Package Sewage Treatment Plants: Panacea or Liability?
Dear Friends and Neighbors
Wastewater treatment is one of those subjects most people don’t think about until something goes wrong. But in a town like Fallsburg—where nearly everyone depends on groundwater for drinking water—it is one of the most consequential land-use decisions we can make.
In recent years, more development proposals have relied on something called a “package sewage treatment plant.” These systems are often described as modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly. In the right place, with the right oversight, that can be true. In the wrong place, or without strict controls, they can pose a serious and long-lasting threat to public health, water quality, and taxpayers.
A package sewage treatment plant is essentially a small, self-contained sewage treatment facility built to serve a single development. Instead of connecting to a municipal sewer system, the developer installs and operates a private plant on the property. These plants treat human waste using biological and mechanical processes and then discharge treated wastewater into the ground or nearby surface waters.
They are not septic systems. They are mini sewage plants, often located close to homes, wells, wetlands, and aquifers. They require constant electricity, trained operators, regular maintenance, and continuous monitoring to function safely. When everything works as designed, the wastewater is treated to acceptable standards. When it does not, the consequences can be severe.
The risk is not theoretical. Package plants fail most often not because of dramatic accidents, but because of quiet, incremental problems: systems that are undersized for real-world use, operators who are unavailable or undertrained, maintenance deferred to save money, monitoring systems that are ignored or disabled, or flow volumes that exceed what the plant was designed to handle. One of the most common failure points occurs before a system is even built—during the calculation of how much water residents will actually use.
Package plants are designed based on estimates, often calculated per bedroom or per person. If those assumptions are too low, the plant is undersized from day one. Every gallon of water used becomes a gallon of sewage that must be treated. When real-world use exceeds paper assumptions—particularly in communities with seasonal occupancy, short-term stays, or higher-than-average household use—wastewater moves through the system too quickly for proper treatment. Bacteria do not have time to do their work, solids wash out, and disinfection systems become overwhelmed. The plant may still appear to be operating, but it is no longer treating sewage effectively.
When that happens, partially treated or untreated sewage can migrate into soil and groundwater. Once groundwater is contaminated, it is extremely difficult—and sometimes impossible—to clean up. The impacts can persist for decades. Wells may need to be abandoned, water supplies replaced, and taxpayers left to deal with the cost long after a developer has moved on.
Fallsburg is particularly vulnerable to these risks. The town relies heavily on local aquifers and groundwater. Many areas have shallow water tables, sensitive wetlands, and limited capacity to absorb additional wastewater discharge. Seasonal population fluctuations further strain water and sewage systems, increasing the likelihood of overloads. In this context, the margin for error is small. A system that might function acceptably in a dense urban or industrial area can be wholly inappropriate in a rural, water-dependent community like ours.
Water is not the only concern. Package plants also rely on continuous aeration to keep treatment bacteria alive. When systems are overloaded or poorly operated, they can emit hydrogen sulfide and other noxious gases. These odors are more than a nuisance; they can affect nearby residents’ quality of life and, in some cases, public health. Poorly managed plants may also release bioaerosols—tiny airborne particles that can carry bacteria—creating additional exposure risks for workers and nearby homes.
Despite these realities, package plants are often marketed as “low maintenance” or “self-regulating.” That portrayal is misleading. These systems require certified operators, frequent inspections, routine sludge removal, and ongoing replacement of mechanical components. They demand constant attention. When financial pressure mounts, maintenance is often the first thing to be cut—and that is when failures begin.
This raises a fundamental question: if Fallsburg allows package sewage treatment plants, what must be done to protect residents, water resources, and taxpayers?
At a minimum, the town must require independent hydrogeologic studies that are selected and overseen by the town, not prepared solely by developers. Plant siting must be strictly limited, with strong setbacks from wells, wetlands, flood zones, and aquifer recharge areas. Systems must be designed for worst-case conditions, including seasonal surges, not average use. Occupancy limits must be tied directly to treatment capacity and enforced. Real-time monitoring data must be accessible to the town, with immediate alerts for failures or violations. Certified operators and backups must be mandatory, and the town must have clear authority to inspect, enforce, and shut down systems when necessary.
Equally important are financial safeguards. Developers should be required to fund substantial escrow accounts and post performance bonds that survive changes in ownership and cover long-term operation, emergency repairs, environmental testing, and potential remediation. Without these protections, the financial risk of failure shifts from private developers to the public.
Experience from other towns shows how quickly this shift can occur. When privately operated systems fall into disrepair or are abandoned, municipalities are often forced to intervene—not because they caused the problem, but because ongoing pollution cannot be allowed to continue. What begins as a private development amenity can quietly become a public obligation.
It is also important to recognize that package plants are not always the best—or only—option. In many cases, connection to existing municipal sewer systems, scaled-down development that matches infrastructure capacity, or phased growth tied to verified water availability may be safer and more responsible alternatives. In some locations, the most responsible decision may be to delay or deny development altogether until conditions change.
Contrary to what some may suggest, towns are not powerless in these decisions. Fallsburg can legally restrict or prohibit package sewage treatment plants in sensitive areas, require special permits rather than allowing them by right, and deny applications that threaten water resources. Environmental review laws exist precisely to prevent irreversible harm before it occurs. Saying no to an unsafe proposal is not anti-development; it is pro-community, pro-health, and pro-future.
Why This Matters Now
This issue is not about one project or one applicant. It is about whether Fallsburg chooses short-term convenience over long-term responsibility—and whether we learn from what has already happened elsewhere or repeat it and hope for a different outcome.
When package plants fail, the costs do not stay contained within property lines. They show up in groundwater contamination, air quality impacts, rising public expenses, and eroded trust in local government. Once groundwater is polluted, there is no reset button. Protecting our water means asking hard questions now, setting firm rules, and refusing to gamble with the resources that make this town livable. The cost to Fallsburg of getting this wrong would not be abstract. It would show up in contaminated wells, degraded aquifers, emergency responses, legal exposure, long-term monitoring expenses, and loss of public trust. These costs persist long after a developer has moved on.
The decisions made today will shape Fallsburg for generations. Knowing the history of what can—and does—go wrong gives us both the warning and the responsibility to get this right.
Fallsburg's Future is a community network of concerned Fallsburg residents established in January 2016. Its Mission is to help guide the urban development of the town of Fallsburg and its five hamlets, to promote its sustainable economic development, protect the fragile beauty of its natural habitats and enhance the opportunities and quality of life for all its residents and visitors. We hope to curb the suburban sprawl that is threatening to overwhelm the town’s physical infrastructure and destroy the natural beauty that the area depends on for its future development. See us on Facebook and our website Fallsburgsfuture.com.