The Blue-Green Waters of Lake Lariat

My approach to finding a good inspector for my septic system has resulted in disappointment. In my area, all of the inspectors on the state's list are not in the business anymore, not available at their listed number, or decided to ignore the training they got in order to do their inspections cheaply.

One of the people I called lives in my neighborhood, but never offered inspections. His name got on the list because he used to work for the county in some capacity dealing with sanitation and had taken the inspector training decades ago. It turned out I knew him from some events we had worked together in our community. I also saw him out on his run this morning - not unusual for this geriatric trackster.

Though my friend couldn't inspect my septic system, we continued to converse and he mentioned that the Lake (Lariat) Preservation Committee, which he serves on, had been considering soliciting residents along the lakeshore to have their septic systems inspected for a highly discounted group rate of $180. The inspection company offering the deal has a camera probe which would be one way to properly inspect components downstream of the tank.

Lake Lariat Beach - it's empty for a reason

The Lake Preservation Committee is interested in checking septic systems which could be contributing to a recent blue-green algal bloom of unknown origin. These blooms are associated with a bacteria that can harm the liver, so signs have been posted recently to discourage swimming.

This problem may be my opportunity - not only to tackle it as a part of my Watershed Steward Academy capstone project, but also to hire a well-equipped inspector for my own system. I don't know if the Lake Preservation Committee considered soliciting homeowners not on the lake to join in the deal, but I would open it up to as many homes in the community that want their system tested, with priority to those homes in the "critical area" of the Lake Lariat watershed. At the 14 September Lake Preservation Committee meeting, I will talk this up and try to get them to leverage SepticSmart week as an outreach platform.

The #1 Source of Pollution in Our Watershed

The 7 million or so gallons of sewage that spilled from wastewater treatment plants into a couple of the Chesapeake Bay's tributaries two weeks ago turned my head in a new direction. It redirected me on my capstone project for the Watershed Stewards Academy to focus on humanure in my neighborhood. Septic tanks are the current locus of the problem. Particularly problematic are failed septic systems in which sewage resurfaces and then gets washed by storm runoff into surface water.

The environmental impact of failed septic systems can be estimated using a figure from Purdue University stating that one failed system will discharge 76,650 gallons of sewage to the surface in one year. Extending that to an estimate of the number of homes in the critical area of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates, and applying a factor of 10%, which is the EPA's estimate of the proportion of septic system failures, and the annual amount of sewage flowing overland from this 1,000 foot wide zone stretching about 1 mile along the Chesapeake Bay comes to 3.8 million gallons. It could be double or triple that, depending on the actual failure rate, which has be estimated at over 30% in some states. Project that kind of problem all along the coastline of the bay and its tributaries and the wastewater treatment plants end up smelling like a rose.

Maryland's laws pertaining to poop aren't all that stringent. Farmers are allowed to dump manure on their fields. Homeowners are allowed to spread it on their lawns. If the fertilizer limits on nitrogen are applied to manure (phosphorus is actually the more limiting element), you could legally put 40 pounds of horse manure on a 1,000 sq. ft. lawn in a single application. Not that anyone would, but you could instead apply 20 pounds of humanure to the same lawn and remain under the nitrogen limits. A failed septic system used by a family of four would expel roughly 700 pounds of excrement (assuming toilets outside the home are used 50% of the time) to the land. That amounts to over 35 times the nitrogen limit for lawn fertilization (humanure contains 5% - 7% N). And that's just the poo! There is also a lot of urine and other nasty liquids in the mix with a whole lot more nitrogen.

It is hard to say whether the nutrient-laden runoff or the 100 or so pathogens in the sewage are a greater problem. Research published in 2015 from leading experts in the field of water sustainability shows that pathogens from septic systems make it into surface water much more than what authorities had believed. The pathogens are pretty scary, but to fish and other marine life, nutrient overload can quickly become deadly.

Keep in mind that all septic systems, working or not, tend to pollute the environment. The total amount of nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay watershed from septic systems in Calvert County exceeds that from every other category,

Photo by Jim Barter

which includes agriculture, urban runoff, forests, and wastewater treatment plants. On average, the amount of nitrogen entering the watershed from a septic system is 19 pounds per year, based on calculations using figures from the Calvert County Watershed Implementation Plan. That is equivalent to dumping lawn fertilizer for over twenty 1,000 sq. ft. applications straight into the bay.  Every house.  Every year. The pathogens (including certain bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and other parasites)  in the effluent from working septic systems also make it into groundwater to one degree or another. In areas where septic systems are greatly concentrated, such as the Chesapeake Ranch Estates, both pollutant types will make the surrounding waters inhospitable to man or beast.

I Wannabe the Fungi Guy

Mark Jones of Sharondale Farm in Virginia talks about his vision for the relationship of towns and communities to fungi. This whimsical vision includes the idea that every place will one day have its own mushroom cultivator, just as today every place has its own McDonald's. In the appropriate tech future that we are about to enter, this should be one of its finer elements. Since I may be the most advanced cultivator in my neighborhood, I might well look to be the Papa Smurf of Calvert Shores (aka Chesapeake Ranch Estates).

Before venturing into a business, knowing your market is key. One of my favorite things about Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, by +Tradd Cotter, is the back matter regarding the various species worth cultivating. I particularly appreciate the information on marketing each type of mushroom. +Paul Stamets has a similar section in Mycelium Running - How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, which also contains information that can be used to connect with customers. Together, they give prospective growers many good choices beyond the usual shiitake, oyster, garden giant trio.

Depending on how many of my new logs fruit this year, we may start selling shiitakes next year at the farmer's market. Oysters shouldn't be difficult, either. I hope to see the golden oyster mushroom logs begin to fruit this year, and Sharondale Farms has supplied useful tips for ways to grow oysters indoors on agricultural waste. My two beds of garden giants are also primed for the season and could proliferate this year with a little help from Papa Smurf. And there are sundry small batches of other species we hope to harvest for our own consumption. Almond portobellos are one of the more exotic species we will be trying soon.

That should be plenty to get us into the mushroom business around here. The question is, what would be a big seller? Almond portobellos and garden giants will be a new sight to many shoppers here. What should we consider adding to the line of exotic species that we offer in the future?  The following table summarizes some of the information from Cotter's book that could help in this decision.

Genus	Ease of Cultivation	Market Connection
Agaricus	Intermediate	Have some cooking to entice buyers
Agrocybe	Easy	Bundle in paper, exposing only caps
Auricularia	Easy	Demonstrate rehydration method
Calocybe	Intermediate	Tropical
Chlorophyllum	Intermediate	Fruits in the fall
Clitocybe	Intermediate	Good in soups and gumbos
Coprinus	Easy	Extremely short shelf-life
Fistulina	Intermediate	A summer favorite; meat substitute
Flammulina	Intermediate	Ice/water bath; salad/soup topper
Fomes	Advanced	Powder or water extract - medicinal
Ganoderma	Easy	Medicinal orientation of display
Grifola	Intermediate	Sold locally; Cook for aroma; Medicinal delicacy
Hericium	Intermediate	Sold locally; Novelty for some; Seafood substitute
Hypholoma	Easy	Wrap in bundles/clusters
Hypsizygus	Easy	Help customers appreciate differences between species
Laetiporus	Advanced	Chicken substitute
Lentinula	Easy	Sold locally; the superstars; sell caps (mix stems in dog food)
Lepiota	Intermediate	Sell caps (eat stems or put in dog food)
Macrocybe	Intermediate	Tropical
Macrolepiota	Intermediate	Sell caps (eat stems or put in dog food)
Pholiota	Easy	Sell to Asian markets or restaurants, esp. Japanese
Piptoporus	Advanced	Powder or water extract - medicinal
Pleurotus	Easy	Sold locally; Explain differences in flavors of strains sold
Sparassis	Advanced	Crunchy, even when sauteed
Stropharia	Easy	Pre-sell to restaurants - does not store well
Trametes	Easy	Powder or water extract - medicinal
Volvariella	Intermediate	Tastes better than button; Sell to Asian markets; Sell primordia

Home and Hearth

In a state that is one of the top three in home mortgage foreclosures and in a neighborhood that has greater than 10% vacancy, it's hard to justify investments in one's dwelling unless you are destined to remain in place regardless of the market. It becomes a speculative decision which includes factors of the local economy, energy prices, and climate-driven demographic shifts.

In our case, I believe these factors favor energy upgrades to our home only as a long-term investment or if the energy savings payoff begins within three years. I see our local economy continuing to be buoyed up by the national security apparatus, of which our portion is Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR). I see grid electricity becoming more scarce as the fracking bubble bursts and coal gets left in the ground. Finally, the climate-driven migration of westerners to the east will probably take a decade or so to begin.

The net result looks to me like the value of homes in Southern Maryland will not fall too heavily before they start to recover sometime around 2025. Our own lower tier neighborhood, the Chesapeake Ranch Estates (CRE), will fall harder and recover slower than most. Becoming a municipality would ameliorate CRE's decline, but that looks politically dubious. However, if the Board of County Commissioners realizes how badly they ignored our concerns over the Cove Point gas plant LNG expansion, they will approve our municipality petition as consolation.

There are a host of things you can do to save energy in your home. We have a dishwasher that costs us an estimated $35/year in excessive energy usage over the newer Energy Star models. It recently leaked slowly into our kitchen floor and through the basement ceiling, causing over $10,000 in damage. After twisting the stingy arms of HMS, our home warranty company, I expect this old dishwasher to be repaired, after which I plan to sell it and get a newer model (and fire HMS - they should have replaced it outright).

While solar power looks slightly uneconomical for us at this point, I would consider installing a solar water heater. Water heating consumes about 18% of a typical home's energy. Over three years, cutting my electric bill by 18% would total to about $1,000.  Perhaps a DIY installation of a solar water heater would make sense.

Before that, the project that looks most lucrative is to augment our electric heat pump with a wood-burning stove that could potentially shave a whopping 45% off our electric bill! So now we are looking at about $3,000 saved over three years. Rather than rely on pellet fuel, I will have to look into rocket stoves.  I produce lots of kindling in the process of making biochar. If it can make my home heating costs disappear, making more sticks would be no problem. I can picture us being warm all evening in the basement watching the glow of a real fire, then retiring upstairs with the risen heat to comfort us throughout the night. It's a picture that, in the end, makes mechanized heat less desireable than the more labor-intensive way.

Civics

Our house is in a homeowners association area known as the Chesapeake Ranch Estates (CRE).  The census designated place of Lusby, MD is inland and adjacent to our neighborhood.  We, and all but two other places in Calvert County, are beholden to the whims of the Board of County Commissioners for managing our tax dollars.

A petition has been submitted to the county government to allow our neighborhood and the adjoining commercial district to incorporate into a municipality, which would allow us to decide where some of our tax dollars are spent and to apply for grants and loans from state and federal agencies. If approved, our rural village will be known as Calvert Shores and, though late in coming, the change is a step in the right direction.  It would allow stronger enforcement of local rules, which have proven difficult for the HOA to maintain due to the enormous size of CRE.  It might also allow our village to begin the transition to a more resilient community, able to adapt to financial turmoil and natural disasters.  I think the name Calvert Shores is ingenious since FEMA may be more inclined to grant monetary relief from hurricane damage to a "shoreline" community.

The sticking point for approval of the petition appears to be whether the business owners outside of CRE would prefer to be part of the municipality.  If they will have to pay additional taxes as a result, my guess is that they will lobby with the county commissioners to reject it.  From what I've observed about our recent coteries of commissioners (one of whom owns a business in the area affected) businesses receive treatment as persons, while individuals receive treatment as subjects.