is almost positive that they are."

Chappell also manages the Seeley Lake Water District.

In 2022, the Forest Service replaced parts of the lagoon liner that keeps the untreated wastewater from underground water. Photos released from the Forest Service showed several areas where cracks were prevalent - some gaps as wide as six inches.

"I was at the sewer lagoon yesterday. I found a major issue," Chappell said on June 1, 2022. The liner by the overflow pipe has come apart. The lagoon is low due to the liner being split. It will need (to be) patched immediately."

The cost for the repairs were about $4,000 and focused on visible cracks. The work finished in September. There was no report made publicly available of the leakage.

After making the fixes, Siers wrote that Chappell had noticed an increase in use of the wastewater system, but the two cells of the lagoon had not picked up additional waste.

"Vince reported a recent noticeable increase in use but felt we still will not need to discharge effluent this year," Siers wrote in September 2022. "We have discharged effluent only one time since 2018."

With all the problems with the sewer, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has asked the Forest Service to complete a study of the sewer, the Pathfinder previously reported.

The state environmental health agency also said it was notified last fall when POWDR requested to add more connections to the wastewater plant, with no plan to upgrade or overhaul the wastewater system.

The original due date for the analysis was by Sept. 17, but the Forest Service asked for an extension to November. Moira Davin, a public relations specialist for DEQ, said in a statement that the agency will allow for the extra time to do the work.

"(DEQ) will continue to work with the Forest Service to address these issues and ensure that wastewater treatment at Holland Lake is protective of human health and the environment," Moira said in a statement.

While DEQ looks over the testing and operations of the lagoon, the building permit comes from the Missoula Public Health Department. Shannon Therriault, the Environmental Health Division director at the health department, said the county is looking into the recent repair issues.

Therriault said the Forest Service still needed a permit to do the 2022 repairs, and the county had heard nothing about the repairs until the Freedom of Information Act release last week.

"Let's say theoretically the lagoon is completely failing," Therriault said. "We, the county, can require that they replace it, and go through the DEQ process."

When asked about the repairs last year, Forest Service Public Affairs Specialist Jessica Schick said maintenance is conducted at the Holland Lake Wastewater System regularly. She would not confirm whether treated sewage water had only been discharged once since 2018.

Schick confirmed that in 2022 the tear in the lagoon liner had been fixed. She did not respond in time for press to the question on why the Forest Service did not inform Missoula County about its 2022 repairs.

She concluded that the Forest Service is working with DEQ to fix any problems with the site.

The lagoon controversy comes as owners of the Lodge have requested a change of ownership to POWDR, a ski resort company in Utah. Its subsidiary, E-3 Destinations, would be in control of the special use permit that allows for the lodge to operate on public land. That process, which started in February, has no public updates available.

Last fall POWDR applied for an expansion of the Lodge that will triple its footprint. Part of that application would have added additional connections to the waste lagoon, which Davin said is part of the reason the state asked the Forest Service to do a leakage test.

The other reason is pressure from the Save Holland Lake group, which told the Pathfinder it wants answers and solutions about the lagoon from the Forest Service.

"This new information indicates that the wastewater treatment system poses a grave and continuing threat to public safety and to nearby ground and surface waters, including Holland Lake itself and the endangered bull trout that live there," David Roberts with Save Holland Lake wrote to the Forest Service and DEQ. "This threat must be addressed immediately before more damage occurs."