Monroe County, Indiana

Wastewater Disposal Complaint Program

The Wastewater Disposal Complaint Program follows the General Sewage Disposal Requirements set in Rule 410 IAC 6-8.1 and Monroe County Ordinance Chapter 365.

The Wastewater Disposal Complaint Program is activated most commonly by a phone call or visit to the department by a concerned citizen of Monroe County. This is the initial complaint. Once the initial complaint is documented and all necessary information is received, the department will respond to the site for a complaint investigation. The complaint investigation will generally occur within three (3) business days, weather permitting.

The complaint investigation process can be as simple as walking the site and verifying a direct point source discharge from a specific location, or it can be as complex as first having to identify the pollutant from an indirect source by collecting a sample for laboratory analysis, and then dye tracing the area residences to locate the source.

Once evidence is found substantiating the complaint, the property owner is notified in writing with a Health Officer Order by Certified Mail containing a statement of the reasons for the issuance of the notice, remedial action necessary for compliance with the code, and set time frames to correct the problem. The Health Department then conducts follow-up investigations to monitor the remedial action. Remedial action can range from repairing a broken or clogged sewer lateral, re-routing plumbing, to replacing existing septic tank and drainage field systems. Each site is unique in that options for repair are dependent upon soils and drainage, age of existing system, and sanitary sewer availability. A person who violates any provision of Monroe County Ordinance Chapter 365 commits an ordinance violation, for which the first violation is a Class C ordinance violation, and for the second and subsequent violations, is a Class B ordinance Violation.

Please contact one of our Wastewater Specialists for more information at wastewater@co.monroe.in.us or by phone: 812-349-2543, option 3. Office hours for staff are normally 8am-9am Monday through Friday for walk-ins. We urge you to make an appointment prior to walking in as staff may be out of the office doing field work.

Please be aware that any information you provide to Monroe County Government may be released upon the receipt of a public records request. In other words, your name, contact information, and complaint may be requested by any member of the public, including those persons who are the subject of your complaint. A person who provides false information upon which a health officer relies in issuing an order under this section commits a Class C misdemeanor. This disclosure is not intended to discourage you from submitting a complaint, but is intended to make you fully aware that records held by Monroe County are subject to Indiana's Public Access laws. 

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of the Monroe County Health Department. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them, they are for informational purposes only.

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