EPHRATA - Grant County is hiring a Kennewick-based firm to meet state requirements to monitor the fairgrounds septic systems.

Commissioner Carolann Swartz said the county will hire GSI Water Solutions to handle monitoring of the septic systems.

The decision comes after Richard Benson, a state Department of Health large on-site septic system program lead, stated the county needed to get an initial permit by next month. The permit will include all of the fairgrounds and last while the department collects more information about the septic systems.

As part of the permit process, the county needed to hire a qualified operator by Oct. 31. The contract needed to include monitoring and maintenance of all septic systems, groundwater sampling and annual maintenance and monitoring reports.

Kevin Lindsey, a GSI Water Solutions' hydrogeologist, proposed a plan to first test whether enough moisture is present to carry the chemicals through the soil.

"This approach provides a relatively quick determination of the potential for impacts and whether additional assessment is needed," he wrote. "We recommend against completing a 'downstream' assessment involving monitoring well drilling and sampling."

He made the recommendation because of the depth of the groundwater beneath the fairgrounds, how spread out the septic systems are, the size of the fairgrounds and the length of time it takes a groundwater-based monitoring program to work, according to the proposal.

Lindsey pointed out drilling the wells are fairly expensive and the program would take about 2.5 years to develop "a picture of the potential groundwater impacts," according to the proposal. If the county pursued drilling monitoring wells, it would likely need to have multiple monitoring sites, and the way the septic systems are spread out makes it hard to determine how the systems might affect groundwater.

The company will start with preparing a plan the commissioners accept to present to the Department of Health, according to the proposal. Lindsey stated they'll meet with the department to "gauge the likelihood that they will concur with the proposed plan."

The first task is estimated to take four weeks and cost $6,000.

The second part of the proposal is to conduct the testing. If the Department of Health accepts GSI's proposal, the company will start by putting probes at the drain fields and other locations.

The company will continue to monitor the moisture amounts through the 2012 fair, according to the proposal.

"Once probes and sensors are deployed field work would focus on period site visits to download sensor data loggers," Lindsey wrote. "Data downloads would likely continue through the 2012 fair season in order to characterize and potential soil moisture changes related to septic drain field use."

Once the data is collected, the company will prepare a report within about 30 to 45 days, according to the proposal.

"If at all possible, GSI would like to complete the entire project before the end of 2012, although this will depend on (Department of Health) comment," according to the proposal.

The costs for the other two portions of the plan haven't been estimated, Lindsey stated.

"The basic objective of this work effort is to determine if discharge from these facilities has a credible impact on the uppermost aquifer underlying the facility (at least 70 feet below ground surface) and Moses Lake (over a quarter of a mile away,)" according to the proposal.