LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — News 2 previously reported on a new Wilson County school that will start the year off by pumping sewage out of the building. The blame initially fell on permit issues with the school's sewage provider, but a lawmaker revealed it's part of a serious statewide problem.

LaGuardo Elementary School is preparing to open its doors for the first time to students on Friday, Aug. 1 without a properly working sewage system. Until there's a permanent solution, the City of Lebanon will remove the sewage through a pump and haul system.

"Everybody's working together to make sure the school's open on time, but it's a much bigger picture that's not just going to be Wilson County. It's a statewide issue," state Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) said.

Pody said the sewage problems came to light a year ago when state lawmakers received a report from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The report revealed about a quarter of systems that were visited exhibited "notable performance issues," including wastewater not being properly controlled.

When News 2 asked how many failing systems Tennessee has, Pody replied, "There was over a hundred in sum. I mean, these were massive."

According to Pody, the problem is many of the systems have not been properly maintained over the years: "If I were to equate this to a swimming pool -- there's nothing wrong with swimming pools, they all work, but if somebody doesn’t take care of them and you go out and go swimming, it's all green. It wasn't that the pool was necessarily installed wrong or something, but somebody didn't maintain it."

The state senator also learned some of the providers who install the systems have several violations: "I got to make it where if you've got this number of violations, you can’t accept another one, if that makes sense. We can’t let bad actors continue in this space."

Come January, Pody said this will be his top priority. He plans to bring several pieces of legislation forward, including asking TDEC to vet providers before giving them a permit and punish those that have violations. 

“I want to make sure that TDEC has the authority and the teeth that...they're not going to just send a letter, but they're going to find a way to make sure fines and such are going out for these bad actors," Pody explained.

Pody said the burden should not fall on homeowners or businesses that run into septic issues like those at LaGuardo Elementary, adding that the money to fix these issues should come from a state fund. 

"I’m working very hard at making sure that what happened here in Wilson County and with the school doesn’t happen to anybody else in the state of Tennessee," Pody told News 2.

News 2 reached out to the sewer provider in charge of operating and maintaining the system for LaGuardo Elementary that is in question for multiple violations, but we have yet to hear back.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/report-shows-notable-performance-issues-in-sewage-systems-across-tennessee/