After years of neglect, cleanup of the sewer system at Lakeside Mobile Home Park & Estates could happen as early as this summer. At their Monday meeting, the Montezuma County commissioners requested a construction schedule from Drew Cleland, the new manager of Lakeside, by July 3.

"We expect you to expedite this process and not wait until the eleventh hour," said chairman Gene Story.

Lakeside is located one mile east of Cortez at 28330 Road K.2. According to Cleland, there are approximately 60 lots and 50 families living in the park.

On February 22, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a notice of violation and cease and desist order to Richard Norton, then the owner of Lakeside, for violating the Colorado Water Control Act.

The notice required Norton to take whatever measures were necessary to comply with the law by May 31. He was also required to submit a site approval application for the wastewater treatment system with an accompanying engineering report.

The department then asked that by December 31, 2000, a new and properly designed wastewater treatment system be constructed.

In 1997, the department found two unlined, unpermitted sewage lagoons on the property, and also noticed raw sewage draining into McElmo Creek at a rate of three to seven gallons per minute.

Norton failed to respond to the state health department’s cleanup request, After December 1999, water testing revealed high fecal coliform levels in the tributary that fed McElmo Creek, and the order was issued.

Lakeside changed ownership on February 29 to DLMT, LLC. The new owners claim that they were aware that "certain problems existed" but were unaware that the department had been forced to issue a notice.

Since then, DLMT has fenced off the overflow area and treated the ground with chlorine, but has not complied with the department’s May 31 deadline.

Cleland doesn’t dispute that there are problems, but said that the water table is low enough in the dry season to keep everything contained. He also said that they will try and construct an adequate system this summer before water levels rise again.

"The tenants have every right to be upset and angry. But we believe that that place can be turned into a nice place to live again," said Cleland.

Ken Lane, spokesman for the Colorado Attorney General’s office, said that even if the ownership changed hands, the new owners are still responsible for complying with state law, but not the details of the cease-and-desist order.

The department’s representative, Greg Brand, told the commissioners that the state will continue with its order until the system is in compliance with state standards.

"In the past there have been a lot of promises by the owners to do certain things, and frankly they just haven’t been done," said Brand.

Yet Brand said that the department will not ask residents to leave their homes.

"One of the things we cannot do is shut the park down," he said.

The department of health will be asking Dr. Gerald Griebel, the county health officer, to conduct studies of the site and hold a public meeting. From this the board will make the decision whether a county order to cease and desist is needed.

Cleland said that his engineers have estimated that it will take between $150,000 and $250,000 to fix the system. He said that DLMT does not plan on selling any lots until the problem is solved.