New for 2006
     This coming season on Pelican Lake, the DNR will be providing inspectors at the public accesses during the weekends and some week days. This is to ensure boaters are properly educated on the importance of cleaning boats and associated equipment so as not to spread undesirable weeds or aquatic animals from different lakes or bodies of water. The DNR is working in conjunction with PGOLID (Pelican Group of Lakes Improvement District) with the ultimate goal of keeping our lake in pristine condition.

Septic Inspection Update

    PGOLID will organize a sampling of septic inspections to evaluate the health of systems on our lake. 125 to 150 property sites will be chosen to be included in this program. A letter asking for volunteer participants will be mailed mid to late May. All PGOLID lakeshore homeowners will be given the chance to volunteer their property to be included in this program at no cost to the homeowner.
Participant names and address will be kept confidential throughout the program and will not be included in the final report submitted by RMB Environmental Laboratories. Only RMBEL will have access to the property owner information. A unique site ID will be awarded by RMBEL for each site and all data will be tracked and reported via this number. The purpose of this program is to provide an understanding of the percentage of failing septic systems to those meeting the county set standards. This program is not intended to be used for enforcement, but instead, as an educational tool concerning the topic of septic impacts to the water quality of PGOLID.

     Each chosen site will have a septic screening completed to determine if the system meets or does not meet the county's current septic standards. In the event that the system does not meet the standard, a description of the deficiencies as well as the possible impact on the water table and ultimately the lake area will be documented.

     This program is based upon a screening process. The format used will the same as the one used during a certified septic inspection. For this program though, documentation will not be submitted to the county and cannot be used for legal purposes. This reduces costs substantially and allows a larger number of sites to be inspected. The average cost of a certified inspection is $170.00. Cost of this program format is lowered to $20.00 to $25.00 for each site. In the event that the homeowner would like to have the septic screening upgraded to a certified format and submitted to the county, there would be additional costs directed to the homeowner for the change.
Jordan Ornquist of RMB Environmental Labs, Detroit Lakes MN (218) 846-1465 will be the program contact.