Nye County will no longer accept dry septic material at the Pahrump landfill, after county commission action last week.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection granted Nye County an extension that had expired last May on a permit to allow for 10 lined septic drying beds and up to 10 unlined beds to accept septage and grease trappings. NDEP had initially notified the public works department in 2000 it needed a state groundwater discharge permit.

A report from Nye County Public Works Director Samson Yao noted the 10 unlined septic disposal beds raised a concern at the landfill, on East Mesquite Avenue.

"The facility is located on the alluvial fan and the disposal of liquids in the unlined units is not protective of the underlying groundwater resources," Yao wrote.

Only Pahrump Sanitation Co. continues to use the septage drying facility. Other haulers take their loads to a commercial disposal facility in the Artesia subdivision for processing, Yao's report states.

Nye County took in $33,000 in gross receipts from the disposal of septic material in 2007, Yao reported. But he estimated the county could face $71,472 in improvements to keep using the beds.

Commissioner Butch Borasky, who has an excavation business, explained his reasons to terminate the permit.

"I personally believe the county is just waiting for a knock upside the head by continuing to operate these. I think it's an outdated system and I believe it's time to move forward. There are alternatives. We're just dumping raw sewage into the ground. We have two unlined beds out there. It's a health hazard and there's potential to get into the ground water."

Commissioner Joni Eastley cast the sole vote against terminating the permit. She liked a second alternative to modify the permit, to allow the county to occasionally deposit septic material there for de-watering sewer line debris.