The environmental health professional of the Volusia County health department: a focus on charity. (Guest Commentary).

Environmental health professionals are a very focused group. We have to be focused--on work units, legal action, compliance with codes and laws, statutory time constraints, timed inspections, and regulation of industry. Occasionally we get the opportunity to focus on a situation that, with our intervention, might save one family from breaking up and slipping through the cracks in the bureaucracy.

In July of 2001, the Florida Division of Children and Families (DCF) requested an inspection of a home near Osteen, a remote community in south-central Volusia County, and contacted our institutions inspector, Fred Zain. Because DCF had received a complaint about the living conditions of the children in the home, it was contemplating removal of the children by court order. An inspector from our southeast office, Robert Webster, accompanied Mr. Zain on a visit to the home. Inside, no significant problems were found, but outside, Mr. Webster found a serious wastewater disposal violation and reason to believe that the home's potable water quality might be compromised. Any wastewater disposal problem can be a threat to residents and neighbors, and Zain was required to testify about the problem during a subsequent DCF hearing concerning custody of the children.

With knowledge of resources available through the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Environmental Health Association (FEHA), and the Florida Onsite Wastewater Association (FOWA), Zain advised the judge that we would pursue the funding, labor, and materials needed to secure an adequate drinking-water supply and wastewater disposal for the indigent family. On the basis of Zain's testimony the judge reversed an earlier decision to remove the children from the home, but it was up to the Environmental Health Division to make good on the plan for corrections at the home.

An indigent family in need of a new septic system is not news to any environmental health office. Zain had promised the judge that we would find a way to furnish this family with proper wastewater disposal and a water supply not threatened by contamination. FEHA's Halifax District wholeheartedly supported the effort with a unanimous vote by its board of directors for purchase of construction permits and water sample analyses. The board would have committed FEHA members' labor as well, but the State Health Office indicated that this would not be legal. FEHA asked the local FOWA chapter for any assistance the chapter could offer. Inspector Webster's persistence in organizing the various tasks involved finally paid off, and a number of septic-system contractors and plumbers, who belong to FOWA, along with two materials manufacturers, committed the necessary labor and supplies.

In April of 2002, permits were obtained and the work began. The rest of the story might have been, in some other time and place, just the story of another routine septic-system installation. Because of the nature of the remote neighborhood and the people living in it, however, construction of the septic system was anything but routine. It seems that a neighborhood feud had been brewing for years; all contractors and environmental health specialists who came on site were harassed by neighbors. Harassment came in the form of physical obstruction of access to the site and verbal abuse while the environmental health specialists were on site. When supervisor Tom Holt visited and observed the problems that the neighbors were causing, he requested and got the services of a deputy sheriff. The deputy led the department Jeep and a fill truck through the blockade.

Our hearts went out to the indigent family who were trying to stay together and live peaceably in their home in the face of the unneighborly behavior we witnessed. The contractors had many tales to tell as well, but to a company they rose above the problems and worked in concert to provide quality plumbing and wastewater disposal.

After the ordeal of construction was over, Mr. Webster asked the lead contractor if the problems encountered would discourage him from performing any charity work again. The contractor said that the experience simply made him want to do more to help families like this one. The septic system was completed, and the water supply was approved in May.

Acknowledgements: The project was, as indicated, a culmination of efforts by many people. We would like to recognize the roles of the FEHA Halifax District and FOWAs Volusia Chapter, and we thank Godawa Septic Tank Service; Dixie Septic Tank, Inc., of Orange City; All Daytona Septic Tank Service, Inc.; Mid-Florida Septic Service; Tindall Plumbing; Quality Septic Tank Company and PTI, Inc., for their generous donations of labor, materials, and time; and, last but not least, the Volusia County Sheriff's Department.

About the Authors

Noble Bielby is an environmental specialist in Volusia County For the last 11 years he has worked in the New Smyrna Beach office, primarily in the Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System Program.

Robert P. Webster has been with the Florida Department of Health for over 16 years and is currently the Food and Pool Program coordinator for the southeast office of the Volusia County Health Department.

Fred Zain, R.S., was the Volusia County Health Department coordinator for group care and body-piercing facilities. Mr. Zain passed away in December of 2002. He was also president-elect of FEHA.

Tom Holt has been an environmental supervisor for the Volusia County Health Department for 15 years. He spent two years as a food specialist before becoming a supervisor.

Corresponding Author: Tom Holt, Environmental Supervisor II, Volusia County Health Department, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. E-mail: [e-mail].

(Adapted, with permission, from the Florida Journal of Environmental Health, the official publication of the Florida Environmental Health Association, Dec. 2002. FEHA is on the Web at www.feha.org.)