Mr. Desrosiers applied for an on-site sewage disposal system on his 6.4 acre property. It was turned down on grounds of high ground water levels and that the soil on the site was not natural soil within the meaning of the Sewage Disposal Regulation, and that consequently there was no natural soil above the groundwater levels.
The Board noted the requirement of 4 feet of permeable soil above ground water may be relaxed on properties over 1 acre in size. In addition, the Board found that no fill had been added to the property and the soil was at roughly the original level. Although it is true that the soil had been moved around in the course of normal farming operations on the land, the Board held that the soil was natural within the meaning of the regulation. For these reasons the Board overturned the Environmental Health Officers decision and granted the appeal.
