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Memo-MPG Elimination of Well Permitting Authority <br />January 3, 1990 <br />Page 2 <br />of inspectors and is hiring 20 more, but their goal, as expressed <br />by Jim Nye, head of their Groundwater Quality Control Unit, even <br />at full manpower is to inspect only l/4th of the new well <br />installations. It is unreasonable to expect that the State will <br />do any pre-drilling site inspections, nor can we expect them to <br />stop in the City office for every well that gets drilled in Orono <br />to verify where the well can and can't be safely located on a <br />given lot in a given subdivision. <br />NiniBium Needs for Adequate Control - <br />Staff feels that the following procedures must continue in <br />one form or another if the City is to maintain adequate controls <br />over rural residential development in the City: <br />1. Require that all well drillers call for a site <br />inspection or appear at the office for a site plan <br />verification to insure that wells get drilled in appropriate <br />locations. <br />2. Well drillers should be required to continue to provide <br />a copy of the State Water Well Record for each well drilled <br />and abandoned (sealed) in the City. The City has maintained <br />permanent records of all wells drilled and abandoned in the <br />City since 1978. Well information is often requested by <br />realtors, homeowners, and well drillers and if they have to <br />go to the State for this information, it is doubtful they <br />will be given the same degree of service provided by Orono. <br />Proposed Interia Controls - <br />Until such time that the State or County have a functional <br />inspection program in effect, which may be a period of years, <br />staff is recommending the following interim well control <br />requirements ; <br />1. Although State Statutes appear to expressly prohibit it, <br />require that well drillers call for a site inspection or at <br />a minimum stop in the City office to review on paper the <br />appropriate well locations based on nearby septic <br />system/sewer line locations. Without this authority, the <br />few "problem well drillers whom we normally watch will not <br />have to notify us they are drilling. <br />2. If a site inspection is needed, we would charge the <br />normal "site inspection" fee of $30.00. <br />3. Require that well drillers submit a copy of the State <br />Well Record to us for all wells drilled in the City, and all <br />wells abandoned in the City. We propose to withhold <br />Occupancy for new houses until a copy of the State Well <br />Record has been received. <br />r }