The Wastewater Disposal Complaint Program follows the General Sewage Disposal Requirements set in Rule 410 IAC 6-8.1 and Monroe County Ordinance 98-35, chapter 365. No person shall throw, run, drain, seep, or otherwise dispose into any of the surface waters or ground waters any organic or inorganic matter from a dwelling or Residential Sewage Disposal System that would cause or contribute to a health hazard or water pollution. The Wastewater Disposal Complaint Program is activated most commonly by a phone call or visit to the department by a concerned citizen of Monroe County. This is the initial complaint. Once the initial complaint is documented and all necessary information is received, the department will respond to the site for a complaint investigation. The complaint investigation will generally occur within three (3) business days, weather permitting.

The complaint investigation process can be as simple as walking the site and verifying a direct point source discharge from a specific location, or it can be as complex as first having to identify the pollutant from an indirect source by collecting a sample for laboratory analysis, and then dye tracing the area residences to locate the source.

Once evidence is found substantiating the complaint, the property owner is notified in writing with a Health Officer Order by Certified Mail containing a statement of the reasons for the issuance of the notice, remedial action necessary for compliance with the code, and set time frames to correct the problem. The Health Department then conducts follow-up investigations to monitor the remedial action. Remedial action can range from repairing a broken or clogged sewer lateral, re-routing plumbing, to replacing existing septic tank and drainage field systems. Each site is unique in that options for repair are dependant upon soils and drainage, age of existing system, and sanitary sewer availability. A person who violates any provision of Monroe County Ordinance 98-35, chapter 365 commits an ordinance violation, for which the first violation is a Class C ordinance violation, and for the second and subsequent violations, is a Class B ordinance Violation.